Why install parts of Windows 11 if you're just going to disable them right after? Here's how to customize Windows 11 before installation with NTLite.

Seasoned users know what they want from their OS, and perform the same tweaks after every installation of Windows. That's NTLite's primary crowd, but that doesn't mean you won't find it helpful if you're not among them.

NTLite is one of the few solutions that allow you to customize Windows before installing the OS. With it, you can enable or disable features, add or remove drivers, and generally "tweak" the OS in many ways before it even touches your PC. The result is that, after installing the OS, you can hit the ground running. Let's see how.

Why install Cortana if you're not going to use it and believe it's a security risk? Is there a reason to have the printer service enabled if you don't even have a printer? Why should Windows consume resources "indexing your files" if it's running on a never-changing PC that's "frozen in time" for a specific purpose, like acting as a light fixture controller?

That's why NTLite was created in the first place: as a tool with which you can add and remove elements of Windows and customize its "innermost" options before even installing it.

As IT workers can tell you, this can prove a lifesaver if you have to apply the same tweaks many times on a large number of PCs. Why not have them pre-applied and invest your time in something better, like binge-watching your favorite series when the boss is not around?

Still, this can also be useful for every user. Average us may not be reinstalling Windows every other day. Nor "administer" dozens of PCs. And yet, when we do eventually reinstall Windows, it's a chore. We find ourselves hunting down drivers for unsupported hardware, choosing between a light or dark theme for our windows, and fighting with installed "fluff".

By having installation media for Windows customized as you want it, you won't have to waste time and energy performing the same actions one more time.

You won't have to set up the same user accounts, add drivers, control services, and remove elements you don't need in your OS. Nor have to re-customize the OS again when you install it on a secondary laptop or in a virtual machine for experimenting with questionable software.

If you're still using mechanical hard disk drives on your PC, may we also suggest you look into how to "optimize" those as well? Apart from installing a customized and "lighter" version of Windows on such devices, it's also worth considering how they're partitioned. For more info on that, read our article on how to partition your hard drive for optimal performance.

Start by downloading NTLite from its official site. You will also need the Windows files to complete the setup. And while you can use the files on your computer to do this, we recommend downloading a fresh ISO to ensure you have a clean slate without any corruption.

As such, it's a good idea to download the official installation media for Windows, preferably in ISO format. You can find more info on Windows 11's official download page.

The process can be somewhat intimidating for new users and more complicated than ideal for everyone else. You might want to check our older article on how to download a Windows 11 ISO legally for alternative (and more straightforward) ways of grabbing such an ISO.

You'll also have to perform two more steps before we begin:

To tweak your downloaded version of Windows, you'll have to load it into NTLite. For that:

Unfortunately, one of the most valuable features in NTLite is out of reach for most users: the ability to include updates in your customized Windows installation.

The feature isn't available on NTLite's free tier. However, we couldn't outright ignore it in this guide since it can save precious time.

The short version of how you can use it if you decide to pay for NTLite is:

With your Windows version loaded in NTLite, you'll see a new series of options appearing on the left of its window. Each of those leads to a sub-page with options about your customized Windows installation. The first is Integrate, our first stop.

Another feature that's unfortunately restricted in the free version is NTLite's ability to remove Windows components.

By moving to the Remove sub-pages, Components and Scheduled Tasks, you can remove "such stuff" from your future installation-to-be.

We won't go through the pretty extensive lists since everyone's needs are different. Where one might find support for Bluetooth useless, another might require it but prefer to wave goodbye to Internet Explorer.

Note that, as we said, this functionality is somewhat restricted in the free version: you can't touch the components that appear in blue.

NTLite's page, where you'll probably spend most of your time, Configure contains the most essential tweaks.

Most people can also skip the Automate sub-page, whose options are more valuable to system administrators and IT support managing many PCs in parallel.

From this spot, you can, for example, change the default Windows locale, pre-add user accounts so you won't have to set them up during or after installation, etc.

The last stop is a visit to the Apply sub-page, where you can change some final options about how the customized Windows installation media will be created.

We suggest you choose the option Save the image and trim editions to remove files related to the Windows editions you don't plan on using. This way, the produced media will be "lighter" and easier to manage.

Ensure Create ISO is selected since ISOs are easier to burn on optical media or write to USB Flash Drives.

Choose where you want to store your ISO, check the pending tasks on the right, and if you're happy with them, click the Process button on the top left.

That was it! Soon you'll have a new Windows installation ISO in your chosen folder. You can use it to install a lighter and pre-customized version of Windows on any computer or virtual machine.

Note: We suggest a test drive in a virtual machine before deploying the installation on an actual PC on which you rely for your daily work. There's always a slight chance something won't work as expected.

If you like your copy of Windows the way you want it, NTLite makes it easy to customize it before installation. Now you can make the perfect OS before it even touches your hard drive.

OK's real life started at around 10, when he got his first computer - a Commodore 128. Since then, he's been melting keycaps by typing 24/7, trying to spread The Word Of Tech to anyone interested enough to listen. Or, rather, read.

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