It’s easy to create a lightweight version of Windows 11

Created by an independent developer, Tiny11 Builder makes it easy and free to create a lightweight and personalized version of Windows 11. A great tool for installing a new system on an old computer.

It’s no secret: Windows has an unfortunate tendency to get heavier over time, sometimes significantly. Microsoft is constantly adding new standard applications to its operating system that are not always very useful or even downright unnecessary. And in this area, Windows 11 is especially bloated, with a lot of native programs that take up a lot of disk space right after the system is installed. Recently, with the entry into force Digital Market LawIt’s finally possible to remove most of the software integrated by default in Windows 11, but this involves manually uninstalling each application and repeating the operation each time you install the OS.

To solve this problem, independent developer NTDEV has developed a modified version of Windows 11 called Tiny11. Published shortly after the official release of the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system, this light version of Windows 11 removes a large number of apps and software typically built into the OS by default, resulting in significantly more memory and reduced memory usage. computer RAM. Additionally, Tiny11 allows you to bypass Microsoft’s hardware requirements to use Windows 11 and install it on computers that would normally be considered “incompatible” with the system. Very good qualities that have allowed the Tiny11 project to achieve some success among users looking to optimize their PC.

After about a year of no news, the project’s author has just published an interesting new tool called Tny11 Builder, which is a PowerShell script that allows you to easily create lightweight images of any version of Windows 11. Until now, the developer has had to create a version of Tiny11 himself for every existing version of Windows 11 ( Family, Pro, IoT, etc.) before making it available for download. Using Tiny11 Builder, you can now independently create a lightweight image of any version of Windows 11 from the official ISO image of the system. The procedure is largely automated, and implementation is relatively simple as long as you follow a few steps precisely.

Tiny11 Builder: how to create a lightweight version of Windows 11

If you want to experiment and create a lite version of Windows 11, first consider the following points:

• Tiny11 Builder is not a Windows cracker, so you will need an operating system license to complete the installation. If you purchased a pre-built PC, this license is included with and associated with the computer’s motherboard. In addition, many online stores regularly offer activation keys for Windows 11 at attractive prices, just check which version of Windows the purchased key corresponds to (Home, Pro, IoT, etc.).
• Tiny11 Builder removes Edge from your Windows 11 installation, so the first time you launch it you’ll be left without a web browser, which can be confusing. To download and install the browser, you will need to use the WinGet command line tool by running the Command Prompt program as an administrator from the Start menu and using one of the following commands:

To install Edge

 winget install edge

To install Firefox

winget install -e --id Mozilla.Firefox

To install Chrome

winget install -e --id Google.Chrome

If you remember this information, below is the procedure to create a lightweight version of Windows using Tiny11 Builder.

► Download Windows 11 ISO in French from the following page: https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11. The page provides three different recovery methods for Windows 11. Scroll down until you find the “Download Windows 11 disk image (ISO) for x64 devices” option, then click the drop-down list. Select Download and select the option Windows 11 (multi-release ISO for x64 devices)then press the blue button Download now. A new section will appear called “Select Product Language”, click on the drop-down list. Choose one and select English then finally click on the blue button Confirm. A new page will appear, then click the blue button 64-bit download and select the destination directory to start downloading the Windows 11 ISO image.

► Download Tiny11 Builder from the project page on GitHub: https://github.com/ntdevlabs/tiny11builder?tab=readme-ov-file. On the project’s GitHub page, click the green button. <> Code Then on Download ZIP. Then open the directory where you saved the file and unzip the ZIP archive to the desired location, but do not immediately run the Tiny11 Builder script.

► Allow PowerShell scripts to be executed from external sources: Open the menu To get startedenter “powershell” in the search bar, then the result Windows PowerShell Press Run as administrator.

► In the PowerShell window, enter the following command: Set-ExecutionPolicy unlimited and confirm by clicking Entrancethen enter the letter O and confirm again by pressing Entrance.

► Mount the Windows 11 ISO volume: In Explorer, open the directory where you saved the Windows 11 ISO, double-click it and confirm the confirmation message that appears. This will “mount” this disk image as a device on your computer, and you will see it appear as a DVD drive in the Explorer tree. Pay attention to the letter in brackets in the disk name (in the screenshot below it is the letter D).

► Launch Tiny11 Builder: in Explorer, open the directory where you extracted the Tiny11 Builder ZIP archive, right-click the file. tiny11maker.ps1 then click Running with PowerShell. PowerShell will display two warning messages in succession. Confirm them by entering the letter O each time and pressing Entrance.

► Select the Windows 11 image: After running the Tiny11 Builder script in PowerShell, specify the drive letter containing the official Windows 11 image that you marked earlier (in our example it is the letter D) and confirm your choice by clicking Entrance.

► Select your Windows 11 version to make it easy: A PowerShell window will display a list of the different versions of Windows 11 available. Each is identified by an index on the first line. To select the version of Windows 11 you want to lighten, enter its serial number and confirm by clicking Entrance. For example, the version of Windows 11 Home (the most common on consumer computers) is version number 1.

► Wait for the process to complete: the Tiny11 Builder script will create a lightweight image of the version of Windows 11 you selected. The process may take a few minutes, during which you will see many different colored lines scrolling in the PowerShell window. Wait until the process completes, as indicated by the message “Done. Creation complete! Press any key to exit the script…” and then press any key to close the PowerShell window.

► Create a bootable USB drive of a lightweight Windows 11 image: Go back to the directory where you ran the Tiny11 Builder script, you will find a new file there named “tiny11.iso”. This is the Windows 11 Lite installation file you just created. To use it and install it on the computer of your choice, you’ll need to copy it to a bootable USB drive using, for example, the free Rufus tool, which we’ll show you working in this download sheet.

You can run the Tiny11 Builder script as many times as needed, for example to create different lightweight images of different versions of Windows 11 as needed. Just remember to rename the file to “tiny11.iso” and move it to another location after creating it, because Tiny11 Builder will replace this file every time you run the script. Once you create a bootable USB key, you can keep it handy to install a custom version of Windows 11 whenever you need it. Please note: Because this is an unofficial OS modification, future Windows updates may not install correctly on this modified version. Check the Tiny11 Builder GitHub page regularly to stay updated on known issues and developments in the project.