|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: Win 11 Creator |
| 3 | +weight: 5 |
| 4 | +--- |
| 5 | + |
| 6 | +## Using Winutil's Win11 Creator |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +Winutil includes a built-in **Win11 Creator** tool that lets you take any official Windows 11 ISO and produce a customized, debloated version — with telemetry removed, hardware requirement checks bypassed, and local account setup enabled out of the box. You can export the result as a new ISO file or write it directly to a USB drive. |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +> [!IMPORTANT] |
| 11 | +> You need a valid Windows 11 ISO before starting. Download one from [Microsoft's official site](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11) or use [UUP Dump](https://uupdump.net/). The process uses ~10–15 GB of temporary disk space, so make sure you have room. |
| 12 | +
|
| 13 | +--- |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +### Step 1 — Select Your ISO |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +1. Open Winutil and go to the **Win11 Creator** tab. |
| 18 | +2. Click **Browse** and select your Windows 11 ISO file (must be 4 GB or larger). |
| 19 | +3. The file path and size will appear on screen once selected. |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +--- |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +### Step 2 — Mount & Verify |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +1. Click **Mount & Verify ISO**. |
| 26 | +2. Winutil mounts the ISO, checks for a valid `install.wim` or `install.esd`, and reads the available editions (Home, Pro, Enterprise, etc.). |
| 27 | +3. Once verified, select your desired **edition** from the dropdown — Pro is selected by default if available. |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +> [!NOTE] |
| 30 | +> This step takes around 10–30 seconds depending on your drive speed. |
| 31 | +
|
| 32 | +--- |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +### Step 3 — Run the Modification |
| 35 | + |
| 36 | +Click **Run Windows ISO Modification and Creator** to start the customization process. Winutil will: |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +- **Remove 40+ bloat apps** — Clipchamp, Teams, Copilot, Dev Home, new Outlook, Bing apps, Solitaire, and more |
| 39 | +- **Delete OneDrive setup** from the image |
| 40 | +- **Apply registry tweaks** — disables telemetry, advertising ID, tailored experiences, and cloud content features |
| 41 | +- **Bypass hardware checks** — removes TPM, Secure Boot, CPU, and RAM requirement enforcement so the ISO installs on unsupported hardware |
| 42 | +- **Enable local account setup** — injects an `autounattend.xml` that skips the Microsoft account screen during OOBE |
| 43 | +- **Strip unused editions** — keeps only your selected edition, saving 1–2 GB per removed edition |
| 44 | +- **Clean the component store** — runs DISM cleanup to reclaim another 300–800 MB |
| 45 | +- **Remove telemetry scheduled tasks** — CEIP, Appraiser, WaaSMedic, and others |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +A live log shows progress as each step completes. This stage takes **10–30 minutes** depending on your disk speed — the WIM dismount near the end is the slowest part, so don't close Winutil while it's running. |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | +--- |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +### Step 4 — Export Your Result |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +Once modification is complete, choose how to save your image: |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +{{< tabs items="Save as ISO,Write to USB" defaultIndex="0" >}} |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | + {{< tab >}} |
| 58 | + 1. Click **Save as an ISO File**. |
| 59 | + 2. Choose a save location (defaults to your Desktop as `Win11_Modified_yyyyMMdd.iso`). |
| 60 | + 3. Winutil builds a dual BIOS/UEFI bootable ISO using `oscdimg.exe`. |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | + > [!NOTE] |
| 63 | + > `oscdimg.exe` (part of the Windows ADK) is required. If it's not found, Winutil will attempt to install it automatically via winget. If that fails, install it manually: `winget install -e --id Microsoft.OSCDIMG` |
| 64 | +
|
| 65 | + **Typical output size:** 2.5–3.5 GB (down from 5–6 GB original) |
| 66 | + {{< /tab >}} |
| 67 | + |
| 68 | + {{< tab >}} |
| 69 | + 1. Click **Write Directly to a USB Drive**. |
| 70 | + 2. Select your USB drive from the dropdown (click **Refresh** if it doesn't appear). |
| 71 | + 3. Click **Erase & Write to USB** and confirm the warning — **all data on the drive will be permanently erased**. |
| 72 | + 4. Winutil formats the drive as GPT with a 512 MB EFI partition and copies the modified Windows files. |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | + > [!WARNING] |
| 75 | + > Double-check you have selected the correct drive before confirming. This operation cannot be undone. |
| 76 | +
|
| 77 | + **Minimum USB size:** 8 GB recommended. Writing takes 10–20 minutes. |
| 78 | + {{< /tab >}} |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +{{< /tabs >}} |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +--- |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +### Step 5 — Clean Up (Optional) |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | +Click **Clean & Reset** to delete the temporary working directory (~10–15 GB) and reset the tool back to its initial state, ready for a new ISO. You'll be asked to confirm before anything is deleted. |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | +--- |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +### What the Modified ISO Does Differently |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +When you install Windows 11 from your modified ISO: |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | +- **No Microsoft account required** — create a local account directly during setup |
| 95 | +- **No hardware checks** — installs on machines without TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, or supported CPUs |
| 96 | +- **Dark mode enabled by default** |
| 97 | +- **Empty taskbar and Start Menu** — no pinned apps |
| 98 | +- **Windows Update re-enabled automatically** after first login (it's paused during OOBE to prevent interruption) |
| 99 | +- **BitLocker disabled**, Recall disabled, desktop shortcuts removed |
| 100 | + |
| 101 | +--- |
| 102 | + |
| 103 | +### Troubleshooting |
| 104 | + |
| 105 | +| Problem | Fix | |
| 106 | +|---------|-----| |
| 107 | +| "install.wim not found" | Not a valid Windows 11 ISO — download a fresh one from Microsoft | |
| 108 | +| "oscdimg.exe not found" | Run `winget install -e --id Microsoft.OSCDIMG` then retry | |
| 109 | +| USB drive not showing up | Plug it in, wait a few seconds, then click **Refresh** | |
| 110 | +| Modification seems stuck | The WIM dismount step is slow — wait at least 10 minutes before assuming it's frozen | |
| 111 | +| "Access Denied" error | Make sure Winutil is running as Administrator | |
| 112 | + |
| 113 | +--- |
| 114 | + |
| 115 | +A list of the best free and open source tools for downloading, creating and flashing Windows ISOs. |
| 116 | + |
| 117 | +## Download Windows ISOs |
| 118 | + |
| 119 | +| Tool | Description | Website | |
| 120 | +|------|-------------|---------| |
| 121 | +| **[UUP Dump](https://uupdump.net/)** | Download Windows UUP files directly from Microsoft's servers and convert them into a clean ISO — great for getting the latest builds | [uupdump.net](https://uupdump.net/) | |
| 122 | +| **[Microsoft Media Creation Tool](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11)** | Microsoft's official tool for downloading and creating Windows 10/11 installation media | [microsoft.com](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11) | |
| 123 | + |
| 124 | + |
| 125 | +## Customize Windows ISOs |
| 126 | + |
| 127 | +| Tool | Description | Website | |
| 128 | +|------|-------------|---------| |
| 129 | +| **[MicroWin](https://github.com/CodingWonders/microwin)** | A C# desktop app for building stripped-down, customized Windows ISOs — the original predecessor to Winutil's old MicroWin feature | [github.com](https://github.com/CodingWonders/microwin) | |
| 130 | +| **[Tiny11 Builder](https://github.com/ntdevlabs/tiny11builder)** | PowerShell script that strips a Windows 11 ISO down to the bare minimum — removes bloatware and bypasses hardware requirements | [github.com](https://github.com/ntdevlabs/tiny11builder) | |
| 131 | +| **[NTLite](https://www.ntlite.com/)** | Remove Windows components, integrate drivers and updates, and build a custom ISO before installation | [ntlite.com](https://www.ntlite.com/) | |
| 132 | + |
| 133 | + |
| 134 | +## Flash ISOs to USB |
| 135 | + |
| 136 | +| Tool | Description | Website | |
| 137 | +|------|-------------|---------| |
| 138 | +| **[Rufus](https://rufus.ie/)** | The go-to tool for creating bootable Windows USB drives. Supports bypassing Windows 11 TPM/Secure Boot requirements and downloading ISOs directly | [rufus.ie](https://rufus.ie/) | |
| 139 | +| **[Ventoy](https://www.ventoy.net/)** | Install once, then just copy any ISO files onto the USB — supports booting multiple ISOs from a single drive without re-flashing | [ventoy.net](https://www.ventoy.net/) | |
| 140 | +| **[balenaEtcher](https://etcher.balena.io/)** | Simple, beginner-friendly ISO flasher with a clean interface | [etcher.balena.io](https://etcher.balena.io/) | |
| 141 | + |
| 142 | + |
| 143 | + |
| 144 | +--- |
| 145 | + |
| 146 | +> [!TIP] |
| 147 | +> Already have a Windows 11 ISO? Skip the third-party tools and use Winutil's built-in **[Win11 Creator](#using-winutilss-win11-creator)** at the top of this page. |
| 148 | +
|
| 149 | +> [!NOTE] |
| 150 | +> Always download Windows ISOs from official Microsoft sources or trusted tools like Rufus/UUP Dump to avoid tampered images. |
| 151 | +
|
| 152 | +> [!NOTE] |
| 153 | +> Newer Windows 11 ISOs may not boot correctly on older versions of Ventoy — make sure Ventoy is up to date before use. If issues persist after updating, this is a Ventoy compatibility limitation outside of Winutil's control. |
0 commit comments