Rebuilding a Windows 11 Machine from Scratch

rebuilding_win11_machine_from_scratch.md

Rebuilding a Windows 11 Machine from Scratch

What?

My very opinionated view of how to build a Windows 11 machine (from completely fresh OS install), with a focus on privacy and reduced bloat.

Why?

I normally rebuild my Windows machines 2-3 times a year. I've learnt various things along the way, and would like to have something laid out that I can consistently follow. So, I'm going to use this guide for my own reference, but also share it for anyone interested.

Note

This guide is based on an install of Windows 11 Pro 10.0.22621 Build 22621.

Steps

1. Download a fresh Windows 11 ISO image from here: https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11
2. Burn the ISO to a fresh USB drive with adequate volume, using Rufus (https://rufus.ie/en/).
3. Boot to the USB, noting that you may need invoke boot options on startup or change your boot priority via bios.
4. Install Windows 11. I recommend you:
   • Setup the machine as a 'new device' (if connected to your MSFT account during install).
   • Turn off all data sharing options on the privacy settings page.
   • Don't use any of the experience customizations.
   • Skip the mobile phone integration setup.
   • Decline M365 and the additional cloud storage offers.
5. After the install, configure Windows Updates and perform an update. To do so:
   • Open Windows Updates.
   • Uncheck the option to 'get latest updates as soon as they're available'.
   • Select 'check for updates'.
   • Install any updates through multiple reboots.
6. If you have a dedicated AMD/ NVIDIA GPU, go through a process to clean/ re-install the GPU drivers manually. To do so:
   • Download the latest driver for your GPU. Note: If you have a NVIDIA GPU, you may use nvidia-driver-manager (https://github.com/buswedg/windows-helpers/tree/main/nvidia-driver-manager).
   • Run Display Driver Uninstaller utility (https://www.guru3d.com/download/display-driver-uninstaller-download/).
   • Restart your machine.
   • Install the GPU driver. Note: If you have an NVIDIA GPU, you may use nvidia-driver-manager to install only the necessary driver files.
7. Open MSFT OneDrive. I recommend you:
   • Go to Settings and turn off option to 'Save space and download files as you use them'.
   • Go to Backup > Manage backup, and stop backup of Desktop, Documents and Pictures.
8. Open Edge. I recommend you:
   • Uncheck the option to bring in browsing data.
   • Skip the sync with Google.
   • Uncheck options to make the MSFT experience more useful to you.
9. Open File Explorer. I recommend you:
   • Go to Options > View.
   • Check option to 'Show hidden files, folders, or drives'.
   • Uncheck option to 'Hide extensions for known types'.
10. Open a Powershell Prompt (with Admin rights) and run CTTWinUtil (https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil). Feel free to use my preferred configs here: https://github.com/buswedg/windows-helpers/tree/main/ctt-winutil
11. Open Add or Remove Programs and remove any unnecessary programs. I recommend using this helper script: https://github.com/buswedg/windows-helpers/tree/main/windows-app-uninstaller
12. Right click the Windows Taskbar and update your Taskbar Settings. I recommend:
    • Select Taskbar items > Search > Icon only
    • Uncheck Widgets
    • Uncheck Chat
13. Use WinGet to install your preferred programs. If you're unsure how to do this or want to do this in bulk, feel free to clone and use the helper script from this repo: https://github.com/buswedg/windows-helpers/tree/main/winget-installer
14. Download and install any preferred programs which WinGet doesn't offer.
15. If its a gaming-focused machine, then I recommend:
    • Turning off 'Core isolation- memory integrity'
    • Ensuring 'Virtual Machine Platform' remains unchecked in Windows Features
16. Otherwise, if you intend to run a virtual platform (WSL for example), then I recommend:
    • Ensuring 'Hyper-V', 'Virtual Machine Platform', and 'Windows Subsystem for Linux' remain checked in Windows Features
17. Open Task Manager and go to Startup Apps. Turn off any apps which you don't want to run on boot.
18. Turn off any unnecessary Windows Optional Features. To do so:
    • Go to Settings > Apps > Optional features
    • I recommend you uninstall 'Windows Media Player Legacy', 'Steps Recorder', and 'Wordpad'
19. Change your Power Options. I recommend using the:
    • 'Ultimate Power' profile offered by CTTWinUtil if you're on a desktop.
    • 'Balanced Power' profile if you're on a laptop, set to 'Never' sleep when plugged in and to 'Do Nothing' when closing the lid whilst plugged in.