[WIP][HELP] Making a simple guide to make the "best" Windows 7 ISO

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by kebabstorm, Mar 31, 2022.

  1. kebabstorm

    kebabstorm MDL Junior Member

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    #1 kebabstorm, Mar 31, 2022
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2023
  2. ExtremeGrief

    ExtremeGrief MDL Addicted

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    #2 ExtremeGrief, Mar 31, 2022
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 4, 2022
    @kebabstorm

    I think Professional is the best edition as it can be KMS activated for UEFI systems and it still has most features from Ultimate.
    You don't need WUFUC or other stuff as Simplix disables CPU check.
    MDL WIN7 Simplix tool can integrate custom drivers.
    In my opinion, Windows Loader is the best for legacy systems and KMS_VL_ALL for UEFI systems.
    In my opinion, Windows 7 is already very lightweight so it doesn't need any extra debloating, at least on capable computers. Also the eternalblue is patched on 7.
    Why Office 2019 and not 2021 LTSC?
    I prefer Chocolatey over Ninite, it's like Linux which I'm more familiar with, but this is just a personal opinion.

    Keep in mind that this is not criticizing your guide, but just giving tips to improve it :)
     
  3. ExtremelyFancyUsername

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    wufuc isn't needed if you use Simplix.

    As for best edition: Ultimate if non-UEFI, Enterprise if UEFI.
     
  4. yasagani

    yasagani MDL Novice

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    #4 yasagani, Apr 5, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2022
    This is an excellent idea. I have for many years pondered on some sort of ultimate windows 7 installation or a 7 variant like "Windows 10 Ameliorated".

    There is still plenty of bloat we can disable/remove. We have to be especially vigilant of the updates we integrate so maybe we should make a collection and blacklist all known telemetry/spyware/misc bad ones.

    First the question I must ask is what we use as the base untweaked iso?

    Also I don't understand why we need any other version than Ultimate? It should work on both non-UEFI and UEFI with WindSlic, this is my current setup atm.

    For Office, ofc we cannot use 2021 LTSC or even 2019 since the last office for 7 was 2016, or am I missing something?
     
  5. ExtremeGrief

    ExtremeGrief MDL Addicted

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    Simplix disables all bloat from updates.
    WindSlic does not work on every computer, like mine.
    Office 2021 LTSC still works with 7 with a hack.
     
  6. ruslanshchur

    ruslanshchur MDL Senior Member

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    Wait... how did you managed to get Office 2021 LTSC to work on Windows 7?
     
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  7. Enthousiast

    Enthousiast MDL Tester

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    Office_C2R_Extender
     
  8. ruslanshchur

    ruslanshchur MDL Senior Member

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    #8 ruslanshchur, Apr 7, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2022
    Can you send me the proper guide how to use it? Because I am confused UPD:
    I am now understand how to use it before the reply by @Enthousiast
     
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  9. Enthousiast

    Enthousiast MDL Tester

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    And it has a readme.
     
  10. ruslanshchur

    ruslanshchur MDL Senior Member

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    #10 ruslanshchur, Apr 8, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2022
    Thanks, but unfortunately, Office 2021 crashes when launching, so... I only have to stick with Office 2019
     
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  11. Enthousiast

    Enthousiast MDL Tester

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    When you're just going to type a letter or send an email (more you can not even do on win 7 these days) just stick with the supported build for 7;):D
     
  12. ExtremeGrief

    ExtremeGrief MDL Addicted

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    Try using YAOCTRIR.
     
  13. ruslanshchur

    ruslanshchur MDL Senior Member

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    Lol I does not mean that Office 2021 setup does not launching, I mean that when launching any Office 2021 programs (e.g. Word, Excel), I am getting the error message Microsoft (Word/Excel/etc) has stopped working
     
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  14. kebabstorm

    kebabstorm MDL Junior Member

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    #14 kebabstorm, Apr 15, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2022
    (OP)
    Slowly getting there, new simplix-updated installation of Windows 7 Enterprise with nothing removed, only disabled a ton of telemetry and unnecessary services.
    RAM usage 752MB (pagefile disabled, kernel paging disabled, no swap) and disk I/O hovers at around 0-1% (yeah I know percentages aren't metrics, gotta get some better logging tools for this). Seems good so far, that the last few years of Win7 updates seemingly haven't brought too much extra bulls**t (after SiMPLiX removed some of it and I disabled some too)

    win7clean.jpg

    edit: there is a worrying amount of new services in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControl\services though, gotta comb through them at some point ...
     
  15. Enthousiast

    Enthousiast MDL Tester

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    What actual "ton of telemetry" exists on 7?
     
  16. yasagani

    yasagani MDL Novice

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    #16 yasagani, Apr 15, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2022
    Thank you for the progress report, it's really valuable. I am interested in starting this project myself in the near future and this thread will be very helpful for that. I will also try to post my progress when the time comes.

    I am curious, why did you disable the pagefile and kernel paging?

    On another note, I tried installing both Office 2019 and 2021 using the YAOCTRIR and Office C2R Extender, but the C2R setups just crash before starting install.
     
  17. Enthousiast

    Enthousiast MDL Tester

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    What project? He asks for info, help and just lists all he could find (all have their own dedicated posts/threads), there is no guide nothing.
     
  18. kebabstorm

    kebabstorm MDL Junior Member

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  19. kebabstorm

    kebabstorm MDL Junior Member

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    You should probably stick to the last officially supported build for Windows 7, which is currently frozen at 16.0.12527.22121 ("Version 2002", March 2020). You can get it by choosing the "MonthlyEnterprise" in YAOCTRU and then use the "Mondo2016" license to install it in YAOCTRI. Don't need to use C2R Extender for that.
     
  20. ExtremeGrief

    ExtremeGrief MDL Addicted

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