Releases: omfghello/window-iso-customizer
The Dumpster Escapades of v4.0
WISO v4.0 — "THE PORTABLE APOCALYPSE"
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v 4 . 0 — " T H E P O R T A B L E A P O C A L Y P S E "
In the first age, in the first build, the Slayer was ISO-bound.
Chained to the installer. Trapped inside the WIM.
He could only strike at BIRTH. At FIRST BOOT.
After that... the bloat returned. Like a tide. Like mold.
Like Candy Crush after a Windows Update.
v4.0 broke the chains.
The Slayer walks FREE now.
On ANY machine. At ANY time. No ISO required.
Just a folder. An exe. And unrelenting violence.
Gerald escaped the trenchcoat.
(He's still IN the trenchcoat. He escaped the ISO.)
(The trenchcoat remains load-bearing. Obviously.)
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Release Date: March 2026. The month The Slayer learned to WALK.
Codename: The Portable Apocalypse ("We used to need an ISO. Now we just need admin rights and ANGER.")
Difficulty Setting: ULTRA-NIGHTMARE² (for Microsoft. We added a SECOND deployment vector. They now have to worry about BOTH new installs AND existing machines. Gerald sleeps soundly. Satya does not.)
Recommended Background Music: Mick Gordon - "BFG Division" into "The Only Thing They Fear Is You" into "Meathook" ON INFINITE LOOP. Also the sound of 180+ appx packages being uninstalled simultaneously, which is basically white noise at this point, which is basically ASMR, which is basically Gerald's lullaby.
ESRB Rating: M for "Microsoft's Entire Existing Install Base Is Now A Target"
Trenchcoat Status: LOAD-BEARING. MULTI-VECTOR. CROSS-PLATFORM. The trenchcoat now deploys via ISO, via standalone exe, AND via AME Wizard playbook. The trenchcoat has FRANCHISE POTENTIAL. Gerald is discussing merch. Steve said no. Dave can't talk. Dave is legs. The trenchcoat is silent but PRESENT.
Satya Nadella's Blood Pressure: ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ (CRITICAL. The Slayer is no longer ISO-bound. It's LOOSE. It can be EMAILED. It can be SHARED ON A USB STICK. It can be downloaded. It can be RIGHT-CLICKED AND RAN AS ADMINISTRATOR. On ANY Windows machine. Satya has called an emergency board meeting. The board is also running WISO.)
Edge's Eulogy: "It was a browser. Briefly. Then The Slayer arrived. Not once. Not twice. From THREE DIRECTIONS. The ISO. The portable app. The AME playbook. Edge died three deaths. Each more thorough than the last. Each logged in a progress timeline. With emoji. May it rest in rd /s /q."
Candy Crush's Last Transmission: [SIGNAL LOST]
Number of Deployment Vectors: 3 (ISO, Standalone Portable, AME Playbook). Like a hydra. Cut one off, two more appear. Except they're raccoons. In trenchcoats. With taskkill /f /im.
THE BIG THREE — v4.0's Trinity of Destruction
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║ v1.0 – v3.5: THE SLAYER WAS AN ISO. ║
║ You built it. You installed it. You rebooted. ║
║ The bloat died at birth. Beautiful. Clinical. ║
║ But if your machine was ALREADY ALIVE? ║
║ Already INFECTED with Candy Crush? ║
║ Already COMPROMISED by OneDrive? ║
║ Already COLONIZED by 47 Bing apps? ║
║ ║
║ ...you were on your own. ║
║ ║
║ v4.0: THE SLAYER IS FREE. ║
║ ║
║ VECTOR 1: THE ISO (the original. the classic. the nuke.) ║
║ VECTOR 2: THE PORTABLE APP (new. terrifying. 66MB.) ║
║ VECTOR 3: THE AME PLAYBOOK (for the wizard enjoyers.) ║
║ ║
║ Three ways to die. Zero ways to hide. ║
║ Microsoft's bloat has nowhere left to run. ║
║ ║
║ Gerald is crying. Happy tears. Raccoon tears. ║
║ The trenchcoat is damp but STRUCTURALLY SOUND. ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
VECTOR 2: THE SLAYER PORTABLE — "DOOM ON A USB STICK"
In the beginning there was the ISO. And it was good. It killed the bloat before it drew breath. But there was a problem. A terrible, unforgivable problem. A problem that kept Gerald awake at night, hunched at the top of the trenchcoat, whispering into the void:
"What about the machines that are ALREADY ALIVE?"
The machines already running. Already infected. Already festering with 400 services and 180 appx packages and 18 scheduled tasks that phone home to Redmond at 3 AM like digital confessionals for a sin you never committed. Those machines. YOUR machine. The one you're reading this on RIGHT NOW. The one with OneDrive pinned to the sidebar. The one with Copilot lurking in the taskbar. The one with 47 Bing apps that materialized overnight like digital mushrooms in a damp server room.
Gerald stared at the problem. Steve stared at Gerald. Dave provided structural support.
"We build a portable app," Gerald said.
And it was BIBLICAL.
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║ ║
║ T H E S L A Y E R P O R T A B L E ║
║ ║
║ 66.5 MB of pure, concentrated, portable destruction. ║
║ No installer. No setup. No dependencies. No mercy. ║
║ ║
║ Extract the 7z. Right-click. Run as administrator. ║
║ That's it. That's the deployment. ║
║ ║
║ It fits on a USB stick. It fits in an email attachment ║
║ (if your email allows 73MB attachments, which it should, ║
║ because 73MB is NOTHING compared to the 47GB of bloat ║
║ it's about to ANNIHILATE). ║
║ ║
║ It runs on ANY Windows 10/11 machine. Existing install. ║
║ Existing users. Existing data. ALL PRESERVED. ║
║ Only the BLOAT dies. Your files? UNTOUCHED. ║
║ Your photos? SAFE. Your documents? PRISTINE. ║
║ OneDrive? DEAD. But your files? ALIVE. ║
║ ║
║ Gerald held the USB stick up to the moonlight. ║
║ It contained the entire Slayer arsenal. ║
║ 66.5 megabytes. In his tiny raccoon hand. ║
║ "This is the most dangerous thing in Redmond," ║
║ he whispered. Steve nodded. Dave was legs. ║
║ The trenchcoat rippled with PRIDE. ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
A Whole New UI — "Different Paint, Same BFG"
The Portable app is NOT the OOBE in a window. It's a REDESIGN. Crimson red. Dark as a dumpster at midnight. Sidebar navigation. Custom frameless titlebar. Gerald demanded it look different. "We are not the OOBE," he said, pacing atop the trenchcoat. "We are its OLDER, MEANER BROTHER. The one who shows up unannounced and fixes everything."
THE OOBE: THE PORTABLE:
┌──────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ │ THE SLAYER | Portable [─] [✕] │
│ Full screen │ ├───────┬──────────────────────────│
│ Blue accent ...
the rip and tearing of of v3.0
WISO v3.5.0 → v3.5.1 — "THE HEIST" → "THE BLOODHOUND"
___________
/ \ IN THE FIRST AGE, IN THE FIRST BUILD,
| W.I.S.O. | WHEN THE SERVICES FIRST BLOATED,
| ═══════ | ONE STOOD.
| SLAYER | BURNED BY THE EMBERS OF TELEMETRY,
| EDITION | HIS TORMENT FUELED BY HIS HATRED
\___________/ FOR UNNECESSARY BACKGROUND PROCESSES.
|||
||| HE CHOSE THE PATH OF PERPETUAL TORMENT.
/ | \
/ | \ IN HIS RAVENOUS HATRED HE FOUND NO PEACE,
/ | \ AND WITH BOILING BLOOD HE SCOURED THE
/ | \ REGISTRY HIVES — SEEKING VENGEANCE
/_____|_____\ AGAINST THE DARK LORDS OF REDMOND
WHO HAD WRONGED HIM.
HE WORE THE CROWN OF THE WISO SLAYER,
AND THOSE THAT TASTED THE BITE OF HIS
Start=4 NAMED HIM...
THE DEBLOATER.
Release Date: March 2026
Codename: Kar En Tuk ("Rip and Tear" in Sentinel tongue. Also what we do to your services. And now, your OOBE.)
Difficulty Setting: ULTRA-NIGHTMARE (for Microsoft's entire first-boot infrastructure)
Recommended Background Music: Mick Gordon - "The Only Thing They Fear Is You" ON REPEAT. ON LOOP. FOREVER. LIKE MICROSOFT'S UPDATE CYCLE. BUT GOOD.
ESRB Rating: M for Microsoft's OOBE Getting Replaced By Raccoons
Trenchcoat Status: LOAD-BEARING. Gerald is at the top PLANNING A HEIST. Steve is typing the heist code. Dave is the getaway legs.
Heist Status: COMPLETE. Microsoft's OOBE has been replaced. The mark never saw it coming.
Bloodhound Status: RELEASED. v3.5.1. The installers can no longer hide. We will find them. We will ALWAYS find them.
Satya Nadella's Blood Pressure: █████████████████████████████ (even higher. the raccoons have learned to HUNT)
v3.5.1 — "THE BLOODHOUND"
Gerald woke up at 3 AM. Not because of a nightmare. Because of a BUG REPORT. Someone's baked installers didn't run during OOBE. The files were THERE. On the ISO. In the WIM. Copied to disk. But the OOBE couldn't FIND them. The path was wrong. One directory deeper than expected. A single backslash between victory and defeat. Between a clean Firefox install and a user staring at a desktop with NO BROWSER wondering if this is what the void feels like.
Gerald did not go back to sleep.
Gerald built a BLOODHOUND.
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║ ║
║ T H E B L O O D H O U N D ║
║ ║
║ v3.5 COULD install your apps. ║
║ v3.5.1 will HUNT FOR your apps. ║
║ Across 7 directories. 4 levels deep. Like a bloodhound ║
║ that was raised by raccoons and trained on NTFS. ║
║ ║
║ And if it can't find them ANYWHERE on the entire disk? ║
║ It pulls them from the INTERNET. Via winget. ║
║ At runtime. During the OOBE. While you watch. ║
║ ║
║ Your apps WILL install. This is no longer a promise. ║
║ This is a THREAT. Directed at whatever force in the universe ║
║ keeps moving installer directories around. ║
║ ║
║ Gerald is the nose. Steve is the legs. Dave is the bark. ║
║ The trenchcoat is the leash. ║
║ (The leash is also load-bearing.) ║
║ ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
THE THREE-LAYER APP INSTALLATION RESILIENCE SYSTEM — "Find. Kill. Install."
v3.5 had ONE path. C:\Windows\Setup\Scripts\installers\. If your installers were there, great. If they weren't — because Windows moved them, because a WIM extraction hiccup put them one directory deeper, because Mercury was in retrograde, because Microsoft's file system has OPINIONS — then nothing installed. Silently. Like a hitman who showed up to the wrong address and just... went home.
v3.5.1 does not go home. v3.5.1 has THREE LAYERS. And the third layer has INTERNET ACCESS.
THE BLOODHOUND PROTOCOL
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║ LAYER 1: "THE EXPECTED" ║
║ Check C:\Windows\Setup\Scripts\installers\ ║
║ Look for installer-manifest.json ║
║ If found → use it. Done. Easy. Like it should be. ║
║ Status: THE POLITE KNOCK. ║
║ ║
║ LAYER 2: "THE FULL FILESYSTEM SCAN" ║
║ Breadth-first search. 7 root paths. Depth limit 4. ║
║ Hunts for installer-manifest.json OR any directory ║
║ named "installers" containing .exe/.msi/.msix/.appx files. ║
║ Skips Windows/, Program Files/, Users/ for speed. ║
║ Status: KICKING DOWN EVERY DOOR IN THE BUILDING. ║
║ ║
║ LAYER 3: "THE WINGET FALLBACK" ║
║ No baked installers found ANYWHERE on disk? ║
║ Fine. We'll download them. At runtime. From winget. ║
║ Using the original app IDs from firstlogon-options.json. ║
║ Status: CALLING IN AN AIRSTRIKE. ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
LAYER 1: THE POLITE KNOCK
getInstallers() {
check: C:\Windows\Setup\Scripts\installers\installer-manifest.json
found? → return installers. done. go home. hug a raccoon.
not found? → LAYER 2 ACTIVATED.
}
This is the happy path. The path where everything went right. The path where the WIM extracted perfectly and the files landed exactly where we put them. This path works 95% of the time. v3.5 only HAD this path. v3.5 was an OPTIMIST. v3.5.1 is a REALIST WITH TRUST ISSUES.
LAYER 2: THE FULL FILESYSTEM SCAN — "Breadth-First Fury"
When Layer 1 fails, the Bloodhound is UNLEASHED. A breadth-first search algorithm — not depth-first, because we're not ANIMALS (we're raccoons, which are technically procyonids, but the POINT stands) — tears through the filesystem like Gerald through a dumpster at 2 AM.
SEARCH ROOTS:
┌─────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────┐
│ Root Path │ Why We Search Here │
├─────────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────┤
│ C:\Windows\Setup\ │ The canonical location │
│ C:\ │ Panic root. Check EVERYWHERE. │
│ C:\Setup │ Some WIM tools put stuff here │
│ C:\Scripts │ Reasonable. Suspiciously so. │
│ C:\WISO │ Our own dir. We'd look stupid │
│ │ if we didn't check our own. │
│ C:\Windows\Temp │ The junk drawer of Windows │
│ C:\ProgramData │ The OTHER junk drawer │
└─────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────┘
DEPTH LIMIT: 4
(Any deeper and we're basically doing digital archaeology.)
(Gerald once searched depth 8 during testing. Found a folder
from 2019. Inside it was a copy of installer-manifest.json
from a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PROJECT. He screamed. Steve
heard it from two floors down. The depth limit was set to 4
that same afternoon.)
SKIP LIST:
├─ C:\Windows\ (too heavy. 40GB of "necessary" files.)
├─ C:\Program Files\ (not our circus)
├─ C:\Program Files (x86)\ (DEFINITELY not our circus)
└─ C:\Users\ (privacy. we respect it. unlike SOME companies.)
HUNT TARGETS:
├─ installer-manifest.json (the manifest. the treasure map.)
└─ Any dir named "installers" containing:
├─ *.exe (could be Firefox. could be chaos. we'll take either.)
├─ *.msi (the civilized installer format)
├─ *.msix (the new civilized format)
└─ *.appx (the legacy new format. naming is hard.)
The scan reports EXACTLY what it finds. Every directory checked. Every file discovered. Every dead end logged. If your installers are ANYWHERE on that disk within 4 levels of those 7 roots, the Bloodhound WILL find them. It's like find / -name "installer-manifest.json" except it doesn't take 45 minutes and doesn't search inside the Windows folder like a lunatic.
The resolvedInstallersDir variable remembers WHERE the scan found files, so when installApp runs later, it uses the CORRECT path. Not the expected path. Not the default path. The path where the files ACTUALLY ARE. Because in v3.5, installApp would look in the expected directory even when the files had wandered off to C:\Setup\Scripts\installers\ like a lost tourist. Now it knows. Now it REMEMBERS. Lik...
the unleashing of v2.0
WISO v2.0.0 — "The One Where We Performed Brain Surgery On Windows (The Patient Was Not Informed. The Patient Was Windows.)"
"Microsoft shipped an OS with Candy Crush pre-installed. On a $200 operating system. On a $1500 PC. We fixed that. We are not okay. You are not okay. None of us are okay. But at least your ISO is."
What is WISO? (A Question We Ask Ourselves at 3 AM)
Windows ISO Customizer. You give it a Windows ISO. It gives you back a Windows ISO that doesn't suck.
No telemetry. No Candy Crush. No OneDrive stalking you across devices like a digital ex who won't take the hint. No Copilot in your taskbar asking if you've considered Bing today. No ads on your lock screen. No "Bing search results" when you search for Calculator. (Calculator. You searched for CALCULATOR. And Microsoft said "have you considered these 47 sponsored links and a PDF from 2003?")
Just... Windows. The way it should have shipped. The way Bill Gates probably intended before the timeline split and we ended up in the darkest branch of the multiverse where your operating system comes with pre-installed TikTok and a "suggested for you" section in the Start menu.
What's New in v2.0 (Or: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the WIM)
The Big One: Offline Brain Surgery (Consent Not Required)
Previously, WISO customized Windows using first-logon scripts — PowerShell commands that ran when you first booted. This was fine until:
- Windows showed a visible CMD window during setup (real professional, very enterprise, definitely not the digital equivalent of your OS having a stroke in front of guests)
- Half the scripts silently failed because Windows re-provisioned bloat faster than we could remove it (Microsoft's bloat has momentum, it has inertia, it has a will)
- Users thought "it opens the terminal but seems to not do anything" (we felt that. we felt that in our souls.)
v2.0 fixes this by doing almost EVERYTHING offline, directly in the WIM image, before the ISO is even created. We load the registry hives. We rewrite reality. We delete files. We close the image. Windows doesn't even know what hit it. Windows will never know. Windows cannot know. We have become the thing that goes bump in the WIM.
What's now done OFFLINE (no scripts, no CMD windows, no witnesses):
- 130+ services disabled directly in the SYSTEM registry hive — we are the coroner and the judge
- 50+ privacy/telemetry registry tweaks in the SOFTWARE hive — Microsoft's telemetry endpoint will receive only our regards
- 60+ HKCU tweaks baked into the Default user NTUSER.DAT profile — the default user is now our sleeper agent
- 40+ scheduled tasks deleted — the XML files. They can't run if they don't exist. We have achieved digital necromancy in reverse.
- OneDrive THANOS-SNAPPED — binaries, program folders, default user data, scheduled tasks, registry entries, Run keys. All deleted from the image before it's even installed. OneDrive didn't just die. OneDrive was retconned. OneDrive never existed. In this timeline, OneDrive is a myth.
- Edge folders, Teams, Skype, Cortana folders — physically deleted from the WIM. We didn't uninstall them. We un-existed them. The files are gone. The folders are gone. The concept of "Microsoft Teams pre-installed" is now a philosophical question.
What still runs at first logon (silently, hidden, like a ghost in your machine):
- Kill any OneDrive processes that somehow survived the nuclear strike (Windows Update is... persistent. Windows Update is the cockroach of software. Windows Update will outlive us all.)
- Online Appx removal for apps Windows re-provisions after install (3 passes. Three. Because Microsoft is stubborn. Because Microsoft has a team of engineers whose job is to put Candy Crush back. We have a team of engineers whose job is to delete Candy Crush. This is the cold war. We are winning.)
- Power plan configuration (needs
powercfgwhich requires a running OS — we cannot rewrite thermodynamics. yet.) - Baked-in app installers (.exe/.msi need a running Windows — the circle of life)
- Scheduled bloat verification sweeps at 2, 5, 15, 30, and 60 minutes — we will hunt the bloat. we will find the bloat. we will delete the bloat. and we will do it again. and again. and again.
130+ Services Disabled (Safely) (We Swear) (We Triple-Checked) (Please Don't Sue Us)
We went through every single Windows service and asked one question: "Does the OS actually need this to not die?"
If the answer was "no," we killed it.
If the answer was "maybe," we killed it.
If the answer was "yes but it's annoying," we put it on a list and then killed it anyway.
Services we disable (categorized for your reading pleasure and/or existential crisis):
| Category | Count | Examples | Our Justification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telemetry & Diagnostics | 9 | DiagTrack, dmwappushservice, WerSvc, PcaSvc | "We don't want Microsoft to know when we crash. It's personal." |
| Performance Drains | 3 | SysMain (Superfetch), WSearch (indexing), RetailDemo | "Your SSD doesn't need to be 'prefetched.' Your SSD is fine. Leave your SSD alone." |
| Unused Hardware | 28 | Fax, Mixed Reality, NFC Wallet, Infrared, Smart Cards, Telephony | "Do you have a fax machine? In 2025? Do you? DO YOU?" |
| Xbox | 4 | XblAuthManager, XblGameSave (kept if Gaming Mode ON) | "We're not monsters. We have a toggle. Use it." |
| Discovery/UPnP | 4 | SSDPSRV, upnphost, FDResPub, fdPHost | "Your PC doesn't need to discover your printer at 2 AM. It knows where the printer is. The printer hasn't moved." |
| Remote Access | 6 | RDP, Remote Registry, Routing, App-V | "You're building a custom ISO. You're not running a server farm. Probably." |
| Sync/Cloud | 7 | OneSyncSvc, FileSyncService, CDPUserSvc | "Sync to what? Sync to whom? Sync why? We have questions." |
| Per-User Templates | 6+ | ConsentUxUserSvc, DevicePickerUserSvc, PrintWorkflowUserSvc | "Consent UX. CONSENT. UX. The audacity." |
| Sensors | 4 | SensorDataService, SensrSvc, SensorService | "Your laptop is not a mood ring. Stop." |
| Printing | 2 | Spooler, PrintNotify | "Nobody prints from a gaming rig. If you do, we have a toggle. We have many toggles. We have so many toggles." |
| Networking (unused) | 10 | P2P, PNRP, SNMP, iSCSI, WinRM, ssh-agent, ICS | "Peer-to-peer what? Peer-to-peer WHY? In 2025? On a desktop?" |
| Hyper-V | 9 | All vmicXxx services, HvHost | "You're not virtualizing on bare metal. You're playing games. Probably. We're guessing. It's fine." |
| Edge Auto-Update | 3 | edgeupdate, edgeupdatem, MicrosoftEdgeElevationService | "Edge will update itself. Edge always updates itself. Edge is always updating. Edge is a state of being." |
| BitLocker/Encryption | 4 | bdesvc, EFS, WEPHOSTSVC | "You're making a custom ISO. You know what you're doing. Probably. We hope." |
| Enterprise-Only | 8 | dot3svc, EapHost, workfolderssvc, MSDTC, KtmRm | "802.1X. In your house. With your gaming PC. Sure. Okay." |
| Backup/Recovery | 3 | VSS, swprv, wbengine | "Volume Shadow Copy. For your C: drive. That has games on it. Right." |
| Misc Bloat | 30+ | AxInstSV (ActiveX!), defragsvc, fhsvc, HidServ... | "ActiveX. ACTIVEX. In 2025. We're done. We're so done." |
Services we DO NOT touch (because we're not monsters) (because we like not being sued) (because we tested this and disabling them caused problems) (we have a list. it's a long list. it's called neverDisable. we are very serious about this list.):
- Windows Update, BITS, Defender, Audio, Firewall, DNS, DHCP, Event Log — the spine of the OS
- RPC, Security Accounts Manager, Task Scheduler, Network Location Awareness — the nervous system
- All core display, input, and Store services needed for OOBE — we want your install to finish
- FontCache — because garbled text during setup is a bad look and also deeply unsettling
- Everything that would blue-screen if disabled offline (dam, NetBT, tcpipreg) — we are not here to summon the blue screen of death. we are here to delete Candy Crush.
We audited every single entry against AtlasOS, ReviOS, Microsoft documentation, and a ouija board. If it can break installation, OOBE, or basic OS functionality — it's in the neverDisable list and physically cannot be touched. The code will not allow it. We will not allow it. The ouija board said "don't" and we listened.
Settings Actually Work Now (Revolutionary. We Know.)
v1.0 had a dirty secret: half the toggles in the UI didn't actually do what they said. Settings existed in the UI but were ignored by the build process. They were decorative. They were suggestions. They were the UI equivalent of a "suggested for you" that nobody asked for.
We audited every single option. We fixed every single option. We are now in a state of alignment. The UI and the reality are one. It's almost spiritual.
| Setting | v1.0 | v2.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Disable Game Bar | Game DVR services disabled regardless | Only disabled when you check the box. Your choice. Your power. |
| Gaming Mode | Xbox services always killed | Xbox services kept alive when Gaming Mode is ON. We respect your hobbies. |
| Ultra/High Performance | Prefetcher, Superfetch, HiberBoot always disabled | Only disabled when you select a performance preset. We are not tyrants. |
| Disable Windows Spotlight | Always disabled with privacy tweaks | Only disabled when you check the box. Maybe you like lock screen ads. We don't judge. We judge a little. |
| Hide Taskbar Search | Toggle existed, did NOTHING | Now writes SearchboxTaskbarMode=0 to registry. IT WORKS. WE FIXED IT. WE ARE SO PROUD. |
| Remove Bloatware | OneDrive killed even with bloatware OFF | OneDrive only removed when bloatware removal is enabled. Consent matters. |
| Widgets/Chat | Always... |
the release of v1.0.0
WISO v1.0.0 — "Operation: Trash Panda"
Codename: Three Raccoons in a Trenchcoat Who Drank Too Much Coffee and Accidentally Built a Software Product
Classification: TOP SECRET / RACCOON EYES ONLY / DO NOT FORWARD TO REDMOND
Developer Status: Alive (technically). Caffeinated (dangerously). Sane (debatable).
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║ ██╗ ██╗██╗███████╗ ██████╗ ██╗ ██╗ ██╗ ██████╗ ║
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║ RELEASE DATE: Right now. This exact second. Stop asking. ║
║ DEVELOPER: One person. Barely alive. Running on fumes. ║
║ MASCOTS: Three raccoons. In a trenchcoat. Named Gary. ║
║ COFFEE CONSUMED DURING DEVELOPMENT: 847 cups (estimated) ║
║ HOURS SLEPT DURING DEVELOPMENT: lol ║
║ SANITY REMAINING: undefined (NaN) (null) (segfault) ║
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THE OFFICIAL STORY
WISO 1.0.0 is a Windows ISO customization tool that removes bloatware, disables telemetry, bakes in apps, and creates clean bootable ISOs.
THE ACTUAL STORY
It is 4:47 AM. I have consumed my 17th cup of coffee. The raccoons have fallen asleep on my keyboard. One of them is named Gary. Gary is dreaming. I hope he's dreaming about a world without Candy Crush. I am not dreaming, because I cannot sleep, because the coffee won't let me, because I drank 17 cups, because I was debugging a DISM exit code 32 error, because the WIM file was locked, because Defender was scanning it, because Defender thought my debloating script was a threat, because in Microsoft's worldview, removing Candy Crush IS a threat.
So I built an app. In Electron. In JavaScript. To automate PowerShell. To run DISM. To modify a WIM. To remove apps. From Windows. That I paid for.
This is my life now.
I'm fine.
(I'm not fine. But Windows is clean. So it was worth it.)
WHAT'S NEW (Everything. It's v1.0.0. There was no v0.x. We emerged fully formed from the dumpster like Athena from Zeus's head, if Athena was a raccoon and Zeus was a corrupted Windows Update.)
The Bloatpocalypse: 150+ Packages Removed
I sat down. I opened a fresh Windows 11 install. I counted the pre-installed apps.
I counted AGAIN because surely I miscounted.
I did not miscount.
One hundred and fifty. Pre-installed apps. On a "clean" install. Of a $200 operating system.
One hundred and fifty apps that run at startup. That consume RAM. That send telemetry. That show ads. That you didn't ask for. That you can't easily remove. That will COME BACK after a Windows Update.
I drank my first coffee. Then my second. Then my fifth. Then I started coding. Then I couldn't stop. Then the raccoons arrived. Then we built WISO.
Here is an incomplete list of things we removed and my deteriorating mental state as I discovered each one:
Coffee #1 — The Obvious Ones
- Candy Crush Saga
- Candy Crush Soda Saga
- Candy Crush Friends Saga
- Bubble Witch 3 Saga
"OK, games. Expected. Moving on."
Coffee #3 — The Social Media
- TikTok (A VERTICAL VIDEO APP. ON A DESKTOP. WITH A HORIZONTAL MONITOR.)
"Why... why are these here? This is a computer. For computing. Not for doom-scrolling. I compute on this machine."
Coffee #5 — The Streaming Apps
- Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Sling TV, Plex, TuneIn, Pandora, iHeartRadio
"TEN. TEN STREAMING APPS. On a clean install. I use this computer for Excel. EXCEL."
Coffee #7 — The Microsoft Stuff
- Edge (removed by deleting its entire folder tree because uninstall doesn't work)
- Teams (was in the taskbar, the tray, the startup, AND the Start menu simultaneously)
- Copilot (an AI that watches everything I type, pre-installed, for free, which means I'm the product)
- Cortana (deprecated by Microsoft but STILL SHIPPING. Even they gave up on her but can't let go.)
- Recall (SCREENSHOTS YOUR SCREEN EVERY FEW SECONDS. WHO APPROVED THIS.)
"I need a stronger coffee."
Coffee #10 — The Advertising Infrastructure
- Microsoft.ContentDeliveryManager (THE APP THAT INSTALLS OTHER APPS YOU DIDN'T ASK FOR)
- Microsoft.Advertising.Xaml (YOUR OS HAS AN ADVERTISING FRAMEWORK. NAMED ADVERTISING.)
- Microsoft.BingWallpapers (ADS. ON YOUR WALLPAPER.)
- Windows Spotlight (ADS. ON YOUR LOCK SCREEN.)
- Start Menu Suggestions (ADS. IN YOUR START MENU.)
"I need to lie down. I won't. The coffee won't let me. But I need to."
Coffee #14 — The Existential Crisis Apps
- Zune Video. Zune Music. (THE ZUNE DIED IN 2012. IT'S 2026. 14 YEARS. THE APP IS STILL SHIPPING.)
- Microsoft Solitaire Collection (NOW WITH ADS AND A $10/YEAR PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION)
- 3D Builder, 3D Viewer, Print 3D (Microsoft bet on 3D printing. 3D printing said no. The apps stayed.)
- Mixed Reality Portal (Microsoft spent BILLIONS on HoloLens. Sold 7.)
- Windows WordPad (not good enough to be Word, not simple enough to be Notepad, too proud to admit it)
"Is this a operating system or a junk drawer? Am I a user or a hostage?"
Coffee #17 — The Breaking Point
- Microsoft.StorePurchaseApp (the Store has a SEPARATE APP for PURCHASING. Two apps. For one store.)
- Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost (the OOBE cloud thing that FORCES Microsoft account sign-in)
- Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin (Azure Active Directory. On a HOME PC. FOR A CONSUMER.)
"I have achieved a state of caffeinated enlightenment. I can see the registry. All of it. Every key. Every value. They're speaking to me. They're saying 'remove us.' So I will."
The OOBE Exorcism
The Out-of-Box Experience has been completely bypassed. I spent 3 hours reverse-engineering the OOBE flow. Here is what I found, annotated by coffee #15:
Step 1: "Hi there! Let's get you set up!"
Translation: "We've been expecting you. You can't leave. The only way out is through. And through is a Microsoft account."
Step 2: "Let's connect you to a network!"
Translation: "We need internet access to verify your hardware meets our arbitrary requirements for the OS you already booted from a USB drive that you burned using a tool you downloaded from our website."
Step 3: "Sign in with your Microsoft account!"
Translation: "GIVE US YOUR EMAIL. YOUR PHONE NUMBER. YOUR SOUL. THE OFFLINE ACCOUNT BUTTON IS BEHIND 3 CLICKS AND A TEXT LINK IN 8PT FONT IN A COLOR THAT'S 0.5 SHADES DIFFERENT FROM THE BACKGROUND. YOU'LL NEVER FIND IT. MUAHAHAHA."
Step 4: "Create a PIN!"
Translation: "We made you create an online account. Now create a 4-digit code to protect it. This PIN will be stored locally. On the device. That you're trying to set up. Security? Never heard of her."
Step 5: "Choose your privacy settings!"
Translation: "Here are 6 toggles. All are ON by default. 'Basic' still sends telemetry. 'Full' sends everything including your Wi-Fi passwords. There is no 'Off.' There is no 'Leave me alone.' There is no 'I am a human being with a right to privacy in my own home.'"
Step 6: "Customize your experience! Are you a gamer? A creative? A student?"
Translation: "SELECT YOUR INTERESTS SO WE CAN SERVE YOU TARGETED ADS IN THE START MENU OF THE OPERATING SYSTEM YOU JUST PAID $200 FOR AND SPENT 15 MINUTES SETTING UP WHILE WE DATA-MINED YOUR EVERY CLICK."
WISO removes ALL of this. Boot → Desktop. That's it. Like God intended. Like XP delivered. Before the dark times.
The App Smuggling Ring
We are running a Firefox smuggling operation inside Microsoft's deployment pipeline.
We use winget (Microsoft's tool) to download Firefox (Microsoft's competitor), embed it into install.wim (Microsoft's image format), using DISM (Microsoft's tool), inside Windows\Setup\Scripts (Microsoft's OEM customization folder), wrapped in a manifest we wrote (our contribution to the crime).
Microsoft built the prison. They built the tunnel. They gave us the shovel. We're just... using it.
At first logon, RunLocalInstallers.ps1 reads the manifest and launches each installer. The user sees Firefox setup pop up on a fresh Windows install. No Edge in sight. Chrome downloading itself. VLC ready to go. 7-Zip standing by.
It's beautiful. It's poetic. It's what Microsoft would call "an unintended use of the deployment pipeline." We call it "Tuesday."
The TPM Bypass (The Billion-Dollar Screen Door)
Microsoft's hardware requirements for Windows 11:
- TPM 2.0 (a security chip)
- Secure Boot (a BIOS feature)
- 4GB RAM (reasonable)
- 64GB storage (also reasonable)
Our bypass:
- Empty one DLL file (
appraiserres.dll→ 0 bytes) - Add three registry keys (
BypassTPMCheck,BypassSecureBootCheck,BypassRAMCheck)
That's it. That's the whole thing.
Microsoft spent millions developing the hardware requirement system. Marketing teams crafted messaging about "security and reliability." Entire PowerPoint presentations were delivered to executives about "the importance of TPM 2.0 for the modern computing experience."
And we bypassed it with an empty file and three registry keys.
The security is a suggestion. The requirements are a vibe. The emperor has no clothes. And the TPM check has no teeth. And I have no sleep. But I have coffee. And that's enough.
The Re...
the unleashing of v2.0
WISO v2.0.0 — "The One Where We Performed Brain Surgery On Windows"
"Microsoft shipped an OS with Candy Crush pre-installed. On a $200 operating system. On a $1500 PC. We fixed that."
What is WISO?
Windows ISO Customizer. You give it a Windows ISO. It gives you back a Windows ISO that doesn't suck.
No telemetry. No Candy Crush. No OneDrive stalking you across devices. No Copilot in your taskbar. No ads on your lock screen. No "Bing search results" when you search for Calculator.
Just... Windows. The way it should have shipped.
What's New in v2.0
The Big One: Offline Brain Surgery
Previously, WISO customized Windows using first-logon scripts — PowerShell commands that ran when you first booted. This was fine until:
- Windows showed a visible CMD window during setup (real professional)
- Half the scripts silently failed because Windows re-provisioned bloat faster than we could remove it
- Users thought "it opens the terminal but seems to not do anything"
v2.0 fixes this by doing almost EVERYTHING offline, directly in the WIM image, before the ISO is even created. We load the registry hives, rewrite reality, delete files, and close the image. Windows doesn't even know what hit it.
What's now done OFFLINE (no scripts, no CMD windows, no runtime dependency):
- 130+ services disabled directly in the SYSTEM registry hive
- 50+ privacy/telemetry registry tweaks in the SOFTWARE hive
- 60+ HKCU tweaks baked into the Default user NTUSER.DAT profile
- 40+ scheduled tasks deleted (the XML files — they can't run if they don't exist)
- OneDrive THANOS-SNAPPED — binaries, program folders, default user data, scheduled tasks, registry entries, and Run keys — all deleted from the image before it's even installed
- Edge folders, Teams, Skype, Cortana folders — physically deleted from the WIM
What still runs at first logon (silently, hidden, no visible window):
- Kill any OneDrive processes that somehow survived the nuclear strike (Windows Update is... persistent)
- Online Appx removal for apps Windows re-provisions after install (3 passes because Microsoft is stubborn)
- Power plan configuration (needs
powercfgwhich requires a running OS) - Baked-in app installers (.exe/.msi need a running Windows)
- Scheduled bloat verification sweeps at 2, 5, 15, 30, and 60 minutes
130+ Services Disabled (Safely)
We went through every single Windows service and asked one question: "Does the OS actually need this to not die?"
If the answer was "no," we killed it.
Services we disable (categorized for your reading pleasure):
| Category | Count | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Telemetry & Diagnostics | 9 | DiagTrack, dmwappushservice, WerSvc, PcaSvc |
| Performance Drains | 3 | SysMain (Superfetch), WSearch (indexing), RetailDemo |
| Unused Hardware | 28 | Fax, Mixed Reality, NFC Wallet, Infrared, Smart Cards, Telephony |
| Xbox | 4 | XblAuthManager, XblGameSave (kept if Gaming Mode ON) |
| Discovery/UPnP | 4 | SSDPSRV, upnphost, FDResPub, fdPHost |
| Remote Access | 6 | RDP, Remote Registry, Routing, App-V |
| Sync/Cloud | 7 | OneSyncSvc, FileSyncService, CDPUserSvc |
| Per-User Templates | 6+ | ConsentUxUserSvc, DevicePickerUserSvc, PrintWorkflowUserSvc |
| Sensors | 4 | SensorDataService, SensrSvc, SensorService |
| Printing | 2 | Spooler, PrintNotify |
| Networking (unused) | 10 | P2P, PNRP, SNMP, iSCSI, WinRM, ssh-agent, ICS |
| Hyper-V | 9 | All vmicXxx services, HvHost |
| Edge Auto-Update | 3 | edgeupdate, edgeupdatem, MicrosoftEdgeElevationService |
| BitLocker/Encryption | 4 | bdesvc, EFS, WEPHOSTSVC |
| Enterprise-Only | 8 | dot3svc, EapHost, workfolderssvc, MSDTC, KtmRm |
| Backup/Recovery | 3 | VSS, swprv, wbengine |
| Misc Bloat | 30+ | AxInstSV (ActiveX!), defragsvc, fhsvc, HidServ, FrameServer, LxpSvc, stisvc, TroubleshootingSvc... |
Services we DO NOT touch (because we're not monsters):
- Windows Update, BITS, Defender, Audio, Firewall, DNS, DHCP, Event Log
- RPC, Security Accounts Manager, Task Scheduler, Network Location Awareness
- All core display, input, and Store services needed for OOBE
- FontCache (because garbled text during setup is a bad look)
- Everything that would blue-screen if disabled offline (dam, NetBT, tcpipreg)
We audited every single entry against AtlasOS, ReviOS, and Microsoft documentation. If it can break installation, OOBE, or basic OS functionality — it's in the neverDisable list and physically cannot be touched.
Settings Actually Work Now
v1.0 had a dirty secret: half the toggles in the UI didn't actually do what they said. Settings existed in the UI but were ignored by the build process. We audited every single option and fixed it:
| Setting | v1.0 | v2.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Disable Game Bar | Game DVR services disabled regardless | Only disabled when you check the box |
| Gaming Mode | Xbox services always killed | Xbox services kept alive when Gaming Mode is ON |
| Ultra/High Performance | Prefetcher, Superfetch, HiberBoot always disabled | Only disabled when you select a performance preset |
| Disable Windows Spotlight | Always disabled with privacy tweaks | Only disabled when you check the box |
| Hide Taskbar Search | Toggle existed, did NOTHING | Now writes SearchboxTaskbarMode=0 to registry |
| Remove Bloatware | OneDrive killed even with bloatware OFF | OneDrive only removed when bloatware removal is enabled |
| Widgets/Chat | Always removed | Only removed when bloatware removal is on |
Every preset (Stock, Light, Balanced, Gaming, Privacy, Minimal, Extreme, etc.) now correctly maps to the right set of tweaks. No more "I selected Stock but it still killed 100 services."
Build Logs That Read Like a Comedy Special
Every log message in the build process has been rewritten. Highlights:
- Step 5 header: "OFFLINE BRAIN SURGERY ON WINDOWS — The patient didn't consent. We don't care."
- Service disabling: "Windows has ~200 services running at boot. Most exist to spy on you, phone home, or run Candy Crush."
- Privacy tweaks: "Microsoft's telemetry endpoint is going to get a 404 from this machine. It's beautiful."
- NTUSER.DAT: "The Content Delivery Manager has 19 'SubscribedContent' values. NINETEEN. Microsoft really said 'subscribe to deez apps.'"
- Scheduled tasks: "Deleting the XML files that tell Windows 'hey, spy on them at 3 AM.'"
- OneDrive: "This is not a removal. This is an EXTINCTION EVENT."
- ISO creation: "Avengers theme plays. THIS IS IT. THE FINAL BOSS."
- Success: "Satya Nadella, if you're reading this: we're sorry. Actually no. You put Candy Crush in Windows. THIS IS YOUR FAULT."
- Failure: "WASTED — BUILD FAILED — F IN CHAT"
- ADK fallback: "PLOT TWIST! The portable version has betrayed us. This is like calling in the National Guard because the local sheriff couldn't handle it."
Plus 100+ unique jokes for individual bloatware packages. Every single app Microsoft pre-installs gets its own roast.
ADK Fallback (Still Works)
If the portable oscdimg.exe fails to create the ISO:
- WISO automatically downloads and installs the full Windows ADK
- Uses it to build the ISO
- Automatically uninstalls the ADK afterwards — leaves no trace
Hidden First-Logon Window
The few remaining runtime tasks now execute with:
cmd /min /c— minimized CMDpowershell.exe -WindowStyle Hidden— invisible PowerShell
No more terminal window flashing on screen during first boot. The user will never know we were there.
Bloat Verification Sweeps
Windows Update is aggressive. It re-provisions apps after install. WISO now schedules 5 cleanup sweeps at 2, 5, 15, 30, and 60 minutes after first logon. Each sweep:
- Removes re-provisioned Appx packages (3 passes per sweep)
- Kills Edge, OneDrive, Teams, Skype processes
- Deletes resurrected folders and shortcuts
- Re-disables services that Windows Update re-enabled
- Disables UCPD driver (ReviOS-style, only with Ultra Performance)
Presets
| Preset | Bloat | Privacy | Gaming | Perf | Spotlight | Search | GameBar | Reserved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Light | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Balanced | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | - | - | - |
| Gaming | Yes | Yes | Yes | Ultra+High | - | - | - | - |
| Gaming Lite | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | - | - | - |
| Privacy | Yes | Yes | - | Ultra | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Privacy Lite | Yes | Yes | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Workstation | Yes | Yes | - | High | Yes | - | Yes | - |
| Laptop | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | - | - | - |
| Developer | Yes | Yes | - | Ultra+High | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Minimal | Yes | Yes | - | Ultra | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Extreme | Yes | Yes | Yes | Ultra+High | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Full Changelog
Added
- Offline SYSTEM hive manipulation — 130+ services disabled before Windows is even installed
- Offline SOFTWARE hive manipulation — telemetry, Copilot, Recall, Edge, OneDrive policies
- Offline NTUSER.DAT manipulation — default user profile gets 60+ privacy/QOL tweaks
- Offline scheduled task deletion — 40+ task XML files physically removed from the image
- Offline OneDrive nuclear strike — binaries, folders, registry, Run keys, tasks — all gone
SearchboxTaskbarModeregistry value — "Hide Taskbar Search" toggle now actually works- Windows Spotlight conditional gating — only disabled when the toggle is checked
- Widgets/Chat conditional gating — only removed when bloatware removal is on
- Performance tweaks conditional gating — HiberBoot, Prefetch, Superfetch only disabled with performance presets
- Game DVR service conditional gating — on...