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commit d3e4b027964fef29b5dc9b8807f0410abd5f8c867dfba552a5e44018b67c593a
Author: yihanwu1024 <yihanwu1024>
Date: Sun Jun 30 00:00:00 2024 +0000
create article about Windows 11 policing
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+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<section xml:id="0d06346b45f1f4b8a042729a6354ce974fd5ae1c9b5857f1410d2d5c70c3460b">
+<title>Restore Classic Windows Utilities</title>
+<para>Microsoft really wants you to use their half-baked modern apps, but you don’t have to.</para>
+<para>Here is what you can perfectly restore in 24H2:</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem>
+<para>Windows 10 Explorer (<link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://www.neowin.net/amp/how-to-permanently-restore-old-file-explorer-in-windows-11/">Source</link>)</para>
+</listitem>
+<listitem>
+<para>Shell Context Menu (<link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://winaero.com/how-to-enable-full-context-menus-in-windows-11/">Source</link>)</para>
+</listitem>
+<listitem>
+<para>Notepad (Win32) with file type associations (Authored)</para>
+</listitem>
+<listitem>
+<para>Windows Photo Viewer (<link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://winaero.com/how-to-enable-windows-photo-viewer-in-windows-11/">Source</link>)</para>
+</listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+<para>Find more resources on the Internet.</para>
+</section>
diff --git a/5ef5fc91bdce89fe01f5f7bb5410d4d0bf00e8b69b6f4443ae5eded88b4569ea b/5ef5fc91bdce89fe01f5f7bb5410d4d0bf00e8b69b6f4443ae5eded88b4569ea
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<article xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xml:id="5ef5fc91bdce89fe01f5f7bb5410d4d0bf00e8b69b6f4443ae5eded88b4569ea">
+<title>Policing Windows 11</title>
+<para>As of 24H2 (10.0.26100)</para>
+<para>Windows 11 Policing is the removal of anti- and consumer features.
+It only makes sense on consumer editions, where the license does not grant you the administration capabilities to fully disable what you don’t want.
+You can save time policing Windows if you obtain Enterprise licenses; however, even so it still makes sense to reduce the installation size of a Windows system.</para>
+<para>If you decide to police Windows, first of all, I advise against using any unofficial content without understanding them.
+I further distrust projects that release only a Windows installation image without the code used to derive it.
+So, please only start with official Microsoft files, and only run code you can inspect and understand.</para>
+<section>
+<title>Positively Build an Image</title>
+<para>I recommend that you start by building a Windows installation image rather than directly obtaining the official ISO release, as the former allows you to customize the image content to a certain extent.
+This is said to be building an image <emphasis>positively</emphasis>, and is more resource-efficient.
+It is possible to positively build a fully functional image that is much smaller than the official release.
+You can still apply any modifications you would to an official release, in the next step.</para>
+<para>In order to build an image, we start with UUP.
+Universal Update Platform (UUP) is the Microsoft service delivering Windows Updates.
+Files from UUP can be used to derive a full Windows installation image.
+<quote>UUP Dump</quote> is a well-documented community project that provides tools to build a usable Windows installation image from UUP.
+Using UUP gives you an advanced view of the Windows building process.</para>
+<para>A positive Windows image is produced by UUP Dump during the initial <literal>wimlib-imagex export</literal> step.
+As of 24H2, such an image is completely usable and does not contain Edge browser or any provisioned APPXs, and is very similar to the Enterprise LTSC 2024 edition.
+To achieve this, simply use the relevant options in UUP Dump.</para>
+<para>Although I consider UUP Dump trustworthy, if you do not trust UUP Dump, use their tool to get files from Microsoft and refer to the mentioned <literal>wimlib-imagex export</literal> command to assemble an <literal>install.wim</literal>.
+To do this efficiently, you can comment out the <literal>@ECHO OFF</literal> line in <literal>Convert-UUP</literal>, run the tool once, wait for it to reach a command beginning with <literal>wimlib-imagex export</literal>, copy that command, and run it yourself with an authentic copy of <literal>wimlib-imagex</literal>.
+The result is a minimal <literal>install.wim</literal> image.</para>
+</section>
+<section>
+<title>Negatively Modify an Image</title>
+<para>After a positively built image from UUP, you can start to remove things from it.
+This section is the most interesting and subjective.
+You can expect to find many policing items by simply using a search engine.</para>
+<para>Negative modifications are more arbitrary and error-prone than positive building: all parts used during positive building are well-defined, self-contained components designated by Microsoft, but this is not necessarily so for negative modifications.
+Certain deep hacks can break future Windows updates.</para>
+<para>You can use many third-party scripts.
+Keep in mind that many authors intend to only support Microsoft official ISO releases, or the WIM file therein.
+They will likely work on your positive image with a few unexpected warnings, since some nonessential components are missing.</para>
+<para>There is one tool I recommend extremely: an <link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/update-windows-settings-and-scripts-create-your-own-answer-file-sxs?view=windows-11">unattend file</link> generator from <link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator">https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator</link>, with many optional policing hacks.
+(Pay attention to uncheck those options intended for professional deployments; this tool is not designed solely for policing Windows.)
+This generator UI includes many references to the original hacks in case you wish to investigate.</para>
+<para>This unattend file achieves our desired outcome by modifying the Windows installation at its first boot, not by changing the actual image.
+An unattend file is not a script but can contain one.
+The unattend file is an XML.
+I have made my modifications after this generator output, including the total removal of OneDrive (better than the generated.)
+You can add, for example, your own Group Policies.</para>
+<para>Items that have been perfectly achieved in the following sample unattend file include:</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem>
+<para>Disabling Windows Defender</para>
+</listitem>
+<listitem>
+<para>Using the same Windows Search as that in Enterprise LTSC</para>
+</listitem>
+<listitem>
+<para>Removal of OneDrive Win32 program</para>
+</listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</section>
+<include xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="0d06346b45f1f4b8a042729a6354ce974fd5ae1c9b5857f1410d2d5c70c3460b"/>
+<section>
+<title>Results</title>
+<para>I almost arrive at Enterprise LTSC 2024, except not having some classic Win32 utilities shipped with Enterprise LTSC, such as Calculator (Win32) and Paint.</para>
+</section>
+<section>
+<title>Get files</title>
+<para>
+<link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://fs.tebibyte.io/s/MGBvjtMIlgHWnrR">Go here</link>
+</para>
+</section>
+</article>