# making windows less shit
## since its, well, an annoyance. and also horrible. and we're all forced to use it.

windows (the operating system) needs no introduction. it's everywhere you go, *literally* watching your every move. this writeup will be a short little guide of how to set up windows from scratch and showcase some neat tricks and utilities to try and make the experience much more better for the average user. this is basically my take and opinionated setup/method on how to clean up windows and i honestly don't expect anyone but me and probably like 1 or 2 other people to use this, but it's here.

this writeup will be going over 2 versions of windows: windows 10 iot enterprise ltsc and windows 11 pro. we'll start off with windows 11 for the sake of future proofing.

# requirements

- <b><i>a backup of ALL of your personal data! don't continue without this!</i></b>
- an internet connection (duh)
- a flash drive that is at least 8 gigabytes in size, that you also don't mind wiping all of its data
- time and patience :3
- <i>optional:</i> a local copy of all driver installers for your device, or a list of where to get them (if you have an OEM device like e.g: HP desktop/laptop, you can search up your model and find the official drivers/software download page for them)

# winders 11

## 1. new beginnings

so to have the best and cleanest windows installation, we are unfortunately going to have to reinstall from scratch (which, yes, also means <i>not</i> using the "reinstall" option in your settings) so, again, <b><i>please make sure you have backed up ALL of your important data before continuing!</i></b>

you can get the ISO fresh from [microsoft's software download center](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download). alternatively use massgrave's [microsoft software download listing](https://msdl.gravesoft.dev/) to get the ISO without much hassle from microsoft or if the website gives you any trouble.

[simple screenshot of downloading english (us) windows 11 from both msdc and msdl just to show it off]

if you're already on a windows system, you can use [rufus](https://rufus.ie/en/) to flash the ISO to a spare flash drive you don't mind wiping all of its data on.
[^ make this part a drop down with a full featured step by step guide on flashing the iso with rufus]

if you're on linux/any other operating system, you may have better luck using [ventoy](https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html) (which by the way, is a *great* tool to have!) to get a bootable medium of windows.
[^ make this part a drop down with a full featured step by step guide on installing ventoy to a flash drive and dropping the iso directly to the flash drive]

congrats! you now have a bootable flash drive, ready to install windows from it.

## 2. the trollage

you should now boot from the flash drive or wherever you flashed windows to on the device you want to install windows on. this step depends on the device you use, try searching up "how to boot from a usb drive <i>[device/brand name]</i>" in a new tab for reference.

i recommend disconnecting your device from the internet at this point to prevent classic microsoft annoyances from happening (if your device is connected to the internet wired/via ethernet, disconnect the cable. if you connect over wifi, then you don't have to do anything.)

once you've finally booted into the windows setup, here's our first tweak: <b>set the "Time and currency format" to "English (World)"!</b> basically what this does is make windows think we aren't living in a suitable region, which prevents it from installing bloatware since that depends on where you live (yknow, due to content blocks and whatever is popular).

[screenshot of a windows setup with Time and currency format set to English (World)]

we can continue from here. make sure you choose "Windows 11 Pro" as your edition when given the option to choose and also ensure you're wiping and installing windows to the correct drive. if you don't know which one is which, you can just delete all of the listed drives and install on the single one you see <i>once you confirm that you only have one storage device</i>.

[series of screenshots showing the drive setup, maybe some explamation]

NOTE: if you aren't given the ability to choose your edition during setup and it just takes you to the final install page, don't panic! we can force upgrade our windows version later, which you'll find below once you're done with this part.

now we can just wait for it to finish installing!

## 3. the dreaded oobe

once its finished and has rebooted into windows, you'll be greeted with the 3 FPS first time boot animation. wonderful, isn't it?

you'll see an error message that says something went wrong with the error `OOBEREGION` and this is fine because we set this in the previous step. just click the Skip button in the bottom right.

[maybe a screenshot of this error message?]

go through the setup as usual and <b>do <i>NOT</i></b> connect to the internet when asked to do so. it will force you to create a microsoft account if you do so. when you hit the "privacy settings" section of the setup, make sure you disable <b>all</b> of the options listed.

[ screenshot of the internet page hovering over the "i don't have internet" option and privacy settings with all options disabled]

now we just wait! and wait. and wait... ugh.

## 4. post setup

okay! we've hit the desktop! you can now safely connect to the internet at this point now.

first things first, we'll change our region back from being "World" so things like the microsoft store can work (assuming you want to use that, anyways). head into Settings, search for Region and click on Change your country or region. It will take you to the correct option, and change "World" to where you actually live (or anything that isn't "world").

[video recording showing off how to change your region maybe?]

NOTE: if you weren't allowed to change the windows edition to install previously, now is the good time to check. go into the Settings app, lookg for System and find About in that page. find Windows specifications and if you aren't on Pro (e.g: Home), then hop into the Product key and activation page (using the button below that section) and find Upgrade your edition of Windows, Change product key and use this key: `VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T`. this will make windows upgrade you from whatever version you were using to the Pro edition.

[video recording showing all of the steps to do this ^^^]

once we've done that, run updates and get as many as you can then reboot. after that, feel free to install any missing drivers you require. this step will probably take a while, so go get a cup of tea or something while you wait.

[screenshot of updates??]

"hey, uh, ruben?" you may be asking, "i'm not activated nor do i have a pro activation key. how the FUCK do i get this shit activated?"
well, its <i>easy!</i> first, right click the windows button in your taskbar and click on Windows PowerShell (Admin) (on some installs, this might be Terminal (Admin)) then simply type this command in and hit enter: `irm https://massgrave.dev/get | iex`

you should be greeted with a new window! hit 1 on your keyboard for HWID activation and let it do its thing. after a bit it should activate your install of windows, just like that! hooray!

[insert video recording like a guide that shows off massgrave]

"um... isn't this piracy?" yes! it is! but it's microsoft, a soulless multi-billion dollar corporation nobody likes. it <i>really</i> doesn't matter when you think about it. <small>besides, we LOVE piracy here! 🐉🏴‍☠️🐈</small>

## 5. final tweaks and optimizations

now that we have windows all fresh and working, we will now tweak it to our (or rather, my but you can do whatever you want) liking!

we'll use a good tool called [winutil]() which allows us to completely tweak as well as install extra software without having to touch anything else.

right click the start button and choose `Windows PowerShell (Admin)` (or `Terminal (Admin)`) and type in this command then hit enter: `irm https://christitus.com/win | iex`. once it's finished initalizing, we can use this to tweak everything we need.

first thing i recommend doing before anything else, go into the Config tab on the top and choose the option WinGet Reinstall. this will make sure that other options we use will properly work and won't error out.

[video recording winutil and all of its options and showing it doing its stuff]
