Winreducer: Strip Windows 8 Install Disk To Its Bare Essentials

MakeUseOf

By Israel Nicolas

Published Jan 7, 2013

Windows 8 have made a splash in the last few months, sporting a new tile-based UI, touch-based paradigm, and more stability than Windows 7. Although Windows 8 is the pinnacle of Microsoft computing, it is still littered with bloated features that many casual users might not need. If you want to save space and speed up your Windows 8 installation, check out Winreducer 8. This new tool customizes your Windows 8 installation disk to minimize its file size for a speedy installation and a faster system.

Winreducer 8 allows you to remove OS components on your install disk such as accessories, drivers, fonts, themes, and languages. It also includes some tweaks that are specific to Window 8 like disabling the Charms bar, show file extensions, setting the default theme, and more.

You can browse through each module and check what you want to include. The list of customizations is not for the lighthearted, and you have to be an experienced tweaker to understand what one OS component does. Some Windows components do not work well if a related component is not activated. There will also be instances when you will need a component in the future. So like any tinkerer, be careful of what you customize or you may end up having a dud installation.

One feature that will save you lots of time is "unattended install", where you can enter your Windows 8 serial, so that you won't have to enter each time you are setting up a new installation.

Once you have configured your Windows 8 install the way you like it, you can now have an ISO that you can use anywhere. This is especially useful if you are running a computer network in your home and you need all your Windows PCs to be configured the same way, not to mention the performance boost you get from a thinner install disk.

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