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  • /Windows 11 Installation

    Installing Windows 11

    The official ISO is free to download directly from Microsoft here. Grab your preferred flash drive and use Rufus to make the ISO bootable. Rufus is great because it lets you tweak the installation experience to your liking. I recommend disabling the requirement for a Microsoft account and turning off data collection, which helps you avoid some of Microsoft’s built-in telemetry.

    Once Windows is installed and you've set up a local user account, open PowerShell as an admin and run the following command from massgrave.dev:

    irm https://get.activated.win | iex
    

    And just like that, your Windows installation is activated. Nice and easy.

    De-bloating Windows 11

    Windows 11 comes with its share of bloatware and unnecessary features. To clean things up, I recommend using Win11Debloat. Simply run the following command in PowerShell:

    & ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://win11debloat.raphi.re/")))
    

    Running the default mode will disable all of Microsoft’s telemetry and remove the bloatware. If you ever want to undo these changes, you can find the necessary registry files in the /Regfiles folder.

    Recommendations

    OpenShell

    OpenShell is a must-have if you want to bring back the classic Windows Start menu. I prefer the Windows 7 style with the Midnight skin for a clean, functional look. You can download my customized settings by clicking here. You can import it directly to OpenShell.

    ExplorerPatcher

    ExplorerPatcher is another fantastic tool that restores the classic Windows Explorer, context menus, taskbar, and more. I use it to give my installation a more Windows 10-like feel (because, let’s face it, Windows 10 is the best OS of all time). What’s great about ExplorerPatcher is that it knows to auto-update when Windows updates, so you can keep things looking and functioning just how you like.

    Maintenance

    Here's a quick script you can use to run DISM ScanHealth, SFC ScanNow, and DISM RestoreHealth. These cross reference a clean Windows image from Microsoft and checks if your install is corrupted and restores them. Reboot when done. Download here or create your own from below.

    # Run DISM ScanHealth
    Write-Output "Starting DISM ScanHealth..."
    DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
    
    # Check if the previous command was successful
    if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
        Write-Output "DISM ScanHealth completed successfully."
    
        # Run SFC ScanNow
        Write-Output "Starting SFC ScanNow..."
        sfc /scannow
    
        # Check if the SFC ScanNow was successful
        if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
            Write-Output "SFC ScanNow completed successfully."
    
            # Run DISM RestoreHealth
            Write-Output "Starting DISM RestoreHealth..."
            DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
    
            if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
                Write-Output "DISM RestoreHealth completed successfully."
            } else {
                Write-Output "Error: DISM RestoreHealth encountered an issue."
            }
        } else {
            Write-Output "Error: SFC ScanNow encountered an issue."
        }
    } else {
        Write-Output "Error: DISM ScanHealth encountered an issue."
    }