Tiny11 gets a major update, can now be used to trim down any Windows 11 image

News
By Aaron Klotz
published

Tiny11 is back, recharged, and seemingly better than ever.

Tiny 11
(Image credit: @NTDEV_ on X)

Tiny11 developer NTDEV announced on X (Twitter) that Tiny11 builder has been completely overhauled, featuring more flexibility than ever before. The newly overhauled version of Tiny11 can now be used to trim down any Windows 11 release (seemingly from any build), freeing it from its previous limitations.

According to NTDEV, this breakthrough was made by switching to the "much-improved" scripting capabilities of PowerShell, compared to the older "Batch release" they were using before. Not only can the new Tiny11 be used on any version or build of Windows 11, but it can also be used on any language or architecture (x86, ARM) Windows 11 supports.

As a result, the entire app is written in a PowerShell script, meaning you will need PowerShell to use it. NTDEV also recommends users set the execution policy to "Unrestricted" in PowerShell so the script won't run into issues running within PowerShell.

NTDEV also saysthere are only a couple of external executables included:  oscdimg.exe, which is used to create bootable ISO images of Tiny11, and another ("an unattended answer file") which is used to bypass the requirement to use a Microsoft Account when installing Windows 11.

Tiny11 is one of the easiest methods to reduce bloatware in Windows 11, and to manipulate it to run on officially incompatible hardware. We've seen NTDEV push Tiny11 to the limit numerous times over the past year, including two super customized builds that can run on just 2GB of RAM and 100MB of RAM respectively. The 100MB RAM version, however, was a super cut-down version that does not even include a GUI. That said, it is impressive that Tiny11 is able to strip out the Windows GUI in the first place.

But, the best version of TIny11 may be yet to come. NTDEV revealed that an even more fleshed-out solution is yet to come. It's great to see that Tiny11 is still receiving updates, because before this latest iteration, the Windows 11 modding program was left without updates for over a year with no roadmap.

To use NTDEV's latest version of Tiny11, all you need to do is download a Windows 11 ISO from the Microsoft website and follow NTDEV's instructions here.

Aaron Klotz
Aaron Klotz
Freelance News Writer

Aaron Klotz is a freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware US, covering news topics related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ezst036
    Has anyone in the real world actually wiped out a Windows 11 and started over fresh with Tiny11? Still seems proof of concept.

    I do not know, this is me asking based on a complete lack of information to work with.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    Tiny11 is one of the easiest methods to reduce bloatware in Windows 11, and to manipulate it to run on officially incompatible hardware.

    So you're saying that Tiny11 is now able to produce a FULLY FUNCTIONAL Windows 11 system with all its core components and features intact and only lacking "bloatware", which is software which when removed has no impact on the rest of the system? If this is the case then I say TomsHardware needs to do a full review of it because it's massive news!

    If it's more of the same "We stripped out "bloat" which was also called core Windows services so it doesn't actually work", then you need to both stop calling it "bloatware" and also clarify that it still does not produce an actual working system.
    Reply
  • ThomasKinsley
    Alvar Miles Udell said:
    So you're saying that Tiny11 is now able to produce a FULLY FUNCTIONAL Windows 11 system with all its core components and features intact and only lacking "bloatware", which is software which when removed has no impact on the rest of the system? If this is the case then I say TomsHardware needs to do a full review of it because it's massive news!

    If it's more of the same "We stripped out "bloat" which was also called core Windows services so it doesn't actually work", then you need to both stop calling it "bloatware" and also clarify that it still does not produce an actual working system.
    Actually a full review of it is a good idea now considering it's gone through a number of significant changes. If anyone at Tom is up to the task, I think it'd make for a great article.
    Reply
  • Amdlova
    I like idea of a full review :)
    Windows 11 it's a nightmare for who wants put your machine on "Friendly power".
    Balanced power or the Power saver mode is Rubbish
    A full DPC review will be nice.
    Reply
  • usertests
    ezst036 said:
    Has anyone in the real world actually wiped out a Windows 11 and started over fresh with Tiny11? Still seems proof of concept.

    I do not know, this is me asking based on a complete lack of information to work with.
    I might try it at some point. I have a barely used Win11 system that doesn't cooperate with Linux.
    Reply
  • t3t4
    ezst036 said:
    Has anyone in the real world actually wiped out a Windows 11 and started over fresh with Tiny11? Still seems proof of concept.

    I do not know, this is me asking based on a complete lack of information to work with.

    Well, tiny11-23h2 is my first experience using it. My plan was to use it for bench testing my new workhorse PC build (back in october 2023) with minimal crapware slowing me down, but it's been living in that system ever since. I also installed it on my newest laptop (april 2024) which was just loaded with junk! Let's face facts, it's just easier and faster to virgin fresh install an entire OS now-a-days then it is to manually remove some of the crap these things ship with!

    So that's 2 of my systems currently running tiny11.

    I much prefer to manually install only the programs I want verses manually removing all the ones I don't want! Tiny11 has worked great, on 2 systems now, however, (and here's the but) I did have a problem with one MS update that refused to install. I never wrote it down so I can't remember the update number, but I had the same problem on both of my tiny11 installs. I used the System File Chercker command line tool in both cases to fix the issue:
    System File Checker tool (SFC.exe)
    But that was it. Both systems fully functional and crapware free. All updates work as expected, all of everything just works as expected. I would not wipe out a functioning install just to replace it with tiny11, but if you're going for a fresh OS install, then why not tiny11? Most modern systems will be up and running in 10 min or less now.... Long gone is the weekend wasted reinstalling the OS, thankfully!
    (98, 2000, XP, you know who you are!)
    Reply
  • sjkpublic
    Strange behavior. When I create the Pro N version ISO and make a bootable USB using Rufus it install Enterprise N and not Pro N. Which means a different license key is required.
    Reply
  • Kruton
    ezst036 said:
    Has anyone in the real world actually wiped out a Windows 11 and started over fresh with Tiny11? Still seems proof of concept.

    I do not know, this is me asking based on a complete lack of information to work with.
    We don't have a lack of information because we can look at the ps1 file. It's not terribly aggressive with what it removes. It doesn't remove system packages. I did some quick testing with it in a VM. It doesn't bypass the SecureBoot/TPM system requirements on it's own so you still need to use Rufus for that. There is a single line where all the removed packages are listed and you can edit that to your preferences. It will not remove system packages that I added, to my disappointment, but I was able to add Outlook to the list and that worked. Overall, it's a nice starting point for tinkering.
    Reply