Creating Customized Windows 1. Version 1. 70. 3 Media ISO, WIM, Flash Drive Final Thoughts from ITIts April 2. Microsoft has just released their fourth update version of Windows 1. Creators Update.  Since I havent updated my How To on creating customized Windows media since Windows 8. I think were overdue for a follow up. So lets get into it Ill preface this article by saying that Microsoft has made this effort much simpler since 2. Not only do we now natively support split wims, were not obligated to utilize the MDT Microsoft Deployment Toolkit if we choose not to not that theres anything wrong with using MDT if youd rather. For this walk through, I will be detailing the steps I personally use. Please note that there are multiple ways to achieve the same end goal. I have, however, successfully used this method for the last four years without issue deploying across thousands of computers within the organization I work for and of course at home as well. Download the Windows ISO for which you are creating custom media. In my case, Im downloading enwindows1. MSDN. Download the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit ADK for Windows 1. Preparing your environment. Designate a workstation physical machine with Hyper V capability as the host for this project. Im going to assume your host is running Windows 1. Version 1. 70. 3 already. Open the Windows ADK for Windows 1. Select and install Deployment Tools and Windows Preinstallation Environment Windows PE. Enable the Hyper V Platform and reboot the host. To do this, at your desktop type WinX and click Apps and Features at the top. Select Programs and Features within the settings window. Select Hyper V and Click OK. When prompted, click Restart now. Once rebooted, open the Start Menu and type Hyper Open Hyper V Manager. Select your host computer name on the left and then click Virtual Switch Manager on the right. Select New virtual network switch on the left and External under the type to create. Click Create Virtual Switch. Name the switch something appropriate Im using Main. Select External Network Select your main NIC wireless or wired. Check Allow management operating system to share this network adapter and click OK. Click Yes on the notice prompt. Create the Staging VMNow that youre prepped, within Hyper V Manager select New Virtual Machine and then click Next. Type a name for your staging VM Im picking stage. Next. Select Generation 2 and then click Next. Enter an appropriate amount of memory Im entering 4. MB, UNselect Dynamic Memory and then click Next. Choose Not Connected for the Connection page this will prevent Windows 1. Designate an adequate amount of storage for your VM not less than the total GB of all applications you will be installing and then click Next. Back at the Hyper V Manager, right click stage. ConnectThis will open the console of the VM. Navigate to Action and click Start. Press any key to initiate the Windows Setup. Install Windows 1. EULA and choosing Custom selecting the entire virtual disk and clicking Next. Enter Audit Mode and Install Applications. Once youre presented with the Region screen where you select the country STOP. Enter CTRLSHIFTF3. Windows will reboot and log you in with the Administrator account. When presented with the System Preparation Tool window, click Cancel. As I mentioned in my previous articles, Audit Mode is still my favorite method of configuring a customized Windows build before sysprepping. If you are unaware, Audit Mode bypasses OOBE and negates the need of creating a new user account, thus assigning a Registered Owner name.   It baffles me how, even in 2. Microsoft themselves. Unfortunately it doesnt work with UWP apps it never did, to be fair however Ive never found myself needing to customize those applications. In fact, I find myself removing those apps when I can. Now that were in Audit Mode, the first step I do and recommend is disabling the Consumer Experience via GPO. The Consumer Experience is the default mode Windows 1. Enterprise is shipped with. This mode, upon initial login of a new user, commences the automatic download of a plethora of unrequested UWP apps, thus filling the start menu with games like Candy Crush. I deplore this feature beyond anything Microsoft has done in the past. It cheapens the Windows experience and frankly, I think they should be embarrassed that this is included in their flagship product. Fortunately, this feature can be disabled but only on Enterprise edition. To disable this feature, open up the Local Group Policy Editor gpedit. Computer Configuration Administrative Templates Windows Components Cloud Content and double click Turn off Microsoft consumer experiences. We will want to Enable this GPO and click OK. At this point, we can now safely enable the Network Interface on this VM. Free AOMEI PXE Boot is one of the best PXE boot software which enables you to start up multiple clientside computers within LAN through the network from ISO image. I want to try and setup a PXE boot server for a laptop that has a damaged hard drive. I have a custom built desktop with Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and I want to make it. Navigate to File Settings.  and select Network Adapter on the left.  Change the Virtual Switch from Not Connected to in my case Main. Click OK to save your changes. Running Windows Update. If you followed my Windows 8. Windows Update while within Audit Mode. Fortunately, this is no longer the case Someone at Microsoft must of read this blog. In short, with Windows 1. Microsoft reintroduced the ability to run Windows Update while logged into Audit Mode. This is great news. So, just as you would do normally, lets jump into the Settings app Navigate to Update Security and run Check for updates. While updates are downloading installing I personally like to take this opportunity to tweak a few Windows Update settings. These include Navigating to advanced options and enabling Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows and also setting my branch to Current Branch for Business. Scrolling down and selecting Choose how updates are delivered. Turning ON the feature Updates from more than one place and setting it to PCs on my local network. Back at the main Windows Update page, I select Restart Options under Update Settings. And within Restart Options I always select On under Show more notifications. At this point of the how to, Ive had the opportunity to tweak my Windows Update settings to my liking and Windows was ready to restart. Upon restart and installation of the latest Cumulative Update, Windows will automatically log you back into Audit Mode make sure to click cancel on the sysprep popup again. After logging in, double check to confirm that all updates have been installed. After confirming the OS is fully up to date, now is the time to make any tweaks and install all applications that you want embedded into your custom Windows build. Examples Remove UWP AppsEnable RDPInstall Chrome, VLC, Skype, Office, etc. As mentioned previously, Im not the biggest fan of these UWP additions to Windows. Some apps I find useful like the Weather app, while others I find to be redundant and a waste of space Mail, Calendar these are useless if you use Outlook. Additionally, I couldnt care less about a 3. D Builder app. Because of this, I have done the hard work for you and generated two groups of Powershell commands that need to be ran as admin and after doing so, all non essential UWP apps will be removed. Note these apps can be redownloaded via the Windows Store if desired, but they will not be included in the base Windows install. Note it goes without saying, but running these commands is completely optional. How to PXE boot grub. Win. PE from a Windows 7 PC using tftpd.