Is it good time to finally build a Windows 11 24H2 image for personal use?

Anonymous Internet User said:
For some reason Lightscreen (a screen capture utility) now asks for access thousands of times per day. It didn't do that before AFAIK. I was going to contact the dev to ask if and why it uses location services, so not sure whose fault this is. I had to hide the icon, luckily I use StartAllBack which allows that. But it's an unresolved annoyance and I'm not sure what's going on.
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Why not stick to build-in snipping tool which can record video too?
Remember to keep CapturePicker which other sreencapture tools might be dependig on.
I've removed geolocation and tested LightSreen without any disturbance.
Anonymous Internet User said:
Windows randomly forgets file associations after a while, after reboots, I think. It asks me again out of the blue what application I want to use to open a given file.
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Haven't discovered this issue after assigned to always and not only this time. Like .jpg files for at specific app/ program.
Anonymous Internet User said:
Windows randomly forgets drive letters that I explicitly assigned to removable USB disks and, instead, assigns the next available letter. This happens after reboots usually and it was never a problem before, with 23H2. I reassigned drive letters over and over but it still happens out of the blue. very annoying as it breaks my scheduled backups.
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If not attached to you pc/ laptop when start Windows it give error even assigned via Disk Management.
Shortcut to an external/ removable usb in startmenu (Windows) will turn into a white icon and don't work if corresponding external HW is'nt attached from Windows startup (boot).
 
Hi, thanks!

I don't like the Snipping Tool, I remember it to be very primitive. Lightscreen always had more features, options and system wide keyboard shortcuts, I can even take shots of selected area while in a game. I don't know, maybe Snipping Tool grew up and caught up but I've used Lightscreen since forever, it works fine, not gonna switch, it's just the frequent location request are weird.

I did another build with fewer components removed and the the file association and disk letter shenanigans seem to have gone away, they stick now, I haven't seen this happen all day today.

I found something good though: HDR works better now. Even though I have a lowly HDR400 display, it's usable now. It used to be a mess when quitting an HDR game and going back to the desktop, it was all dark, now it works properly.
 
I've emailed the Lightscreen developer. If he doesn't respond I may need to quit using Lightscreen. It seems to be abandoned, no updates since 2021, what a shame.

I've just check out the Snipping Tool, and yeah, it's still clunky and rather primitive but it works better than what I remember. Still no separate kb shortcuts for selection, window, full screen, etc., I can't even change the default shortcut, can't set custom file name either. But it's usable. Thanks for reminding me about this tool.
 
Snipping tool is a build-in app in windows - don't forget to update kept apps via MS Store after install.
MS Store updates runs separately from WU.
Every Windows install always have outdated apps baked in.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm gonna try to use Sniping Tool for some time. It's a matter of changing old habits, so I might as well give this a shot first. The lack of separate kb shortcuts is the worst, but clicking the little menu isn't so bad. The ability to quickly edit the screenshots can come in handy too.
 
Try disable/ remove StartAllBack and all other tweaks from the good old W7 days - KB shortcuts for 24H2 should work.
Or check column notes if you've removed any component related to keyboard or shortcut(s).
Search in your preset loaded can be done from line "Type here to filter" in chosen NTL section.
 
francis11 said:
Snipping tool is a build-in app in windows - don't forget to update kept apps via MS Store after install.
MS Store updates runs separately from WU.
Every Windows install always have outdated apps baked in.
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WU automatically updates all Store apps unless you disabled this feature, by using the Setting "Windows Store - Install updates automatically" or applied the equivalent reg change.

MS knows the Windows ISO can have an outdated set of apps (which are not updated by applying the Monthly CU). This why WU silently updates them for you in the first 10-15 minutes after a new install.

You don't need to run Store app to update apps, unless you've disabled them from WU.
 
Thank you for clarification - but still my preset prevent WU update to update apps on the fly.
From Settings menu and maybe coz i don't have a MS account - so don't have a MS realtime watchhing your actions aka MS Account.
1755291784352.png
 
Indeed, when I tested it, you actually had to be logged in with an MS account for the apps to be automatically updated.
With a local account, there were no updates.

This may have changed since then.
 
I've always tested with a Local Account, and you can see WU self-update apps. It's designed to work that way.

For paid apps or content, you must be logged in by MS Account in order to re-authorize those purchases.

When working with sysprepped images, the standard rule of "disabling the network" originates from WU having a chance to update apps in the background while you're working on the image. The captured image fails because the user who's preparing the system ends up with updated Apps, and those don't match what the default user profile provides.

Sysprep fails after you remove or update Microsoft Store apps that include built-in Windows images
To prevent Microsoft Store from updating apps, unplug the Internet connection or disable Automatic Updates in Audit mode before you create the image.
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I use https://uup.rg-adguard.net/index.php as i explained in other threads here in the forum.
I created my "golden image" without any updates. Every image is "old" every patchday, so i don`t mind about the updates - they only blew up the image. So why care if the image is "old" or even "really old" - "Windows Update" will always do it`s job and update. So is the apps.
 
Agree - never online when doing Audit.
And postpone WU 1-5 weeks but updating Store Apps manually still works.
 
I can't live without StartAllBack, it's a necessity :) The main kb shortcut for Snipping Tool works. What I meant was that Lightroom has shortcuts for area, selected window and active windows while with Snipping Tool it takes an extra click on the floating toolbar to select screenshot mode. Also, Lightroom lets you reposition and adjust the selection before taking the screenshot while Snipping Tool takes a shot immediately upon mouse release. Not huge issues, but...

All in all though, the Lighroom dev isn't getting back to me and the location issue is annoying enough for me to drop Lighroom. So, gonna stick to Snipping tool for now and keep an eye on Lighroom updates, but it looks abandoned to me :(

After redoing the image with fewer components removed I got to spot where I feel comfortable with it. While there are no major improvements and fixes that affect me, 24H2 works well, so I'm sticking to it.

Regarding WU: I disable feature updates, and I only get security updates. I think this fix works for two years and by then, I'll likely build another image or... switch to Linux LOL :) That's my strategy with NTLite: add all available updates at the time of image creation and kill Windows Update for two years to avoid nasty surprises and crap being reinstalled.

And yeah, I update the Store apps manually too.
 
PicPick seems to be another alternative for customizing screenshots in any way desirable, but lack the recording feature.
 
g-force said:
I use https://uup.rg-adguard.net/index.php as i explained in other threads here in the forum.
I created my "golden image" without any updates. Every image is "old" every patchday, so i don`t mind about the updates - they only blew up the image. So why care if the image is "old" or even "really old" - "Windows Update" will always do it`s job and update. So is the apps.
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I am taking this approach with my 24H2 image. Integrating updates had much more merit in the XP days when I started doing it, because updating from old to new was a massive pain, and the vulns in those days you could get owned simply by booting up RTM, and within seconds its done.

Now those type of vulns arent really a thing now, and its always just one CU to get up to date, my 10 21H2 ISO I had to start compressing and splitting the WIM which was painful, I wanted to do a feature request to have a lower/faster compression for the ESD format, but never got round to it, I will only integrate updates on 24H2 if its to fix a major issue, or I need to, for some specific thing to work properly.

There is also a nasty bug with a 24H2 patch at the moment, which luckily I avoided by not integrating it.
 
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Anonymous Internet User said:
I can't live without StartAllBack, it's a necessity :) The main kb shortcut for Snipping Tool works. What I meant was that Lightroom has shortcuts for area, selected window and active windows while with Snipping Tool it takes an extra click on the floating toolbar to select screenshot mode. Also, Lightroom lets you reposition and adjust the selection before taking the screenshot while Snipping Tool takes a shot immediately upon mouse release. Not huge issues, but...

All in all though, the Lighroom dev isn't getting back to me and the location issue is annoying enough for me to drop Lighroom. So, gonna stick to Snipping tool for now and keep an eye on Lighroom updates, but it looks abandoned to me :(

After redoing the image with fewer components removed I got to spot where I feel comfortable with it. While there are no major improvements and fixes that affect me, 24H2 works well, so I'm sticking to it.

Regarding WU: I disable feature updates, and I only get security updates. I think this fix works for two years and by then, I'll likely build another image or... switch to Linux LOL :) That's my strategy with NTLite: add all available updates at the time of image creation and kill Windows Update for two years to avoid nasty surprises and crap being reinstalled.

And yeah, I update the Store apps manually too.
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You know how to export startisback settings? I found some reg keys mentioned, and used them, but it didnt restore everything.
Luckily start 11 v2 for the 10 start menu has an official backup/restore feature. Including the tile layout, but the startisback is odd that you expected to set it up from scratch every time.
 
chrcol said:
You know how to export startisback settings? I found some reg keys mentioned, and used them, but it didnt restore everything.
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There are also registry keys here
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
 
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