Windows 11 Custom ISO: How to Get the 3 Best Ones
5 min. read
Updated on
Share this article
This article is translated in
Improve this guide
Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial team Read more
Key notes
- People have complained that Windows 11 is filled with bloatware.
- As a result, some astute individuals took it upon themselves to tackle this problem.
- This guide will show you some of the best customized Windows 11 ISO filers that you can download.
In the context of Windows, an ISO file is something that contains all of the installation files for a program or operating system.
Microsoft has made an ISO version of Windows 11 available on their website for people who want to create a bootable installation media.
You can save these files to a flash drive or DVD and then take them to a computer to install or create a virtual machine with it. But there are people on the internet who have created customized ISO files.
What is a custom ISO file?
Some people have found Windows 11 to be bloated with a lot of unnecessary files and apps that only slow down the OS. At least to these people as Windows 11 does come with genuinely great apps.
Gamers have also found that, because of the perceived Windows 11 bloat, a lot of their games don’t run as well as they should. So, people took the Windows 11 ISO file from Microsoft and created their version.
This guide will show some of the best custom ISO files for Windows 11. Across the internet, many of them are compact and easy on the hardware.
What are the best custom ISO files for Windows 11?
Ghost Spectre
Kicking off the is Ghost Spectre Windows 11 Superlite Version, or simply Ghost Spectre for short. What’s unique about this modded version of Windows 11 Lite is that it removes some of the features of the OS.
The features that were removed or cut short were among those that some considered useless. Access to OneDrive has been completely removed as well as Windows Security, Defender, and Smartscreen.
System apps like Focus Assist, Remote Desktop, and NFC have also been scrubbed out. It also pauses updates so that Ghost Spectre doesn’t change and the length of time is comically long.
According to the official benchmark video, updates are paused until 2077. Speaking of which, Ghost Spectre can get better performance of a CPU and graphics card than the base version of Windows 11.
Hardware-intensive games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey have also been shown to run more smoothly on Ghost Spectre, according to the same benchmark results.
Your computer still needs to meet the same system requirements as the base version, but all in all, an interesting take on Windows 11.
ReviOS
Revision OS, or ReviOS for short, is a custom ISO made for gamers and power users in mind. Like Ghost Spectre before it, it removes a lot of the deemed unnecessary apps and software from Windows 11 and throws them to the wayside.
User Account Control is disabled as well as features like Notifications, fixes to Microsoft Edge, and typing personalization. ReviOS does keep things like the Xbox Game Bar and Windows Security, so you’re not completely exposed to malware.
Defender is indeed out of ReviOS, so do be aware of that. It’s also pretty lightweight with the ISO file coming in at 3.56GB as opposed to the base version which is over twice that size. Unlike Ghost Spectre, ReviOS gives you the ability to which native software you’d like to keep.
Upon installation, a shortcut to Revision’s Workspace will be on your screen. Clicking it will take you to a webpage where you can configure ReviOS however you see fit. You can even enable Windows Update and continue updates.
The requirements to run ReviOS are slightly less restrictive with only requiring 4GB of RAM rather than the 8GB Windows 11 base demands.
Phoenix Lite OS
The final entry on this list is Phoenix Lite OS. Like the other entries on this list, it sweeps away the same unwanted apps. Windows Updates, Defender, Mail, OneDrive, and Troubleshooting are gone. Features like Hypervirtualization are gone too.
That means you won’t be able to use Android apps from the Amazon Appstore because that requires you to have Hyper-V enabled. Now there are multiple versions of Phoenix Lite OS with a Home version under development.
Ultra-Lite, in particular, has support for the Microsoft Store, Xbox, and UPP software. DirectPlay and .NET Framework 3.5 come pre-installed so software like DS4 Windows will work right off the bat.
And one of the best features of Phoenix Lite is that it bypasses TPM, Secure Boot, and various other checks. Windows 11 requires that you use TPM 2.0 to use so to have that gone is a major plus and increases its usability.
What remains are under disabled features or those important to the functionality of the IS. Bluetooth support has been reconfigured to be as efficient as possible. Things like hibernation are still there but will need to be turned on.
Are there other things I should know about Windows 11 ISO files?
TPM is a major factor holding back Windows 11 installation on computers. Fortunately, there is a way to do this beyond buying a special microchip. It may require you to modify the ISO file or the Registry Editor.
It may also interest you to learn how to create a bootable USB drive for Windows 11. The process will require you to download the Rufus software to complete this. The process is easy to do. Just make sure your computer can run Windows 11 beforehand.
Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions on other Windows 11 apps. Also, leave comments about guides that you’d like to see or information on other Windows 11 features or list guides.
