Windows 10: Impossible to create untampered, modified USB installation medium for clean install

Hi,For the last 8 months, I've been trying various things to create a "vanilla" Windows 11 Pro using the downloaded official .ISO and creating an USB installation medium. However, it is impossible for various reasons, but all have to do with the scenario when your OEM exploits you.Every time I download an .ISO, either Windows or GNU/Linux, per the registry, it is monitored for.If I try to create an USB installation media using Rufus as it is the most convenient way, I can watch live how files are copied to a fully zeroed USB while at the same time the copied files are either patched at runtime

:)

 

Clean Install Workaround for Vista

You may remember this news story on techPowerUp! a couple of days ago relating to the lack of clean installs when using the Upgrade Editions of Vista, which required an old OS to be installed. However, Paul Thurrott has managed to find a workaround for this issue, which ironically lets users do a clean install Vista without any previous version of Windows, albeit a little tedious. Here are the steps:

• Boot from the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD as normal
• When prompted for a product code, leave this blank
• Select the version of Vista you have purchased and let Vista install
• When you boot to your desktop for the first time, run the Vista setup from Windows
• This time enter your product key
• When asked whether you want to do an Upgrade of Custom install, select custom and choose a clean install
• Windows will now install for a second time and you should be able to activate it

Remember, these steps are only advised for use in order to achieve a clean install of Vista, it is only legal to use the upgrade editions if you have previously purchased the appropriate version of Windows.

Source: DailyTech

 

Installing windows off of a USB stick

Step By Step from vista:
From admin cmd prompt

1. diskpart
1a. list disk
2. select disk 1 (replace 1 with your usb drive)
3. clean
4. create partition primary
5. select partition 1 (replace 1 with your usb drive)
6. active
7. format fs=fat32
8. assign
9. exit

Copy Windows Vista's DVD ROM content to the Flash Drive

xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\ (d being your vista cd and e being your usb stick)

And that's it, boot off your usb disk

 

Clean Install of Windows 10 Fails to Boot without Installation Medium Present

I am trying to create a fresh install of Windows 10 on my laptop's NVMe SSD, however I am unable to do so successfully. (I will eventually add a second SSD to the laptop that contains Linux, but that drive is physically removed from the laptop during the
Windows 10 install.)

Procedure:

1) Format an 8GB USB with the NTFS format and created a fresh copy of the Windows 10 installer.

2) Insert the USB into the target laptop and run through the installation process

3) After the installation process is complete, restart the laptop

Results:

If I leave the USB plugged in, the laptop will boot back into the installer screen and prompts me to install Windows (again).

If I remove the USB, I get an error that no bootable drives are present

If I shutdown the computer and enter the BIOS when I restart with the USB installer plugged in, I have the option in the boot manager to select whether to boot from the USB installation medium or boot into Windows on the SSD.

Problem:

I cannot boot into Windows without the original installation medium (USB) present. It seems that the installer is placing the boot manager on the USB instead of on the SSD!

Mitigation Steps:

• Tried two different USB sticks in case one installer was somehow corrupted.
• Verified in my BIOS that I have SATA set to ACHI
• Verified that I have secure boot disabled
• Reinstalled Windows 10 at least 5 times

Questions:

• What do I need to do to resolve this problem and get a usable version of Windows 10?
• Is there a way to explicitly partition the SSD and select where the bootmanager is placed?
  

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• Reinstalled windows 10 won't boot without disc