Removing apps from Windows 10 media

  Introduction There are plenty of posts regarding removing the pre-installed apps from Windows 10 after the installation. What ab...

 

Introduction

There are plenty of posts regarding removing the pre-installed apps from Windows 10 after the installation. What about removing them from the media, so they're never installed? By mounting and working with the .wim file before deployment, you can save this hassle while selectively leaving what you may want.

Note: I've only used this for Windows 10, but it should also be applicable for Windows 8.

Steps (10 total)

1

Install Windows 10 ADK

You will need the ADK for Windows 10 in order to mount the media and work with it. You can download the setup here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/dn913721.aspx Go to the bottom and click "Download the Windows ADK for Windows 10". You only need to install the Deployment Tools, not the entire ADK.

2

Copy your media to a local drive

Since we are making changes to Windows installation files, we can't work with them in an .iso or on a DVD. Copy X:\sources\install.wim to a local drive. Since I am doing this for deployment purposes, I'm using volume license media. You can also copy the entire disc, but we only need the .wim.

For the purposes of this guide, my media is in E:\Windows10.

3

Create a mount point

You also need a location to mount the .wim at. I used E:\mount.

4

Mount the .wim image

Now we need to use DISM to mount the .wim so we can work with it. Use the following:

dism /mount-wim /wimfile:E:\Windows10\install.wim /mountdir:E:\mount /index:1

5

Get a list of apps and decide what to remove

Your .wim image is now mounted and ready to be worked with. Using Powershell, run the following to list all the provisioned apps in it.

Dism.exe /image:E:\mount /Get-ProvisionedAppxPackages > apps.txt

I output it to a text file to take a better look. The output for each will be similar to this:

DisplayName : Microsoft.3DBuilder
Version : 2015.624.2254.0
Architecture : neutral
ResourceId : ~
PackageName : Microsoft.3DBuilder_2015.624.2254.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe

6

Remove apps

Now comes the fun - remove anything you don't want. Unfortunately, Edge, Cortana, Contact Support, and a few others aren't eligible for that. I would recommend leaving the Store and disabling it via GPO, just in case you develop a need for it later. I would also leave the Calculator and Photo Viewer since the old versions are gone.

To remove an app, you need the PackageName. Use the following command with any package you want gone:

dism.exe /image:E:\mount /Remove-ProvisionedAppxPackage /PackageName:Microsoft.3DBuilder_2015.624.2254.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe

7

Commit your changes

When you're done removing apps, unmount and commit the changes.

dism.exe /unmount-wim /mountdir:E:\mount /commit

If you change your mind, use /discard at the end to unmount and discard changes.

8

Replace the .wim in your media

Now you just need to update your installation media. Personally, I use bootable USB drives or MDT, so I updated both of those with my new .wim. You shouldn't need to replace everything, just the .wim.

9

Install Windows 10 with your updated media

Try it out, and enjoy the lack of apps when you log in.

10

Disabling the Store and Cortana

Don't forget, if you followed my recommendation and didn't remove the Store, it's still there. To get rid of it, make sure you're using at least the Windows 8.1 group policy templates. Open a GPO and go to Computer Configuration - Administrative Templates - Windows Components - Store, and enable the setting called "Turn off the Store application".

Since Cortana can't be removed from the media, you can disable it as well if you want. That's in Computer Configuration - Administrative Templates - Windows Components - Search.

Conclusion

This should help speed up deployment scenarios. While you can also setup scripts to run after the fact and purge apps, I prefer that they are never there from the start. This also enables us to be selective about what is left and leave a handful that may be useful or necessary.