The installation of systems (professional or private) is a tedious job. In general nobody enjoys this. Nowadays most private individuals also have at least 2 computers. In my case there are 3 PC's in my private office and 3 in my companie's office (I am the company owner). There are also 2 laptops. Mind you: I use these 8 PC's solely for my work and my hobby as a Linux developer.
It doesn't matter whether it's Linux, Windows or Mac OS: You need an automated installation if you want to avoid this waste of time. The installation of the system itself is usually not that much work - but installing and configuring the other applications (e.g. browser, email program, office package, etc.) is often very time-consuming.
Since I am forced to work with Windows on the desktop - for professional reasons - this collection of scripts / this HowTo is exclusively geared towards Windows - and that will not change either.
First I looked for a "professional" solution. Unfortunately I didn't find anything suitable. Sure - there is commercial software (so-called "enterprise" programs) but mostly these are bad or expensive or both or simply not available for normal users or small companies. I'm following the KISS principle privately and professionally - this is why complicated software (aka. bloatware) with agents, whistles and bells etc. pp. was out of the question.
Another major problem is the spying frenzy of software manufacturers. Yes - i mean you Microsoft! So this means primarily the removing of Windows 10 telemetry. But unsolicited updates, by third-party manufacturers, are just as plague. This project takes care of that problem - as far as possible - without impairing the functionality of the system in an intolerable manner. But what is still tolerable? This lies mostly in the eye of the beholder ...
Finally, there is the problem of obesity. Modern systems are getting fatter, slower, more complex and therefore uglier. The whole thing has now reached a level that is no longer acceptable for many users. That is why one of the core tasks of this project is to strip down Windows 10 as much as possible (without loosing to much functionality - see above). This also automatically results in a reduction of the attack surface (programs that do not exist cannot be attacked).
set PATH=%SYSTEMROOT%;%SYSTEMROOT%\system32;%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0;%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps;%TOOLS%;%TOOLS%\git\bin;%TOOLS%\git\usr\bin
Notice: Purebasic is needed to compile the software in the folder "source". These tools are precompiled and i placed the compiled versions in the folder "tools" - but in case you want to make some changes you will have to install this. The free version is sufficient to compile these little machine programs. By the way: Purebasic is a really great Basic dialect. It is Ultrafast, produces really small executables, it's rock solid and you won't need such bullshit like "vbrun100.dll" (shame on you Microsoft) to execute these binaries. It was created by a french programmer (Frederic Laboureur). Please support them and buy a licence in case you like Purebasic!
