NTDEV’s ecosystem of third‑party builders has a new, headline‑grabbing member: nano11, a PowerShell‑driven script that pushes the tiny‑Windows idea to its limits by producing an ultra‑small Windows 11 image — the developer says an ISO a little over 2 GB and runnable installs in the sub‑3 GB range — at the expense of many standard features and servicing capabilities.
Windows‑shrink projects have been a visible strand in the Windows enthusiast community for years. They respond to two concurrent realities: Microsoft’s increasingly heavyweight default images, and a segment of users who prefer tight, minimal, deterministic environments for legacy hardware, labs, or specialized appliances. The best‑known example in this space is tiny11, a builder maintained by NTDEV that produces dramatically smaller, debloated Windows 11 ISOs by removing inbox apps and employing stronger image compression. Independent reporting and community documentation show the tiny11 pipeline relies on standard Microsoft tooling (DISM, ADK tools) and recovery‑style compression options to produce multi‑gigabyte savings.
What NTDEV calls nano11 is positioned as an extreme variant — an experimental script that strips far more than the regular tiny11 profiles and produces even smaller images, ostensibly for testing, experiments, and ultra‑lightweight VMs. The core concept is the same: start with an official Windows 11 image, surgically remove optional packages, drivers, fonts, IME components, and other payloads, then re‑pack with aggressive compression. Where nano11 differs is the aggressiveness of removal and the willingness to sacrifice serviceability and features for size and speed.
That said, claims about exact final sizes vary by configuration — what you remove, which edition and language packs you begin with, and which compression flags you use determine outcomes. Any specific “2.0 GB ISO” or “2.8 GB installed” figure should be treated as a representative result from a particular configuration rather than a guaranteed, universal result.
Tiny11’s documentation makes this clear in its “core” profile: you gain minimal size and speed at the cost of losing the ability to service the OS in place; the recommended use case is VMs, disposable images, or testing, not production endpoints. nano11 takes this further and, according to the developer and reporting, intentionally removes update paths to minimize size. Treat that as a design choice, not a bug.
But the strategy involves trade‑offs that get progressively more severe the smaller you go. Removing the servicing stack or Windows Update turns the OS into a static artifact: small and fast, but increasingly brittle and insecure if networked. For most users and organizations, the long‑term maintenance burden outweighs the short‑term gains. Those who do adopt these images must accept active, ongoing manual maintenance, or else run them offline and ephemeral.
In short: nano11 is a powerful experimental tool, not a mainstream migration path. For enthusiasts and researchers it opens interesting possibilities; for production or security‑sensitive environments, it introduces clear hazards.
Source: Neowin This script shrinks Windows 11 install down to less than 3GB of disk space
Background
Windows‑shrink projects have been a visible strand in the Windows enthusiast community for years. They respond to two concurrent realities: Microsoft’s increasingly heavyweight default images, and a segment of users who prefer tight, minimal, deterministic environments for legacy hardware, labs, or specialized appliances. The best‑known example in this space is tiny11, a builder maintained by NTDEV that produces dramatically smaller, debloated Windows 11 ISOs by removing inbox apps and employing stronger image compression. Independent reporting and community documentation show the tiny11 pipeline relies on standard Microsoft tooling (DISM, ADK tools) and recovery‑style compression options to produce multi‑gigabyte savings.What NTDEV calls nano11 is positioned as an extreme variant — an experimental script that strips far more than the regular tiny11 profiles and produces even smaller images, ostensibly for testing, experiments, and ultra‑lightweight VMs. The core concept is the same: start with an official Windows 11 image, surgically remove optional packages, drivers, fonts, IME components, and other payloads, then re‑pack with aggressive compression. Where nano11 differs is the aggressiveness of removal and the willingness to sacrifice serviceability and features for size and speed.
Overview: what nano11 claims to deliver
- An ISO image reduced to “a little over 2 GB” from a stock Windows 11 ISO.
- An installed footprint reportedly in the ~2.8 GB range when paired with LZX or similar recovery compression techniques — compared with the typical 20 GB+ footprint of a vanilla Windows 11 installation.
- Compatibility with any Windows 11 edition as a build input (the script operates on official Microsoft images).
- Extremely fast installs and suitability for tests, throwaway VMs, or hardware experiments rather than daily use.
That said, claims about exact final sizes vary by configuration — what you remove, which edition and language packs you begin with, and which compression flags you use determine outcomes. Any specific “2.0 GB ISO” or “2.8 GB installed” figure should be treated as a representative result from a particular configuration rather than a guaranteed, universal result.
How nano11 (and tiny11) actually shrink Windows images
The mechanics in plain terms
- Image servicing with Microsoft tooling: The scripts mount a Microsoft WIM/ESD image and use DISM and package removal commands to uninstall optional features and inbox UWP packages.
- Payload reduction: Files and DLLs tied to those components — fonts, IMEs (input method editors), themes/wallpapers, optional drivers, and appx packages — are removed or prevented from being added back in OOBE.
- Component store/WinSxS pruning: More aggressive variants remove or trim the component store to eliminate servicing baggage; this is where serviceability is most affected.
- Recovery compression: The rebuilt image is compressed with recovery‑style compression modes (LZX/LZMS) which produce much smaller WIM/ESD payloads for distribution.
Why LZX matters
LZX (Lempel‑Ziv eXtended) and LZMS are compression schemes used by Windows image tooling that provide a higher compression ratio at the cost of heavier CPU usage during compression and potentially a slower expand time during install. They are the same techniques tiny11 uses to make 24H2 images fit into 3–4 GB, and nano11 leverages the same pipeline with more aggressive trimming prior to re‑compression. The result: much smaller distribution images without changing the Windows install engine itself.What nano11 removes — and what that means
nano11 intentionally goes beyond “debloat.” Examples reported by community coverage and NTDEV discourse include removing or disabling:- Windows Update / servicing components (component store / WinSxS removal or neutralization), making the image largely unserviceable by standard Windows Update.
- Windows Hello and biometric frameworks.
- IME components and language packs not designated as essential.
- Many inbox apps (Copilot, the New Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, Xbox components, Media Player, and other preinstalled UWP/Win32 apps).
- Default wallpapers, fonts, and optional drivers.
- Telemetry and optional background services.
Serviceability and updateability: the key trade‑off
The most important technical caveat is serviceability. Removing WinSxS and the servicing stack or disabling Windows Update means you cannot reliably apply cumulative updates or feature patches through Microsoft’s normal processes. That is not a minor inconvenience — it’s a functional and security risk if such an image is used for an internet‑connected daily machine.Tiny11’s documentation makes this clear in its “core” profile: you gain minimal size and speed at the cost of losing the ability to service the OS in place; the recommended use case is VMs, disposable images, or testing, not production endpoints. nano11 takes this further and, according to the developer and reporting, intentionally removes update paths to minimize size. Treat that as a design choice, not a bug.
Security implications
- No automatic security patches: If Windows Update is removed or disabled, known vulnerability fixes won’t arrive through official channels. That elevates the attack surface for any connected machine.
- Driver and firmware gaps: Stripping drivers to the minimum can break support for specific hardware (Wi‑Fi chips, camera devices, modern GPUs). That may force reliance on unsigned or manually installed drivers if required.
- Telemetry and diagnostics: While some users view reduced telemetry as a privacy win, those telemetry pipelines also provide Microsoft with signals used in some security features; removing them can remove telemetry‑driven mitigations.
- Supply chain and integrity: Using community‑built images requires trust in the builder. The images are created from official Microsoft ISOs, but the removal and repack steps are executed by third‑party scripts — verify hashes and review scripts before trusting them in sensitive environments.
Use cases where nano11 makes sense
- Testing and automation: Rapid spin‑up of stripped Windows VMs for CI, malware testing, or product validation where install size and speed matter above upgrades.
- Legacy hardware experiments: Short‑term resurrection of devices purely for offline tasks or demonstrations.
- Education and demonstrations: Teaching Windows internals, image servicing, or compression techniques in constrained environments.
- Forensic, disaster recovery, or kiosk images: Where a small, deterministic image is necessary and the system will not be updated via Microsoft Update.
Legal and licensing considerations
- The starting point for all these projects is an official Microsoft ISO, which is redistributed in altered form. That raises a licensing and EULA conversation: the Windows license governs how the installed instance can be used; removing bundles or apps does not change the underlying license. Using modified images may affect eligibility for certain support options.
- These projects do not grant or change activation rights; users must still use valid Windows licenses per Microsoft’s terms.
- There is a broader, nuanced legal question about redistribution of modified ISOs — community builders typically avoid shipping full ISOs and instead provide scripts that operate on user‑downloaded official media. That approach reduces redistribution risk but does not absolve users of the need to comply with Microsoft’s license for installed instances.
How to build and experiment safely (high‑level steps)
- Prepare a disposable environment: use a virtual machine or an isolated test device, never your main workstation.
- Download an official Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft and verify checksums.
- Obtain the nano11 (or tiny11) builder scripts from the project’s repository and review the code — verify what is being removed before running anything.
- Run the builder against the mounted ISO per the project instructions; choose the less extreme “regular” profile if you want to preserve update paths.
- Test the result offline first: verify functionality for the specific apps and drivers you need.
- Keep the original ISO and a copy of the builder scripts; you may need to re‑build when new feature updates ship.
Practical performance and compatibility notes
- Install time: Lighter images and smaller ISOs typically install faster; community reports note significantly reduced install durations compared with full Windows 11.
- Memory footprint: Removing background services and many inbox UWP components reduces runtime memory usage, making Windows headless or “safe‑mode like” configurations possible on very low‑spec machines — though GUI and multimedia performance will be compromised.
- Application compatibility: Many modern apps rely on optional components (media frameworks, specific runtime libraries). Those dependencies can be missing in nano11 and require manual reinstalls or re‑enabling of components.
- Driver issues: If you rely on non‑standard hardware (Wi‑Fi, fingerprint readers, advanced power management), expect manual driver work and possible lack of support.
Verifiable claims and what remains uncertain
- Verified and repeatable: Aggressive removal + recovery compression yields multi‑gigabyte ISO reduction; multiple community write‑ups and the tiny11 builder’s documentation corroborate this technique and its results in the 3–4 GB range for some configurations.
- Developer claim: nano11’s specific “~2 GB ISO” and “~2.8 GB installed” figures are reported by community outlets summarizing the developer’s announcement. These numbers appear plausible based on the same pipeline applied more aggressively, but exact results depend on configuration, languages, and which components are stripped. Treat the exact numbers as a demonstrable case by the author, not an immutable guarantee across editions and builds.
- Confirmed risk: Removing the servicing stack or WinSxS makes images unserviceable in place; that’s a documented distinction between “regular” and “core” modes in tiny11‑style builders and is a core reason why these images are not recommended for production systems.
Recommendations for Windows enthusiasts and IT administrators
- Use nano11 only for the right job: testing, disposable image labs, or constrained single‑purpose devices that won’t be patched via Microsoft Update.
- Prefer the regular tiny11 pipeline if you want smaller images but still need servicing and updateability.
- Always test offline. Confirm driver, network, and application compatibility before committing to any deployment.
- Keep a recovery plan: full backups, recovery media created from an official ISO, and a documented rebuild process.
- If you need long‑term stability or enterprise compliance, avoid unserviceable core images for production endpoints.
Final analysis — strengths and real risks
nano11 and the broader tiny11 ecosystem demonstrate a sharp, useful skillset: they show how standard Microsoft tooling can create deterministic, compact Windows images tailored to a narrow purpose. That is a technical strength and a legitimate value proposition for labs, education, or hardware resurrection projects. The use of LZX/LZMS recovery compression plus surgical DISM removals is clever, efficient, and repeatable.But the strategy involves trade‑offs that get progressively more severe the smaller you go. Removing the servicing stack or Windows Update turns the OS into a static artifact: small and fast, but increasingly brittle and insecure if networked. For most users and organizations, the long‑term maintenance burden outweighs the short‑term gains. Those who do adopt these images must accept active, ongoing manual maintenance, or else run them offline and ephemeral.
In short: nano11 is a powerful experimental tool, not a mainstream migration path. For enthusiasts and researchers it opens interesting possibilities; for production or security‑sensitive environments, it introduces clear hazards.
Closing thought
Community projects like tiny11 and nano11 are a reminder that desktop operating systems remain malleable artifacts — and that size and functionality are choices. They expose the plumbing of Windows image servicing and compression, and they let the curious test alternate tradeoffs between footprint, features, and maintainability. Those tradeoffs are real and sometimes useful, but they are not free. When adopting an extreme image, the discipline of testing, backups, and isolating the image from production networks becomes the responsibility of the user.Source: Neowin This script shrinks Windows 11 install down to less than 3GB of disk space
