Auto Clean: Automated Clean Install & Debloat for Windows

Welcome to Auto Clean! This repository provides a completely safe, automated (autounattend.xml) deployment script designed to give you a pristine, debloated Windows environment right out of the box.

By leveraging this script, you can bypass tedious setup screens, permanently remove built-in bloatware, disable telemetry, and apply power-user system tweaks automatically during the Windows installation process.

---

🌟 Features

• Completely Safe: A thoroughly tested, zero-touch setup script that ensures a clean, reliable, and debloated Windows installation without compromising system stability.

• Powered by Community Tools: Integrates the startup installer from the Chris Titus PowerShell install utility for applied system tweaks and optimizations.

• Hardware Check Bypasses: Automatically skips TPM, Secure Boot, CPU, RAM, and Storage checks for Windows 11 installations.

• Deep System Debloat: Natively removes Microsoft Edge, OneDrive, Copilot, Windows Recall, and various telemetry tracking tasks.

• DIY Customization: Want to tweak this further? You can generate your own custom unattended script using the excellent Schneegans Unattend Generator.

---

🚀 Installation Guide

You can deploy this configuration using either Ventoy (for multi-boot drives) or Rufus (for single-OS bootable USBs).

Method 1: Ventoy (Recommended)

Ventoy is highly recommended as it allows you to boot multiple ISOs from a single USB drive.

1. Install Ventoy onto your USB flash drive.
2. On the Ventoy USB, create a folder named ventoy at the root of the drive. Inside that folder, create another folder named configs (e.g., USB:\ventoy\configs\).
3. Place the autounattend.xml file into the configs folder.
4. Create a file named ventoy.json inside the USB:\ventoy\ directory and paste the following configuration:

{
  "control": [
    { "VTOY_DEFAULT_MENU_MODE": "0" },
    { "VTOY_TREE_VIEW_MENU_STYLE": "0" }
  ],
  "auto_install": [
    {
      "image": "/windows_10.iso",
      "template": "/ventoy/configs/autounattend.xml"
    },
    {
      "image": "/windows_11.iso",
      "template": "/ventoy/configs/autounattend.xml"
    }
  ]
}

⚠️ Important ISO Naming Note: For Ventoy to map the XML file correctly, your Windows ISO files must be renamed to match the "image" values in the JSON config above.

• Name your Windows 10 ISO: windows_10.iso
• Name your Windows 11 ISO: windows_11.iso (If you prefer to keep your original ISO names, simply update the "image" paths in the ventoy.json file to match them).

Method 2: Rufus

If you prefer a traditional, single-boot installation USB, Rufus makes it incredibly easy.

1. Download and open Rufus.
2. Select your USB drive and select your Windows ISO file.
3. Click START. (Note: Rufus may prompt you with its own "Windows User Experience" customization window. You can uncheck these options, as our script handles all of this automatically).
4. Wait for Rufus to finish creating the bootable USB.
5. Once complete, navigate to the root directory of your newly created Windows USB drive.
6. Copy and paste the autounattend.xml file directly into the root of the USB drive.
7. Boot your PC from the USB. Windows Setup will automatically detect the XML file and execute the clean, unattended installation.

---

📜 Under the Hood

Curious about what the provided autounattend.xml actually does? Here is a quick overview of the embedded scripts:

• remove-packages.ps1: Strips out default provisioned packages (like Clipchamp, Zune, Bing Search, and legacy legacy apps).

• wintweaks.ps1: Creates a desktop shortcut for the Chris Titus WinUtil, enables .NET 3.5, optimizes SVCHOST, and disables scheduled telemetry tasks.

• localmachine.cmd: Disables Copilot, Recall AI, Bing Search in the Start Menu, location tracking, and forces Windows Update to security-only settings.

• currentuser.cmd: Aligns the Windows 11 taskbar to the left, hides the search icon, disables "Suggested Content" ads, and restores the classic right-click explorer menu.

• edgeremoval.bat: Forcefully and completely removes Microsoft Edge and its WebView components.