Windows recommendation for new computer

Lappo · Unread post by **Lappo** » 10 Jul 2025, 18:15

So im getting a new ryzen 5700g based pc and while i intend to run artix linux on it, im probably gonna need a runnable windows just in case
what kind of ripping bloat/spy ware out of windows 10 things would you recommend, or would you not recommend windows 10?

main idea would be running linux on a daily with proton for games, but ynever know if you may want to try something on windows

The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 10 Jul 2025, 18:59

My newest/fastest laptop is a Ryzen 5 (8640HS).
The Ryzen 7 (5700G) is older but much faster.

I am running Win11 (tweaked heavily!).
I could not find adequate drivers for Win10 (my preferred OS, *when tweaked!*).

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The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 16 Jul 2025, 00:05

Lappo wrote: ↑10 Jul 2025, 18:15 So im getting a new ryzen 5700g based pc and while i intend to run artix linux on it, im probably gonna need a runnable windows just in case
what kind of ripping bloat/spy ware out of windows 10 things would you recommend, or would you not recommend windows 10?

main idea would be running linux on a daily with proton for games, but ynever know if you may want to try something on windows

Any status update?
I'd be interested in knowing where you landed with Win10 driver support.

teknixstuff · Unread post by **teknixstuff** » 16 Jul 2025, 07:33

Lappo wrote: ↑10 Jul 2025, 18:15 So im getting a new ryzen 5700g based pc and while i intend to run artix linux on it, im probably gonna need a runnable windows just in case
what kind of ripping bloat/spy ware out of windows 10 things would you recommend, or would you not recommend windows 10?

main idea would be running linux on a daily with proton for games, but ynever know if you may want to try something on windows

I'd suggest just getting W10 Enterprise LTSC 2021. It has almost all the bloatware removed by default!

The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 16 Jul 2025, 08:34

teknixstuff wrote: ↑16 Jul 2025, 07:33 I'd suggest just getting W10 Enterprise LTSC 2021. It has almost all the bloatware removed by default!

I tried that route on a Ryzen 5 but was basically forced to upgrade to Win11 Enterprise LTSC 24H2 for sake of driver availability.

ie, if OP is successful, I would like for the Win10 drivers to be posted here.

teknixstuff · Unread post by **teknixstuff** » 16 Jul 2025, 08:55

The-10-Pen wrote: ↑16 Jul 2025, 08:34
teknixstuff wrote: ↑16 Jul 2025, 07:33 I'd suggest just getting W10 Enterprise LTSC 2021. It has almost all the bloatware removed by default!
I tried that route on a Ryzen 5 but was basically forced to upgrade to Win11 Enterprise LTSC 24H2 for sake of driver availability.

ie, if OP is successful, I would like for the Win10 drivers to be posted here.

All W11 drivers should work fine on W10. Generally the only compatibility restrictions are from the driver setup tools, and you can avoid that by just backing up your drivers from W11 and restoring them on W10.

The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 16 Jul 2025, 09:23

teknixstuff wrote: ↑16 Jul 2025, 08:55 ...and you can avoid that by just backing up your drivers from W11 and restoring them on W10.

I may try that one of these days.
I used to have something called "DriverGrabber" and I assume it will grab the Win11 drivers for Win10 migration.
Though it does not cite Win10 or Win11 as supported OS -- https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/drivergrabber.html

teknixstuff · Unread post by **teknixstuff** » 16 Jul 2025, 10:41

The-10-Pen wrote: ↑16 Jul 2025, 09:23
teknixstuff wrote: ↑16 Jul 2025, 08:55 ...and you can avoid that by just backing up your drivers from W11 and restoring them on W10.
I may try that one of these days.
I used to have something called "DriverGrabber" and I assume it will grab the Win11 drivers for Win10 migration.
Though it does not cite Win10 or Win11 as supported OS -- https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/drivergrabber.html

You can do it entirely just from command prompt.
To backup drivers: pnputil /export-driver * c:\backup
To restore drivers: pnputil /add-driver c:\backup\*.inf /subdirs /install

The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 16 Jul 2025, 11:14

teknixstuff wrote: ↑16 Jul 2025, 10:41 You can do it entirely just from command prompt.
To backup drivers: pnputil /export-driver * c:\backup
To restore drivers: pnputil /add-driver c:\backup\*.inf /subdirs /install

Awesome! Much appreciated!

The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 16 Jul 2025, 11:31

Here's my after-launch "before" / current setup (Win11 tweaked via WinReducerEX and other post-install tweaks).
The default OEM installation had over 140 processes and I managed to cut that basically in half.

It may be the weekend before I can revert this laptop to Win10 and see if this resolves driver issues I had when I last attempted Win10 on this laptop.

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The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 18 Jul 2025, 18:13

"before" pnputil /add-driver restore on Win10 LTSB 2016 from drivers exported from Win11 Enterprise LTSC 24H2

Win10 LTSB 2016 misses these drivers -
1) Human Interface Devices - HID Button over Interrupt Driver
2) Other devices - BT_FUNCTION
3) Other devices - Multimedia Controller
4 and 5) Other devices - PCI Data Acquisition and Signal Processing Controller
6 and 7) Other devices - PCI Device
8) Other devices - PCI Encryption/Decryption Controller
9) Other devices - SM Bus Controller
10 thru 18) Other devices - Unknown device
19) System devices - ACPI Wake Alarm
20) System devices - PCI Express Root Port
21) Universal Serial Bus controllers - UCSI USB Connector Manager

Task Manager = 28 processes, 328 threads, 10552 handles (after 49 minutes of Up Time due to a lunch break)

The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 18 Jul 2025, 18:37

Still missing FOURTEEN drivers.
I think I'll just keep the Ryzen 5 laptop on Win11.
I tried to track down drivers in the past and it was a dead end then, I suspect it to still be a dead end now.

teknixstuff · Unread post by **teknixstuff** » 19 Jul 2025, 12:11

The-10-Pen wrote: ↑18 Jul 2025, 18:13 "before" pnputil /add-driver restore on Win10 LTSB 2016 from drivers exported from Win11 Enterprise LTSC 24H2

Win10 LTSB 2016 misses these drivers -
1) Human Interface Devices - HID Button over Interrupt Driver
2) Other devices - BT_FUNCTION
3) Other devices - Multimedia Controller
4 and 5) Other devices - PCI Data Acquisition and Signal Processing Controller
6 and 7) Other devices - PCI Device
8) Other devices - PCI Encryption/Decryption Controller
9) Other devices - SM Bus Controller
10 thru 18) Other devices - Unknown device
19) System devices - ACPI Wake Alarm
20) System devices - PCI Express Root Port
21) Universal Serial Bus controllers - UCSI USB Connector Manager

Task Manager = 28 processes, 328 threads, 10552 handles (after 49 minutes of Up Time due to a lunch break)

LTSB 2016 doesn't support DCH, so you'll have a hard time getting drivers for everything.
If you aren't noticing any obvious deficiencies though, chances are, those drivers aren't needed at all.
If you are having issues, I'd suggest trying LTSC 2019 or 2021, both of which have proper DCH support, and thus are much more compatible with drivers.

I'll mention which drivers are for what here:
1) Human Interface Devices - HID Button over Interrupt Driver
- This is most likely the power button. Ignore it if the button works fine.
2) Other devices - BT_FUNCTION
- Something related to bluetooth.
3) Other devices - Multimedia Controller
- Likely your speakers/line out port, if present. You should be able to find drivers for it quite easily. The drivers for most of these are the same as long as you get the right brand (eg: pick the closest available Realtek driver if it's a Realtek sound device).
4 and 5) Other devices - PCI Data Acquisition and Signal Processing Controller
- Probably TPM or fan control?
6 and 7) Other devices - PCI Device
- Probably Intel Management Engine or AMD Platform Security Processor. Likely unwanted.
8) Other devices - PCI Encryption/Decryption Controller
- Hardware encryption has been known to be unreliable, and software encryption is usually similar speeds these days (or sometimes even faster). If you aren't doing disk encryption, this likely doesn't affect you anyway.
9) Other devices - SM Bus Controller
- Likely Intel ME, AMD PSP, or fan control.
10 thru 18) Other devices - Unknown device
- Miscellaneous chipset things. Likely not needed.
19) System devices - ACPI Wake Alarm
- Used for scheduled wake from sleep or hibernate. Commonly used by Windows Update to power on or wake up the PC for updates. Not needed if you don't want that feature.
20) System devices - PCI Express Root Port
- Unknown. You'd need the driver for the port to be able to know what devices are downstream of it. Likely your chipset drivers will include this driver.
21) Universal Serial Bus controllers - UCSI USB Connector Manager
- Used for embedded systems functionality for USB-C ports. Likely not needed.

The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 19 Jul 2025, 13:02

Thanks.
I'll give 2019/2021 a try over the weekend.
I'm currently WinReducerEX'ing Win11 21H2 and seeing if I like it better than the 24H2 that was pre-installed when I bought the laptop.

The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 20 Jul 2025, 13:26

I've tried 2016, 2019, and 2021 Win10 - driver issues on all of them and no drivers to be found.
Even Win11 21H2 and 22H2 has driver issues that Win11 24H2 does not have.
I'm sticking with Win11 24H2 for my Ryzen 5. Need it to be back to 100% by end of day.
May try Win11 23H2 one of these days, but too much trial-and-error for one weekend, prefer back to 100% for now.

teknixstuff · Unread post by **teknixstuff** » 20 Jul 2025, 13:44

The-10-Pen wrote: ↑20 Jul 2025, 13:26 I've tried 2016, 2019, and 2021 Win10 - driver issues on all of them and no drivers to be found.
Even Win11 21H2 and 22H2 has driver issues that Win11 24H2 does not have.
I'm sticking with Win11 24H2 for my Ryzen 5. Need it to be back to 100% by end of day.
May try Win11 23H2 one of these days, but too much trial-and-error for one weekend, prefer back to 100% for now.

As i said previously, it's likely that most of those missing drivers aren't needed, and a lot of them look like they can be fixed just by installing your chipset drivers anyway.

The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 20 Jul 2025, 14:04

I need graphics and bluetooth to be 100% and they are at 0% in everything I've tried under Win10.
"Aren't needed" is a subjective view. I want *everything* in Device Manager to be recognized.
What I enable or disable afterwards is a different story.

Some of them were even lagging the Start Menu or right-click context menus.
By like a whole TWO TO THREE MINUTES.

The-10-Pen · Unread post by **The-10-Pen** » 20 Jul 2025, 17:21

Stumbled upon a driver fix!
There's a "lite OS" project that hosts some Ryzen chipset drivers - https://windowsxlite.com/software/
(Generally speaking, I am *not* a fan of these types of projects, I want to perform the tweaks myself so that I know I can trust them.)

I was doing a "pnputil /export-driver" from my laptop's original Win11 24H2.
Then doing a "pnputil /add-driver" with fresh-install Win10 and older versions of Win11.

While this is probably "theoretically" supposed to work, IT DID NOT WORK for my graphics (and audio) and bluetooth devices.

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