Arjun ShaWe love the fact that Windows 11 is feature-rich and visually modern, although there are some UI inconsistencies that Rectify11 has fixed to a large extent. Apart from that, Microsoft has been adding several new features to its desktop OS since Windows 10 days. Fast forward, and both Windows 10 and 11 are bloated with new features, unnecessary apps, and redundant background services. To be frank, Windows 10/11 feels quite heavy compared to Windows 7. And now, to trim down Windows 10 to its bare essentials, a developer has released Tiny10, which is a lightweight version of Windows 10. It takes much less space, works even on low RAM computers, and comes with no bloatware. To find out what is Tiny10 and how to install it, keep on reading.
Everything You Need to Know About Tiny10 (2022)
We have discussed everything about Tiny10 and how lightweight it is in comparison to the vanilla Windows 10 installation. We have also included a tutorial on how to install Tiny10 on any PC (both 32-bit and 64-bit). You can also read our first impression of Tiny10, the super powerful and lightweight Windows 10 build, towards the end.
Stripped Down Windows 10: What is Tiny10?
Tiny10 is a stripped-down version of Windows 10, and it has been developed by a developer named NTDEV. We know how bloated Windows has become at this point, so this project aims to remove all the unnecessary components. That means you can run Windows 10 smoothly, even on low-end hardware. Note that Tiny10 has not just removed bloatware, but it has been optimized from the ground up to reduce Windows 10’s footprint.
For example, if you install Tiny10 on a 32-bit system, it only takes 5.2GB of disk space, which is a breakthrough. A vanilla Windows 10 system takes up to 22GB of space. To reduce the installation size by 17GB is just great. On 64-bit systems, Tiny10 takes up to 10GB of disk space. And in terms of RAM, you can run Tiny10 on a 32-bit system with just 1GB of RAM, and on a 64-bit system, you can make do with 2GB of RAM, which is nothing short of amazing. We already know Windows 10 comes to a grinding halt, even on a system with 4GB of RAM.
Now, you might be wondering since Windows 10 has been reduced to such a lightweight profile, is it missing features? Well, I extensively tested Tiny10 and everything worked fine without any bugs. All the core Windows system tools are available, including PowerShell, CMD, Disk Management, etc. I even ran a number of applications, including Geekbench, Crystaldisk, ShareX, and games like CS: GO, and everything ran without any issues. It’s a surprise to me as well because we are testing the first beta of Tiny10 for x64 systems. But I can say for sure that you are not going to miss anything on Tiny10 in terms of functionality.
As for the apps, Tiny10 has removed all the default apps like the image viewer, internet explorer, media player, etc. Only Notepad and Wordpad are available on this stripped-down build of Windows 10. Moreover, it’s important to know that Tiny10 does not come with Microsoft Store or Windows Security. You will need to sideload the apps you want.
Also, there is no support for Windows Subsystem for Linux, but you can enable Hyper-V. As for the Windows version, Tiny10 x64 Beta 1 runs Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC (Build 19044.1586, March 2022). That means you can activate Tiny 10 with a Windows license, but it does not support Windows updates.
Having said all of that, Tiny10 is a great solution for users who want to run lightweight Windows 10 on a low-end PC with little disk space and RAM. Chrome OS Flex is another great solution, but it does not support full-fledged Windows apps. In such a scenario, Tiny10 fills the shoes and can breathe a new life into aging PCs.
Differences Between Tiny10 and Windows 10
To begin with, Tiny10 is fast and fluid in comparison to vanilla Windows 10. There is no bloatware to be found on Tiny10. All the bloatware, unnecessary apps, services, and system components have been removed by the developer. For example, you can check out the difference in the Start menu below.
Tiny10 also takes up very little disk space in comparison to Windows 10. On my 64-bit laptop, the Tiny10 installation took only 10.5GB of space, whereas Windows 10 ballooned to 22.2GB after a fresh installation.
I also kept a keen eye on the CPU and RAM usage on Tiny10, and surprisingly, it was merely taking 1% of CPU and 1.6GB of RAM when sitting idle. In comparison, Windows 10 kept its CPU usage in check, but RAM usage was constantly above 2.5GB. Here’s the Task Manager overview of Tiny10 and Windows 10.
Coming to some benchmark testing between Tiny10 and vanilla Windows 10, here are some Geekbench and CrystalDiskMark results. In the Geekbench test, both OSes performed along the same lines, but in the CrystalDiskMark test, we can see that Tiny10 was able to write data at double speeds, which is great.
Finally, I also installed Steam and played CS: GO at high settings on Tiny10, and it performed decently on my 6th-gen i5- powered laptop. I got around 20-30FPS, similar to vanilla Windows 10. However, turning down the graphics settings to low, I was easily able to get around 45-50FPS, which is pretty decent for a low-end Windows PC.
How to Install Tiny10 (Stripped Down Windows 10)
1. Go ahead and download the ISO image of Tiny10 based on your system architecture: 32-bit (1.7GB) | 64-bit (2.4GB). We did a preliminary check of the files on VirusTotal and didn’t notice any red flags, so that’s a good sign.
2. After that, head to this link and download Rufus to create a bootable USB drive.
3. Now, open Rufus, plug the USB drive, select the ISO image, and click on “Start“. Make sure the File system is NTFS.
4. After the flashing process begins, we suggest you make some downloads in the meantime to have a hassle-free experience. There is no browser included in Tiny10, so we suggest downloading the standalone setup of Google Chrome from here. After that, transfer it to the root directory of the flashed USB drive. Also, you can download and transfer a tool like Driver Booster to update your drivers.
5. Next, plug the USB drive into the target PC and restart it. When the PC restarts, press the boot key (should be one of the function keys – F9, F8, F7, etc.). If you don’t know the boot key for your PC or laptop, look it up on the internet. Once you are on the boot selection screen, select your USB drive and hit Enter.
6. Your PC will now load Tiny10’s installation window, which is similar to Windows 10’s setup window. Follow the on-screen instructions and choose your preferred drive. Finally, click on “Next” to install the OS.
7. Once the installation is complete, you will boot directly to Tiny10. Enjoy the minimal Windows 10!
Tiny10: My First Impressions
I have extensively used Windows 10 in the past and am currently using Windows 11, and I can say that Tiny10 has surprised me. I used Tiny10 for a legion of tasks from playing games like CS: GO to enabling Hyper-V during my testing this week, and it worked every single time without throwing any tantrums. It constantly kept the CPU and RAM usage in check. I was able to do much more on Tiny10 because I feel there is still room for performing a task. It does not feel laggy at all.
The Start menu opens in a jiffy. There is no Bing search integrated into the search bar so search results are wicked fast, no telemetry in the background, and no weird services raking disk usage to 100%, among other things. It’s overall a smooth and pleasant experience. To sum up, don’t think twice and try Tiny10 if you are using a low-end PC or just someone having a bad experience with vanilla Windows 10. You will have to take care on the security front by installing an antivirus on Windows 10, but apart from that, you will absolutely love the clean and lightness of Tiny10 without compromising on features.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is Tiny10 developed by Microsoft?
No, Tiny10 is an independent project, and it’s been developed by a developer named NTDEV.
Q. What is the size of the Tiny10 ISO image?
The 64-bit ISO image of Tiny10 takes up to 2.4GB of space, and the 32-bit image is around 1.7GB in size.
Q. Can we install Tiny10 on 32-bit PCs?
Yes, Tiny10 is supported on 32-bit computers.
Q. Is Tiny10 an open-source project?
No, Tiny10 is not an open-source project.
Q. Is it safe to install Tiny10?
While we can’t vouch for the safety of Tiny10, we did a preliminary check of the files on VirusTotal, and none of the security vendors flagged any malicious behavior. That said, it’s within your discretion if you want to install Tiny10 on your PC.
Easily Run Windows 10 on Low-End PCs with Tiny10
So that was everything you need to know about Tiny10 and how you can install it on any PC. I like the fact that Tiny10 offers support for 32-bit systems, which means older hardware can also benefit from this project. I hope Microsoft in the future releases a light build of Windows 11 similar to Tiny10. It will tremendously help general users who want their PC to work without slowing down. Anyway, that is all from us. If you want to debloat Windows 11 and speed up your Windows 11 PC, follow our linked tutorials. Finally, if you have any questions, let us know in the comments section below.
No language support, very bad…
Don’t care for Hyper-V when I use pci passthrough, just wondering how much more I could strip this down by removing Hyper-V and Bitlocker. Maybe save another pound of flesh, there is a Windows 7 lite edition in the wild that manages to do just 50mb I would love to see 10 reduced closer to that size.
The Xbox live as well as gaming services will not work on Tiny 10. You can download games but you won’t be able to connect it to your Xbox account. Don’t know whether the Xbox cloud gamming works.
how to enable Hyper-V on Tiny10?
installed succesfully, and running faster and more smooth than the windows 10 home , but it is not activated, As the Tiny10 x64 Beta 1 runs Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC (Build 19044.1586, March 2022), I search online and finally get a windows 10 enterprise LTSC 2021 key from keyingo.com, it activated it successfully, remember , then ltsc 2016, 2019 are not working , only ltsc 2021 is working for the tiny 10
Does Tiny 10 update a previous install of Win 8.1 or does it wipe previous system so that you have to reinstall all previous apps and backup docs and files currently installed?
It will require a clean installation.
Hi,
I would love to try Tiny10 on my Lenovo, but when I try to boot in out of my USB Drive, there comes a fail message taht something is wrong with the Ascii.
Maybe you know this problem, and maybe you can help me out? Thank you!
It is lightweight and fairly fast on my old Lenovo. Two problems. I loaded Avast which flagged a file called ntlhost.exe as malware. Otherwise, it seems ok. I got Office to work but when I try to check my email through the web, I get an error message from my institution.
Link expired
64-bit https://www.mediafire.com/file/jxyc8n25s1asati/tiny10_21H2_x64_2209.iso/file
32-bit https://www.mediafire.com/file/9ed820whh14lfcb/tiny10_21H2_x86_2209.iso/file
64-bit doesn’t work
Does this OS have usb 3 support UEFI for ryzen processors
as win 7 lite mouse keyboard would only work in BIOS not in the operating system.
For me, the only one surprised is you, because with Windows 8.1 you could optimize it up to 500 megabytes in ram memory usage.
The only thing this developer did was to stop various background services, but still, Windows 10 requires more services to be running and they cannot be disabled without damaging the system.
At today tiny10 is fine if you use it in some closed environmenent. Internet access still require antivirus so keep in mind that Windows Defender is absent and other AVs will slurp all available RAM and CPU cycles thus defying the purpose of Tiny10 as solution for low resource machines. Also I didn’t found real solution to overcome problems with any .NET runtime installation. Especially annoying is KB5020694 update which goes in endless loop due to “corrupted system files” error. .NET 2.0 and 3.5 runtimes also was impossible to install due to same error. At today .NET unfortunately is required even by some Windows driver configuration software. I hope that NTDEV or someone else will fix problems with that. Until that tiny10 is not usable in real world.
Good job!!! just installed in VMware workstation with 10GB HDD and 4 GB ram.
Currently, in idle it works at 7ooMB RAM and 5 GB HDD used. Excellent work. !!!!!
Just what I needed. Is there a reason I am not using this on my actual laptop?
Office apps don’t work, for your information.
I can only load drivers thru the cd/dvd drive. Even though USB drivers are installed the file system doesn’t recognize any USB devices plugged in. Need USB ports to work. Also Ethernet drivers are installed but Firefox says no network. Any suggestions?
Dell Optiplex 9010
64 bit ISO image not available
Check out here https://twitter.com/NTDEV_/status/1569831799735619584
What a waste of time, it needs to be activated with an enterprise key.
Uh, how can i install it without USB or CD drive ? I’m thinking to install it on my 1 GB ram laptop, (cause I want Windows 10). I have a software called powerISO . Will it work or not?
What about .net 2. And 3.5 component. Im trying to install by using online capabilities or dism /online by specified the sorce scs file (on tony iso or fuull iso) and was unsuccefully. This component is requrired in direct x , and in all old version pc games. In rest Tiny is beatiifull!!
Thank you.
Can this be done with version 1909? I’m using some software that uses HASP (that annoying hardlock stuff) which no longer works on versions 2004 and above (or win11). 1909 was the last version I could get this software to run correctly.
hey,
im using this tiny 10 it really cool
thanks for this
but can somebody tell me
how to connect to wifi
there is no option for this
can somebody help me
get task manager and then go to the performance then open the internet thingy to get the model name, use another pc (well if you dont have one idk what to do) and download a driver (eg. intel) then put it in a USB and give it to the tiny10 device open it and its done:)
Please include net frames different version in the next version?
btw for anyone wondering why when you try to boot to it says “Unable to boot Tiny10 X86 version” you need to disable secureboot
I successfully installed but not activated. How to activate it pls? ty
download kms activator its one click and after 3 or 5 seconds its done
Is there any way to enable the update service for this beautiful version of lite windows 10?
This does not make any sense. So you are getting a Tiny windows so you can reuse old hardware. Great! But they choose the enterprise windows version? that license is 110 U$? really? You cannot reuse any windows 7 pro key (that are reusable for windows 10 pro). You need to buy an enterprise license that actually you need a VLM server running in your network?
Or is intended to be cracked? (over and over every 6 month…)
Unable o boot Tiny10 X86 version. its just shows ———————————— ——————————- ————————————-
Graphics driver won’t install on Tiny10. Please prefer some other versions.
thank You Sir For providing This Brilliant Article !!!
It’s Help Me A Lot 👍
How to remove the Activate Windows watermark?
I use it too! It’s great.
Can I know why I’m facing a problem with usb tethering and networking issues..
OMG no surprice crystal disk Mark showed double the speed if the test was done on two different Ssd, one 240GB and the other one 120GB. Did you test those systems on two different machines? What’s the point?
It was done on the same SSD. That’s the partition size.
Unable to load tiny 10 using a flash drive of 16GB
How do you go about sideloading the Store on this installation (as mentioned you’d need to in the article), as there are a couple of Store apps I’d want.
I really want to try this on my absolutely useless 1GB RAM HP Stream 7 tablet which has been gathering dust for years.
Re-install the Microsoft Store App https://beebom.com/fix-microsoft-store-not-working-windows-11/#h-5-re-install-the-microsoft-store-app
Since tiny10 is an enterprise edition, will I be able to activate it using Windows Home or Pro license keys?
It’s certain that some Microsoft applications will not be compatible. Several years ago I needed to enable Windows Defender and Windows Firewall in order to connect to XBOX to play Forza Horizon 3. This seems like a cool project but I feel like it will probably have unforseen consequences on your system in the long run.
That is why it is being told in the article that it is for older machines which you just want to use for the basic tasks. Of course when you make an operating system much smaller and faster things will get lost.
Just so you know, Microsoft Office does not work on Tiny10.
Compared to normal Windows 10, what are the downsides? No internet safety? No printers, wifi, etc?
WiFi works out of the box. Printer setup is also available. You can sideload all the drivers. As for security, you can install an antivirus of your choice.
“developed”? It’s slipstreamed. There are tools available to configure windows setup, remove apps, and these are avilable from XP days.
Welcome to 20 years ago.
Does it support Graphic Card with dedicated memory, since i updated to windows 20H1, my AMD Radeon graphics card not working. Hope Tyni10 will work with my graphic card.
ANY!?!??! news for getting 32uefi with 64 but processor with this? T100-TAF some Linux works great but some of the atom baytrail is hard to get going but I wouldn’t mind firing up windows 10 64 but on it again!
Is it possible to load the USB drive then install Windows with Secure Boot enabled? I don’t think so unless stated otherwise.
1.6 GB in idle? *Laughs in Linux Mint*
Those are two completely different OSes with 2 presumably different use cases for each. I dual boot a linux install and a Win10 install specifically because each has it’s place.
I suppose I could throw this in a VM and not need to dual boot, but I’m not sure VMs allow bare-metal access to the GPU and CPU for something like gaming, or using Fusion360 or SolidWorks. Those might still be better used in a native Win environment.
Thanks for the article !! Needed the exact Wlite Windows 10 !!! Keep it up !
You tried tiny 10 on which laptop ?
my laptop…duh
Will work on most 32 or 64 laptops with 1 core and 1 gb ram, the issue will be the video drivers, and network drivers, and provably will still work slow.
But will run aceptable on any laptop that can run windows 7.
In any case this image installed as windows 10 enterprise for me, so no serial will work.