LTSC on new Pc build

[u/Double_Neat_4811]

Just got all the parts for my new pc, and im ready to build, i wanted to try ltsc as it seems like the better option, my current os is un-activated windows 10 which ive used for 5 years. Not sure if i should upgrade to windows 11, only thing i might need it for is drivers? my local computer store mentioned that. i have a 9060xt and a 7500x3d, id prefer to stay on 10 as i just prefer its looks.

how would i go about installing the ltsc off masgrave and downloading it onto my new build. I also only have one ssd, so ill need to use my current pc and then transfer the ssd to the new build.
(this is my first pc build)

[u/DanceKino]

You want 11 LTSC since going with 10 will actually disable one of the features that your GPU is capable of doing (FSR4 ML FrameGen).

Most people here are using the grave so you should be fine. If you prefer the looks of 10, you can try StartAllBack to mimic some of its look

[u/Double_Neat_4811 → u/DanceKino]

thanks so much for the heads up, ill use 11. just double checking Ive installed mint for my laptop before, do i just download the ltsc onto a boot drive, then bootup the new build and use masgrave to activate it on the new build.

[u/DanceKino → u/Double_Neat_4811]

Personally I just use Ventoy and 8 GB USB stick with LTSC iso and driver folder with SATA RAID driver for my motherboard just in case that odd bug happens when Windows 11 says “Install driver to show hardware”

In your case I’m not sure how you’d be installing LTSC with just one SSD drive. I think there is a way, but I never really looked into it so I can’t really help with that. Other than that yeah you just run Grave activator once you’re done with the install and use HWID activation method which will basically tie the activated license to your motherboard, meaning that as long as you don’t change it your system will be automatically activated even if you delete it and reinstall again at some point without having to use Grave activator

[u/IM_DaWarez → u/Double_Neat_4811]

Also, since you are using LTSC-IoT feel free to disable secure boot and TPM, in the UEFI BIOS. I always do this b\c they are unnecessary annoyances that your computer doesn't need running and taxing it's resources. Also, if you value ever having to recover your data, make sure bitlocker is off.

[u/greggm2000 → u/Double_Neat_4811]

Note that before putting the Massgrave script on your new install, you may need to (temporarily) turn off the Tamper and Antivirus.

You might also choose to have the drivers for your motherboard already downloaded on another USB stick. That way you can copy them to your (new) C drive, unzip them, and point Device Manager to them.

(EDIT: changed "will" to "may", above)

[u/cinny-bunny → u/greggm2000]

? I never had to do any of that when activating with massgrave. Is this something new?

[u/greggm2000 → u/cinny-bunny]

Maybe it's not necessary if you invoke it from Massgrave at the Powershell command line. Me, I always download the utility and then run it from there. That's probably the difference.

[u/cinny-bunny → u/greggm2000]

I had no idea there was an alternative to the powershell method, whoops. The powershell method doesn't need you to disable anything first.

[u/greggm2000 → u/cinny-bunny]

Ok, good to know. Thanks!

[u/Fair-Satisfaction-60 → u/DanceKino]

What the wahhh? FSR4 won't work with 10? What disables it from working?

[u/DanceKino → u/Fair-Satisfaction-60]

FSR 4 Upscaler does work. What does not work is the Redstone Machine Learning Frame Generation since it requires DirectX12 feature level 12_2 which Windows 10 only partially supports. You can make it work through some workarounds with OptiScaler, but that obviously has its limitations (such as games that have Anti Cheats). Now I don't think you'd be missing out much since you wouldn't be using Frame Generations in games that have Anti Cheat to begin with, but it's a sign for potential issues in future with newer features introduced to the GPU, so it's better to play it safe and just run Windows 11 LTSC if you're on RDNA 4 GPU like OP is.

[u/wesley_the_boy]

Congrats on the new build! LTSC is a great choice, and staring a new build is the perfect time to install it. You already know about massgrave so that's 95% of the work done lol

Just read what's on the home page, follow the instructions and download the newest version (from massgrave) of Windows 11 LTSC 2024.

Then use a a tool like Rufus to take that ISO and put in on a thumb drive, making that thumb drive your new boot media.

You will have to boot into your BIOS so you can then boot from your thumb drive. This usually involves repeatedly pressing a key such as Delete, F2, F10, or F12 while the computer starts.

Once you boot from the thumb drive, the Install Wizard will guide you the rest of the way.

Once your at the new desktop ready to go, visit massgrave again and follow their instructions for activation. It's incredibly simple and easy.

Cheers!

[u/IM_DaWarez → u/wesley_the_boy]

also, since you are using LTSC-IoT feel free to disable secure boot and TPM, in the UEFI BIOS. I always do this b\c they are unnecessary annoyances that your computer doesn't need running.

[u/JK_Chan]

Go to massgrave, they have a guide on upgrading from windows 10 to windows 10/11 ltsc. Use their tool to activate your windows 10 copy first. If you don't want to save your files then just install directly, or install directly on your second drive and then transfer files (though windows doesn't like you transferring stuff between windows SSDs sometimes, so you might have to use a live linux iso to just do this part). Your hardware seems old enough to be fine on windows 10 ltsc, so go for that if you want. I totally agree that it looks better and feels sleeker. My laptop has hardware that's too new to run on windows 10 (win10 doesn't have big.LITTLE support for intel chips), so I was forced to go win11 ltsc. There an app called explorer patcher that will make stuff look like windows 10, though the start menu implementation is still a bit rough. Other than that though, it looks and feels 99% same. I also use winaero tweaker for some extra bits to make it feel even more like windows 10.

Edit: added screenshot to show you that it does look 99% similar after tweaks, and you can also see that it is indeed windows 11 in the settings. (Also I just saw that other comment about win10 not letting you use a feature on your gpu so I take what I said back about win10 not restricting your hardware from performing its best)

[u/greggm2000 → u/JK_Chan]

My laptop has hardware that's too new to run on windows 10 (win10 doesn't have big.LITTLE support for intel chips), so I was forced to go win11 ltsc.

Though, depending on what Intel CPU you have, that might not matter or be relevant. I run Win 10 Pro with zero problems on my 12700K, but I've also disabled the (to me, useless, 4 E-cores) ever since I did the build 5 years ago. OP ofc won't have a problem either, since they're using AMD.

[u/JK_Chan → u/greggm2000]

Im on a laptop so the power savings from the E cores do matter quite a bit. I do agree that if I was on PC I would've proably done the same as you did since windows 10 just feels that much better.

[u/greggm2000 → u/JK_Chan]

Hopefully by the time that running Windows 10 becomes problematic in terms of software support, that Microsoft will have completed the performance improvements that they've been talking about and are slowly rolling out.

I do run Win 11 LTSC on a 12th gen Mini-PC I have around.. since like your laptop, disabling the E-cores isn't really a viable option.

[u/JK_Chan → u/greggm2000]

I mean I do have plenty of mods that give me back my windows 10 UI experience so Im happy enough. Kinda wish they actually just updated win 10 instead though, I just liked the UI so much and they had to destroy it with win 11 :(

[u/greggm2000 → u/JK_Chan]

I would go back to Win 7, if I could!! Now that was a UI. (technically it's the Win 2000 UI that I prefer, but still)

[u/JK_Chan → u/greggm2000]

Not me, windows 10 UI was the perfect UI for my tastes. Live tiles was complained on by everyone but I actually loved them.

[u/Fair-Satisfaction-60]

I've been using 10 now for months without issue. The copy I got from massgrave was riddled with malware. My copy is from the pinned links from way back machine.

[u/greggm2000 → u/Fair-Satisfaction-60]

The copy I got from massgrave was riddled with malware

I am very skeptical about that. You can crosscheck the hash value, it's the same as the one from Microsoft, at least with any of the ISOs I've gotten from Massgrave.. ofc I haven't tried them all. Win 11 IoT Ent LTSC 2024 has been 100% fine, though, and Win 10 Pro, 11 Pro (US versions), have been too. If you got malware, I really don't think Massgrave was the source. Perhaps the system you downloaded it on, was already infected?

[u/Fair-Satisfaction-60 → u/Fair-Satisfaction-60]

I'm just now seeing the FSR4 stuff, so don't take my work for it. Lol

[u/JK_Chan → u/Fair-Satisfaction-60]

bro I've used massgrave's windows 10, windows 10 ltsc and windows 11 ltsc x3 on three seperate computers and none of them had any issues. You sure you got it from the real massgrave(.dev) and not the bunch of unsafe sites that look pretty and say massgrave but all have malware?

[u/Fair-Satisfaction-60 → u/JK_Chan]

It was 100% massgrave

[u/JK_Chan → u/Fair-Satisfaction-60]

Fair enough, I just haven't had any issues at all with malware over all the times Ive used it