Windows 10 Lite - Ghost Spectre

Vellaura · 23 Jun 2021

@Ghot lmao you goose.

jbcarreon123 · 24 Jun 2021

I would like if the Ghost Spectre version of Windows 11 will have NO TPM 2.0, Processor limits, and DirectX 12 or WDDM 2.x requirement.

ClippyBeer · 28 Jun 2021

So I installed Ghost Spectre on a spare Gateway 2009 era laptop I have rather than the Dell for now due to lack of time. It's on the low end of specs for a Windows 10 install (AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-72 @2.1GHz, 3 GB DDR2 RAM, Radeon HD3200 on board graphics w/shared memory).

It's a pretty slick installer - it has a some included utilities (Aomei Partition Assistant, Regedit, driver installer, notepad, Explorer ++ and a few others.

I selected Superlite SE without Defender and let it install - took about 25 minutes on this old laptop (Windows 10 1903 took about 90 minutes on this same PC).

After a bit Windows installed all the right drivers except for the SD card reader. I installed the same drivers I used for Windows 7 and now the SD card reader works. No unknown devices in device manager. I completed the activation process and ran the Ghost Toolkit - it prompted me that an update was available so I let it update.

I selected options 16 & 17 (VC++ and DirectX) - it downloaded and installed all the appropriate packages. Took only a few minutes. I also installed Miracast (probably the only reason I chose Windows 10 over 7 on my Dell) and was able to cast my phone to my laptop.

I tried to install Edge Legacy just for laughs but it told me it wasn't available so I selected Brave browser from the toolkit and set it as my default browser.

I did run into one snag - it installed a start menu replacement called StartIsBack. It's apparently a badly hacked version of the paid app (it shows as registered in 'About' but kept saying trial period was over). I uninstalled it and replaced it with ClassicShell (freeware) and now my Start Menu works as it should. So far I'm impressed. Boot time is about 2 minutes on this old PC but it's definitely more responsive than stock Windows 10 install.

Very low CPU usage, nothing in startup and absolutely no Windows 10 bloat. Updates are paused till 2029 so no "My PC was working fine until an update but now it won't boot" nonsense. I will probably disable updates altogether at some point. I'm going to continue test driving Ghost but my initial impressions are that this is a major improvement over stock Windows 10 installs. This is definitely the way to go if you want to install Windows 10 on an older/low spec PC.

starchase · 29 Jun 2021

ClippyBeer said:

So I installed Ghost Spectre on a spare Gateway 2009 era laptop I have rather than the Dell for now due to lack of time. It's on the low end of specs for a Windows 10 install (AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-72 @2.1GHz, 3 GB DDR2 RAM, Radeon HD3200 on board graphics w/shared memory).

Very low CPU usage, nothing in startup and absolutely no Windows 10 bloat. Updates are paused till 2029 so no "My PC was working fine until an update but now it won't boot" nonsense. I will probably disable updates altogether at some point. I'm going to continue test driving Ghost but my initial impressions are that this is a major improvement over stock Windows 10 installs. This is definitely the way to go if you want to install Windows 10 on an older/low spec PC.

Hi ClippyBeer:
Was your PC previously running a Pro version of Windows before your new install? And if not, like if you were running Home on that old PC was there any issue in Activating as Win 10 Pro? Because all I se are Spectre Win10Pro versions. I have an older Samsung laptop I'd like to do what you did but I'm running Home version.

ClippyBeer · 30 Jun 2021

So my next hurdles were to see if I could install Windows Store and Office 2019 in Ghost Superlite SE 21H1.

I opened Ghost Toolbox and selected option 10 - it took about 10 minutes in what looked almost like a script stuck in an endless loop but it eventually finished. I checked and Windows Store open successfully (I only installed for the Netflix and Hulu apps).

Next I downloaded and installed Office 2019 Pro Plus. Worked like a charm.

So far I am very impressed with the responsiveness of Ghost Superlite SE vs stock 1903 which was previously on this laptop (that was sluggish and soured my impressions of Windows 10).

Keep in mind that Ghost Superlite SE removes that default start menu completely so no live tiles etc. I never cared for those even in Windows 8.1. Unfortunately the latest version of Ghost Superlite SE replaces the start menu with StartIsBack, a paid start menu replacement which they apparently applied a failed hack that left it in a trial state and some functions were disabled. I uninstalled it and found myself with no start menu! Fortunately I had the Brave Browser shortcut on my desktop and was able to navigate to Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements, downloaded and installed and now have my start menu. If you plan on using Ghost Superlite SE you will have to uninstall StartIsBack, download ClassicShell (freeware) or another Windows 10 start menu replacement of your choice because the default doesn't function properly. I can't comment on StartIsBack because I didn't get to use it extensively.

I do like ClassicShell on Windows 10, especially the list of all control panel items in a submenu.

Another plus for ClassicShell - right-lick to add UWP app shortcuts to your desktop!

You will be prompted with a "Windows can't create a shortcut here. Do you want the shortcut placed on the Desktop instead?" dialogue. Click yes and you have your shortcut.

I'm going to keep evaluating Ghost Superlite SE and see what other benefits/caveats it has to offer on this low-spec legacy laptop in a productivity environment. It so far is as responsive as Windows 7 Ultimate x64 was on this same PC.

starchase said:

Hi ClippyBeer:
Was your PC previously running a Pro version of Windows before your new install? And if not, like if you were running Home on that old PC was there any issue in Activating as Win 10 Pro? Because all I se are Spectre Win10Pro versions. I have an older Samsung laptop I'd like to do what you did but I'm running Home version.

I honestly don't know, I had Windows 10 Pro 1903 on this same PC. As far as I am aware you need to have different licenses for Home vs Pro. Maybe someone else here can clarify.

EDIT

One more thing.

Ghost Spectre is for Advanced Users.

What is an Advanced User?

1) Someone well versed in drive imaging/data backup that can effortlessly restore their system in the event of fudged upgrade/hard disk failure/malware infection.

2) Someone who can troubleshoot and solve their PC problems without "MY COMPUTER WON'T BOOT PLZ HALP!!!" "BUMP" "BUMP" "BUMP WHY WON'T SOMEONE HELP ME NOW?!?!" "THIS SITE SUX GOST SPECTER SUX U SUX 4 MAKING ME INSTALL THIS!"

Lance1 · 05 Jul 2021

Note that it's Build 22000.51 Insider Release.

teots · 14 Jul 2021

I finally completed my game dragon quest 11 and have time to install ghost spectra v20h2. Everything went well
but i still need to determine if this will be my permanent os.:)

nitram · 20 Aug 2021

I decided to give version 1909 of superlite a go and liked the install experience. I could not however, get networking to work. I could see the other machines on the network (at times) but was unable to connect to them. Tried everything I could think of to get it to work but no luck. The goal was to use the machine as a HTPC using KODI connecting to another network PC that acts as a "server". All machines on the network running windows.

I'm willing to give it another try if anyone can suggest a different way to connect to the network reliably. If I can get it to work on the older desktop, I want to give it a try on an older laptop as well.

If anyone has any thoughts, I would be happy to hear them.

C.

teots · 20 Aug 2021

nitram said:

I decided to give version 1909 of superlite a go and liked the install experience. I could not however, get networking to work. I could see the other machines on the network (at times) but was unable to connect to them. Tried everything I could think of to get it to work but no luck. The goal was to use the machine as a HTPC using KODI connecting to another network PC that acts as a "server". All machines on the network running windows.

I'm willing to give it another try if anyone can suggest a different way to connect to the network reliably. If I can get it to work on the older desktop, I want to give it a try on an older laptop as well.

If anyone has any thoughts, I would be happy to hear them.

C.

Might not be useful, have you check and enable necessary features in more windows features ? It's located in
> settings > optional features. And i'm curious why you prefer older version of win10 ?

nitram · 21 Aug 2021

teots said:

Might not be useful, have you check and enable necessary features in more windows features ? It's located in
> settings > optional features. And i'm curious why you prefer older version of win10 ?

Thanks for your reply teots. I tried your suggestion and no joy; network still not useable. I am using the older version as it is what is on the flash drive to load with as a trial. I am not sure that the version matters though I will try with a more current version if you think that is the problem.

I am wondering if the issue is due to the fact that SMB1 is implemented. All machines are working well with it currently.

C.

Windows 10 Lite - Ghost Spectre

It's Coming!!!!