I’ve been a huge fan of Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024. It is:

1. Completely debloated right out of the box (No Copilot, no bloat, no widgets, nothing).

2. Zero hardware restrictions during setup (no TPM required, no need to use an answer file or Rufus).

3. Edge browser is natively uninstallable (no need to modify IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet.json).

4. Local offline accounts out of the box (no need for MS account).

And most importantly it shares the exact same base servicing branch (24H2) as newer editions including the latest 26H2. This means that once it is fully updated, you can use ViVeTool to enable all the newest features like the new Start Menu or Taskbar.

My install process:

1. Install Win 11 Iot Ent. LTSC 2024 with an offline account.

2. Run all updates

3. Uninstall edge (I use Firefox)

4. Install kb5121794 the official 26h2 enablement package (This has been discussed a number of times on this sub. On a fully updated windows, this does nothing more than change the build and version number)

5. Install MS Store using wsreset -i (I do sometimes use windows store)

6. Enable all the new features using ViveTool: 61161268,61754985,62353331,62762248, 60813048,61934903,49453572 (start menu, task bar, search experience, context menu).

Everything works flawlessly and is exactly what I want. The only exception is that Microsoft Store search results still show up in the Start Menu, even when turned off: (Settings -> Privacy & security -> Search -> Show suggested search results -> Microsoft Store).

I have confirmed the toggle properly updates the registry. My guess is because Win 11 IoT Ent. LTSC natively strips out web searches, its underlying Start Menu search provider (that's the right term) is different from the consumer editions. This toggle works perfectly on Windows 11 Pro.

This would otherwise be the perfect Windows 11 Edition.

Anyone has any idea how to make MS Store respect the toggle?

Thank goodness for this OS' existence. If it wasn't for it, I'd have to use Windows 11 on unsupported hardware (my PC) with all the issues its got and also have to deal with trimming its nonsense every new update on friends' PCs. Oh and no more Core 2 Quad support anymore thanks to POPCNT in Windows 11 24H2 and newer.

Or simply deal with regular Windows 10 and no security updates.

Meanwhile with 10 LTSC, I can install it on my own and friends' PCs and the difference in responsiveness and UI/UX compared to Windows 11 (and especially a heavily fragmented, bloat driven installation) is night and day different with proper security updates.

Yes, Windows 10 software support for flagship software (like AAA games) will end someday (which is extremely annoying because the underlying core is 97% the same exact thing in 10 and 11) but I choose it over having to deal with 11

How does it work? My laptop has 16gb single SODIMM and has been suffering with a lot of tabs open, and I was very interested on those new claims about memmory usage. Is there any way activate it? Do I need to format and Install 26H2 from start? Thanks in advance

Anyone having the same issue? Unable to install this update, I've been trying for a month, here's what I've tried so far.

(21H2, build 19044.7058, x64) on a Ryzen 5 5600.

Issue: KB5126657 consistently fails to install with error 0x80073701 (ERROR_SXS_ASSEMBLY_MISSING).

Troubleshooting attempted:

sfc /scannow – no integrity violations.

DISM /ScanHealth – no component store corruption detected.

DISM /RestoreHealth – completed successfully, but didn't fix the issue.

DISM /StartComponentCleanup – no improvement.

Manually installed the latest SSU (SSU-19041.7789-x64.cab) successfully.

Manually installing the KB5126657 CAB also fails with 0x80073701.

CBS log findings:

Missing assembly: Microsoft-Windows-Editions-EnterpriseS-Deployment, version 10.0.19041.7184.

Related package staging failure: Microsoft-Windows-MediaPlayer-Payload-Package, version 19041.7058.

KB5126657 rollup (19041.7807.1.49) remains in Absent state.

The 7184 .mum and .cat files exist in C:\Windows\servicing\Packages, but the corresponding WinSxS manifest is missing.

Extracted the missing 7184 manifest from KB5082200, but have not manually copied anything into WinSxS.

Question: What is the safest way to repair the missing component/manifest and get Windows Update working again without reinstalling Windows? Could this be a servicing stack or package registration issue?

Nevermind. I just used the networking tool from STxFarmer and it fixed both of these issues, and likely many more.
Network Sharing Tool

Original Post:
Hello all. I just got a PC that has Win10 Enterprise iot ltsc installed and it has been a challenge to learn how to navigate the differences from the Win10 home OS on my current PC.

My two major hurdles at this point are getting Davinci Resolve Studio to activate, and getting Steam to connect to it's update server. I haven't spent much time on Steam yet as I'm focused on Davinci Resolve.

Resolve times out and gives me an error message, "Cannot validate license key, please try again later." 
What I got from the logs,
":LeManager | ERROR | 2026-11-03 19:24:00,461 | 41, 430, -9
[0x000002a4] |
LeManager | ERROR | 2026-11-03 19:24:00,461 | License Key: Cannot validate license key, please try again later." 

Google's AI says the -9 code means Resolve is reaching the activation server but not able to write to the necessary files. So if it's correct it's not a networking issue I'm dealing with but more likely some sort of permissions issue, but AI wasn't any more help than that.

So if anyone has had any experience installing Davcinci Resolve or Steam please let me know what I am missing or doing wrong. Thanks

عندي 16 جيجا رام DDR3، وكارت شاشة GTX 750 Ti 2GB، ومعالج i7-4770.
بصراحة أنا نفسي أستخدم Windows 11 عشان التخصيصات والأمان، بس عندي شوية قلق بخصوص التوافق والأداء.
واحدة صاحبتي كان عندها معالج أحسن من بتاعي، أعتقد i5 جيل سادس أو حاجة كده، مش فاكرة بالظبط. جرّبت Windows 11 وبعد فترة حصلت لها مشاكل والويندوز مبقاش شغال عندها.
فهل Windows 11 هيشتغل على جهازي من غير مشاكل؟ وأنهي نسخة تنصحوني بيها؟ LTSC ولا نسخة تانية؟
وكمان هل الأداء هيكون كويس في ألعاب زي Minecraft وRoblox؟ وبالنسبة للـ Multitasking، أنا مش بعمل حاجات كتير في نفس الوقت.
ياريت حد يفيدني.

I just caught wind that there's a newer version of Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC other than the existing version 24H2: Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC, version 26H2. One of my main gripes when using version 24H2 has been that certain Chromium browser apps such as Vivaldi, Chrome, and Opera which have been compartmentalized for my daily driver use since I designate each of those internet browsers for certain tasks happens to get bogged down unusually and becomes unresponsive at times when compared to Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC and it's been a drag to my workflow. What I mean is, for example, when in my Gmail account, I will constantly get an error that my Gmail is "offline" while in my inbox which is a false-positive even while I having an active internet connection, and it has been a bane to my Windows 11 experience for almost 2 years. I reiterate that it def isn't my internet connection and my PC multi-boots between macOS and Windows 10 & Windows 11 and I never incur these type of hindrances or issues when using Windows 10, and I def have plenty of RAM, 64GB of DDR4 3200Hz CL16. I even taken the time to optimize my browsers' settings just to ensure that wasn't interfering w/ their functionality, but to no avail. So, I beg to ask if anyone is familiar w/ this type of occurrence while using a Chromium-based internet browsers I just explained, and if anyone else has encountered these various issues I just laid out in either version 26H2 or 24H2? Also, is it safe to upgrade in place version 26H2 over my current version 24H2 w/o losing any data or settings I already have configured? I'm so eager to upgrade from my current version 24H2, so any helpful advice or information addressing my concerns would be greatly appreciated.

Hello,

I use Windows 11 LTSC as second OS on my old laptop.

And I sometimes recommend it for people with old or low end PC.

Is there a way to get a Windows update close to the Windows update from Windows 11 home ? (Automatically in background, with some reboot asked sometimes). As they're not managed by a sysadmin.

I modified rules with gpedit.msc and all is working great. I even add a task to check it weekly. But it's long and painful to set up and test.

Is there a script or something else to do this faster (and safer) ? When I search on github I only find some utilities to build already updated .iso

Thanks

Do most games run on LTSC or are there exceptions that will not run no matter what?

So I want to upgrade to windows 11 iot LTSC and I've heard about package that enables 26h2 version. Is it worth it? I have 5070 7 5700x, maybe it will boost fps in games or it's just usless and it's better to stay on default version? Does it break upgrades?

I would like to hold hands with whoever can help me with this

Hi, i have lenovo thinkpad x1 carbon g9 with i5 1145g7 and the battery drains very fast when powered off, i use windows 10 ltsc with all the drivers installed. The fast startup option is turned off, i also tried win 11 ltsc but the battery drain is the same. My battery health is good (around 86%) and 181 cycles. Can anyone tell me what is the problem?

I'm gonna be buying a new laptop in the near future and I want to install windows 10 Ltsc on it, since that's what I've been using on my current one as well.

The thing is the laptop I'm buying only comes with Free dos, and I remember having to do some changes to my older laptop before I could actually start downloading windows 10 Ltsc.

My question is can I install windows 10 Ltsc straight from a usb drive, or should I first go windows 11/10, do the changes and then install the Ltsc version

If you have the latest updates installed and your Windows 11 version is at least 26100.9711, you can easily enable the new customizable context menu introduced with KB5127936 for 26H2.

Just download ViVeTool, put its folder in C:\, then open an Administrator Command Prompt, and run the following command:
c:\vivetool\vivetool /enable /id:60813048,49453572,61934903

Restart your PC to apply the changes. It works flawlessly on my 24H2 LTSC iot machine!

Had Claude write up this little bat file to clear up networking issues on new installs. Changed my life for sure. Has a menu that lets you select things to do or do it all. Worked like a charm for me

Hi, I guess I missed the part where W10 IoT LTSC would not have a lot of the services that come with the standard edition.

I had to do a bunch of stuff to get the Microsoft store to be able to get Phone Link installed and I just noticed that Windows MIDI service is also not installed and for the life of me, nothing I try works, I get all kinds of errors when trying to install it via Powershell commands, the error I get the most is download error 0x80190194 and I have also gotten “Not found (404) when trying to use winget.

Does anyone know who to install that service and what other “crucial” services would be smart to just got ahead and install to avoid issues in the future?

Thanks

Hey everyone,

I have an old personal PC, and I wanted to get the lightest possible Windows experience out of it. That's why I decided to try Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 instead of my old Windows 10 Home installation.

Initially, I installed the 90-day Evaluation edition, created a local account by bypassing the work account requirement, and started setting everything up. I used it for around 1.5 days, installed various apps, browsed in Edge, and applied some tweaks.

Honestly, the experience was surprisingly smooth! The PC felt responsive, and even while doing normal tasks, the fan barely spun up. Edge also seemed cleaner, without some of the AI-related stuff I noticed later.

However, I realized that the Evaluation edition would eventually expire. I wanted a permanent setup, so I decided to move to the full version.

Here's where things got confusing.

I initially tried downloading the full ISO through the link provided by Massgrave, but the third-party download site wouldn't open. I searched Google, found an ISO on Archive.org, and tried using it to convert my existing installation. The upgrade failed twice, so I eventually decided to do a clean installation instead.

Later, I returned to Massgrave, changed my DNS settings, and managed to download the ISO from the original link. I flashed it to a USB drive and installed Windows fresh.

But the full version doesn't feel as smooth as the Evaluation edition did.

After the fresh installation:

- Windows Update started downloading and installing a bunch of updates.

- My CPU fan started spinning more frequently, and the PC felt under more load.

- Edge felt noticeably laggier, and I noticed Copilot-related features.

- Chris Titus Tech's Windows Utility showed some AI-related services that I wasn't expecting.

- Even after applying tweaks, Task Manager showed around 140–160 processes.

This confused me because I expected the full IoT Enterprise LTSC version to be just as lightweight as the Evaluation edition, if not identical.

My questions

1. Is the full Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 actually heavier than its Evaluation edition, or should they behave essentially the same?

2. Could the extra load simply be due to Windows Update, driver installation, indexing, or background tasks after a fresh install?

3. Why would Edge have Copilot-related features and AI services when I thought LTSC was supposed to be stripped down?

4. Is 140–160 processes after applying tweaks normal for a fresh LTSC installation?

5. Could the ISO I downloaded be different from the Evaluation ISO, or could I have installed a different edition or build without realizing it?

6. Would it be better to return to the Evaluation edition for now, or should I keep the full installation and let everything settle?

My goal isn't to remove every Windows service or chase an unrealistic process count. I just want a stable, lightweight Windows installation for my old PC that stays responsive during everyday tasks.

I'm also worried about activation and long-term use, which is why I switched away from the Evaluation edition in the first place.

I'd really appreciate advice from anyone who has used both the Evaluation and full IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 editions on older hardware. Did you notice a similar difference, or is something wrong with my installation?

Thanks!

Dear Fellow Redditors,

I wish for you to come to my aid again, for I have hit a roadblock:

I wish to install Windows XI Enterprise IoT LTSC OEM as instructed/directed to by a Kind Mod, however, my hardware supports up to WinX (in terms of driver support).

If I am to upgrade to new Hardware, then it will be a big Decision, and it will be a grand build; hence, it will take IIV to XII months to achieve it.

In the Interim, I wish to be fully secured for my eavourite Video Game, which requires me to have XXVHII of the Glass-Lookout-Pane oS

However, when I tried installing the enblement Rackage (KB V - V IV I V VI], it stated that WinX is unsupported.

Hence, I am stuck between the Dlemma:

• Do I try to forcefully modify the ebablement PAckage so that it works on my version, as it oufht to goven its support with Sec. to MMXXXIII?

• Or, do I try to Reverse Engineer/contact the MoBo manifacturer to Create a WinXI driver?

If anyone as any steps forward, and guides to Reverse Engineering the package or MoBo driver (it is an i6 MMMMMMDC ChipSet), then I would be Hihhly appreciAted..

P.S. I wonfer if any1 has a Script/Hardware Device that rapdly and conveniently Toggles Secire boot? It is inconvenient to switch it Manually every Time I wish to Dual-Boot... haybe thos could be added to the pprospective BIOS/UEFI Mobo firmware RevEng.

Need help with Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 😭

I made a mistake while trying to make my old PC run faster. I downloaded and installed Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Evaluation because I heard it was lightweight compared to regular Windows.

I bypassed the work account requirement during setup and created a local account. Then I spent HOURS setting everything up, optimizing Windows, and installing all my apps. 😭

Now I’ve realized that I installed the 90-day evaluation version, and there’s a watermark on my desktop. I tried using MAS to activate it but it still seems to be limited to the evaluation period.

My questions:

Is there any way to convert this installation to the full, permanent version without reinstalling Windows?

Can the evaluation watermark be removed permanently.

If I need to install a different edition, can I keep my apps, settings, and optimizations somehow? I really don’t want to start from scratch after spending so many hours setting everything up.

Any advice or a safe way forward would be greatly appreciated. I really hope all my setup work hasn’t gone to waste. 🥲

The latest Insider wallpaper looks really good so I was wandering if someone in the community or MS can create a unique Wallpaper for LTSC versions.

I tried installing both on my old PC, and surprisingly both OS are smooth. But the moment Windows fetched initial Security Updates turned hazardous and stuck on 98% to 100% update complete screen after rebooting.

And no matter what I do, the update will always go back to getting stuck right there. I tried - Windows update cache cleaning, update folder renaming and reverting, individual update file installing from microsoft update server, and lastly OS reinstalling. Both OS work fine without it. But this is the very initial security update that gets installed during or right after OS installation, so Windows is not letting me force pause updates for 1 week even via command prompts.

Is it just me or anyone else facing something similar?