Since Microsoft is not willing to budge on Windows 11 hardware requirements, some users opt for third-party projects like tiny11 that remove the system"s requirements, delete what many consider "unnecessary bloat," and other stuff, resulting in lighter, less resource-heavy installations that work on officially unsupported computers. However, there is always room for improvement, and those who are not happy with optimizations in the latest tiny11 release (now supports Windows 11 version 25H2) can try the updated nano11, a new script that shrinks Windows 11 to some extreme levels.
NTDEV, the maker of tiny11, released a new version of nano11, a special script that goes an extra mile when shaving off vanilla Windows 11. According to the developer, nano11 can shrink the stock Windows 11 image three times, resulting in an ISO that only weighs a little over 2GB. When combined with LZX compression, this ISO can get you a 2.8GB Windows 11 installation, which is a stark contrast to nearly 20GB of disk space that the stock Windows 11 takes up on your drive.
Of course, such drastic measures take a toll on Windows 11"s capabilities. With nano11, you lose a lot of features, including features like Windows Hello, unnecessary drivers, wallpapers, IME components, and a lot more. More importantly, nano11 removes Windows Update, which means you cannot service the operating system. Needless to say, nano11 is not fit for daily use. Its purpose is to test how far Windows 11 lets you go while maintaining its core capabilities and providing users and enthusiasts with an ultra-light image for tests and experiments. Besides occupying very little space, nano11 also takes much less time to install.
Here is nano11 in action:
nano11 works with any Windows 11 edition. Like tiny11builder, it utilizes Microsoft"s official tools to remove bits and pieces from original Windows images. You can download it from GitHub.