Getting Started#

This document describes what AME Wizard is, and gives instructions on how use it, along with your AME Playbook of choice.

AME Wizard is a new tool we have created for heavily modifying live systems. This tool allows us to create an ameliorated install without requiring the usage of Linux, all on a live, running system. It does this by acquiring a very high level of privileges, and killing any processes locking a file to be removed. Custom-engineered removal methods are also employed for removing certain parts of the system, such as APPX packages.

To use the AME Wizard with a given Playbook, you must have a Windows version installed that the Playbook supports. Currently, AME 11 supports all stable Windows 11 versions, and AME 10 supports Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2.

Note

If you already have a supported Windows version installed, and would like to ameliorate that installation, skip to Running the AME Wizard. Otherwise, follow the bellow guide to install Windows.

Install Windows#

A walkthrough for installing Windows 11 or Windows 10 is described below.

Create a Rufus USB#

To install Windows, we recommend using Rufus, along with a USB drive with at least 8GBs of space. Rufus is a tool for writing Windows installation (ISO) files to a USB drive, and, in the case of Windows 11, allows for bypassing the hardware and Microsoft account requirements that are normally present during the installation of Windows 11.

Important

Before following the below steps, ensure that you have a Windows 22H2 ISO ready. You can safely download one here for Windows 11 by scrolling to Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices and selecting Download. For Windows 10, an ISO download can be found here.

  1. Download Rufus. You can either get the portable version, or the installer which will keep it on your system for next time.

  2. Open Rufus, then click SELECT and choose your Windows 22H2 ISO of choice.

_images/rufus.png

  1. If you are running an older computer, ensure that you have the correct Partition scheme and Target system specified. To find your partition scheme, see this resource. Likewise, for the BIOS type (Target system), see this resource.

  2. Ensure the proper USB drive is selected, then select START and answer OK to both prompts. Rufus will now write the ISO to your USB.

  3. Eject your USB drive

Setup Windows#

With your target machine at the ready, follow the below steps to setup and deploy Windows 22H2.

  1. Boot from the USB drive you created earlier. (guide)

  2. Follow the onscreen prompts, and choose Custom: Install Windows only (advanced) when prompted

  3. Delete all partititions you see there, then select Unallocated Space > Next

  4. Once Windows has finished installing, go through the Out of Box experience (OOBE) until you reach the desktop.

Applying Updates#

Before ameliorating using an AME Playbook, all pending updates should be installed beforehand.

To do so, open the settings app and select Windows Update > Check for Updates.

Important

Once you have restarted after installing updates, double check that all updates have been installed, as Windows can take multiple restarts to fully update the system.

If you use a different system language, now is the time to install it. Unfortunately, due to deep integration with Windows Update in newer Windows versions, new languages cannot be easily installed after amelioration.

Download and Run AME Wizard#

With a supported Windows install ready, AME Wizard can now be used to ameliorate your installation. Follow the below steps to download and use the tool.

Important

At the current moment, Windows Defender has a chance of detecting AME Wizard Beta as malicious. If this happens, see our security exceptions guide.

  1. Download the latest version of AME Wizard

  2. Download your AME Playbook of choice (AME 11, AME 10)

  3. Start AME Wizard, then drag and drop your downloaded Playbook into the drag box

The program will guide you past this point.