# SWITCH 1.0.0 — preparation and support guide

SWITCH means Slipstreamed Windows Installation Toolkit and Customization Hub.

## Install or run portable

Extract the ZIP completely. **Install SWITCH** copies the verified app to `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\SWITCH` and creates a **SWITCH** shortcut on the Desktop. **Launch SWITCH (portable)** runs from the extracted folder without installing the app. Installer downloads and working images are stored separately from the application.

## Uninstall SWITCH

Close SWITCH and finish any active operation, then run **Uninstall SWITCH.cmd** beside the package launchers. Confirm removal to delete installed application versions and their desktop shortcut. The extracted portable package, preparation downloads, USB contents and backups are retained. Use **Clear local prep files** before uninstalling if you also want to remove cached installer resources.

## Create a Windows USB

1. Choose Windows version/edition and review **Choose install modifications**.
2. Download the official Windows ISO, or import a matching ISO. If Microsoft declines the automatic request, open its download page and import the ISO manually.
3. Select optional driver and user-data backups before starting preparation. The capacity estimate changes with your selections.
4. Click **Prepare USB drive** once. Local preparation continues automatically through required stages. The blue button with a purple border identifies the next user action; while working, progress includes percentage, animated dots and elapsed time. Long Windows servicing operations can hold the percentage steady.
5. Confirm the USB's identity and erasure. With one eligible drive, only its confirmation is needed. Multiple drives require selection. Administrator approval may still be required by Windows.
6. Wait until USB creation and every selected backup report completion. Backups go directly to USB root `Drivers` and `UserData`, with space checks before copying. Verify backups before erasing the destination computer.
7. Boot the destination from USB and confirm its installation disk. After restart, boot Windows Boot Manager from the internal drive. If firmware boots the USB again, remove it and restart from the internal drive.
8. At the new Windows desktop, reconnect the USB and launch SWITCH. Use **Restore drivers** and **Restore user data** before finalizing. Restore buttons locate the backups automatically; user files return to the current user's standard folders, preserving existing files of the same age or newer. Windows Setup does not automatically restore these separate backups.
9. Connect to the internet and run **Finish online tasks** where offered. Review remaining changes and save diagnostics. **Finalize and close** performs the explicitly confirmed cleanup, including Recycle Bin emptying and drive optimization, then removes the deployment runtime/recheck shortcut. It preserves Windows' inetpub security folder and the USB.

Generic media includes the selected compact Intel RST/VMD/SATA RAID and basic Intel/MediaTek Wi-Fi sets. Machine-specific drivers come from optional driver backup or Windows Update, not a large generic driver bundle. NVIDIA app setup includes the app installer; driver backup can carry the installed graphics driver. Public cumulative previews follow the selected latest-updates preference; Insider builds are excluded. Some device, security and app updates still require a connection.

## Refresh, reuse or clear preparation files

**Update local prep files** refreshes official acquisition and prepares a new installer while reusing verified cached downloads. It stops with local files ready; it does not erase the USB. **Update SWITCH USB** appears for a recognized connected SWITCH drive. It uses prepared local files, skips files whose hashes already match, updates installer files and preserves `Drivers`/`UserData`. Use **Update local prep files** first when you want newer updates. Run from the installed/local app, not from the USB being updated.

In-place updating needs the supported FAT32 SWITCHBOOT plus NTFS SWITCH layout and enough temporary free space to verify replacements before replacing old files. If these checks fail, SWITCH stops. Recreating the drive requires its separate erase confirmation; preserve any backups you still need first. Never disconnect during an update. An interrupted update must be completed before using that USB to install Windows.

**Clear local prep files** removes cached downloads, initial builds and owned protected preparation workspaces. It keeps the app, saved choices, logs and USB backups. It refuses to proceed during active servicing or when images remain mounted; it does not force-unmount images. Downloads must be fetched again afterward.

Locations:
- `%LOCALAPPDATA%\SWITCH\cache`: ISO and driver downloads.
- `%LOCALAPPDATA%\SWITCH\windows-update-cache`: Windows updates.
- `%LOCALAPPDATA%\SWITCH\builds`: initial installer files.
- `C:\ProgramData\SWITCH\Prep`: protected preparation workspaces.

## Progress, stopping and diagnostics

**View activity** shows the timestamped log. Closing it does not stop work. **Minimize** keeps work running. **Stop** requests cancellation at a safe boundary. Closing during an operation requests a safe stop and closes when possible. Avoid manually deleting active workspaces.

**Save logs to Desktop** collects the diagnostic ZIP for support, whether or not a run failed. Upload that ZIP with the change name, visible error and whether the computer was online. Completed changes remain applied. Retry only the pending changes offered by the app; do not erase/reinstall just to collect logs. Missing drivers alone are expected until selected driver restore/Windows Update completes; actual restore failures remain actionable.

User-data backup covers standard personal folders, not a full system image, application/password backup or every cloud-only file. Keep an independent verified copy of important data before disk erasure. A Windows license is required separately.