Why don't you guys use nLite?

[DevilsRejection]

http://nuhi.msfn.org/

Basically you pop in your windows cd, copy over the whole cd to your hd, point this app to that location and it will strip it to the bone.

All these tweaks and stuff, why not just make a CD with the bare neccesaties that windows needs to run?

[Karnivore]

Already have a few versions, works well, I have one XP install that is just over 100mb..

[jayjaya29]

Hmm, that ain't a bad idea. Acually it could be a pretty awsome idea if you have a spare harddrive laying around. Thanks for the heads up. :toast:

[Poki]

I Have to say thanks DR, i've never heard of nLite before. This will be very handy for me.

[Aphex_Tom_9]

cool, good prog.

[D_o_S]

I've read about it a few times, when I will instal/reinstall Windows XP I will use it.

[kristos]

Use Nlite and make your own XP.
Mine has this removed:

nLite optimized - http://nuhi.msfn.org

Components removed:

Accessibility Options
Briefcase
Defragmenter
Games
Internet Games
Pinball
Screensavers
Wordpad
Battery
Cameras and Camcorders
Display Adapters
Toshiba DVD decoder card
Ethernet (LAN)
Firewire (1394)
IBM Thinkpad
InfraRed
Isdn
Modems
MultiFunctional
Multi-port serial adapters
Portable Audio
Printers
Scanners
SCSI
Smartcards
Sound Controllers
Wireless Ethernet (WLAN)
Communication tools
FrontPage Extensions
Internet Connection Wizard
Internet Information Services
Internet Printing
Windows Messenger
MSN Explorer
Netmeeting
Network Monitor
Synchronization Manager
Web Folders
Images and Backgrounds
Luna Theme
Media Center
Mouse Cursors
Movie Maker
Music Samples
Old CDPlayer and Sound Recorder
Paint
Roland SoundCanvas Sound Set
Speech Support
Tablet PC
Windows Sounds
Windows Media Player
Administrator VB scripts
Disk Cleanup
DR Watson
File and Settings Wizard
Framework
Help
Manual Installation
MS Agent
Out of Box Experience
Printer Support
Search Assistant
Shell Media Handler
Tour
Upgrade from Win9x/NT
Web View
Zip Folders
Alerter
Application Layer Gateway
Autoupdate
ClipBook
CTF Loader
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Error Reporting
Fax Services
Imapi
Indexing Service
Logical Disk Manager
Messenger
Remote Registry
Removable Storage
Secondary Logon
System Restore
Telnet Server
Terminal Services
Uninterruptible Power Supply
Universal Plug and Play
Wireless Zero Configuration
Application compatibility patch
Extra Fonts
Input Method Editor
Modem Support
Shell Services
dir_docs
dir_support
dir_valueadd

And it works just great with everything i need.
It should not take more then 90meg of ram after booted up.
didn't try it myself yet though.

[kryptobs2000]

heard about this before but never tried it, Since I reformat aall the time though, I think I'll give it a try

[Zyklon5]

err .. any test results ?

[Dissolved]

err .. any test results ?


Wondering that myself..

[b|gf|sh]

nLite + XP is a winning combo imo, my everyday install is down to about 130mb now (with this (http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/) post sp2 hotfix pack included too) and when I played around with making an install for benching (and after disabling all the unnecessary services windows) it only used about 20mb system memory and sandra/everest does show the difference (and more consistent too).

So yeh definately worth giving nLite a go if you've got a spare hdd about, get familiar with everything and try and perfect your install then ghost it over your current install :toast:

[RocKer]

I'am a bit confused,do you need NET.Framework to run it or not,becaus i dont have that and i dont like to install it,is there a way to use nLite without NET.Framework.

[Rancidelephant]

a good idea but i can do one better .... norton ghost :D

Make ur uber small XP install, install it install all programs you will need, make sure its less than 4Gb, remove ide drivers, ghost and backup to dvd / cd.

With this you will get a dvd / cd preinstalled that you can put in and get a full install stright away on any pc, just install the drivers after you ghost.

Mine is about 3.6Gb and takes just under 10 mins to fully copy over. the BEST overclocking tool i have ever used.

I will try and find the guide to taking the ide drivers out of windows but i couldnt find it again last time i looked

[b|gf|sh]

a good idea but i can do one better .... norton ghost :D

Make ur uber small XP install, install it install all programs you will need, make sure its less than 4Gb, remove ide drivers, ghost and backup to dvd / cd.

With this you will get a dvd / cd preinstalled that you can put in and get a full install stright away on any pc, just install the drivers after you ghost.

Mine is about 3.6Gb and takes just under 10 mins to fully copy over. the BEST overclocking tool i have ever used.

I will try and find the guide to taking the ide drivers out of windows but i couldnt find it again last time i looked

You're missing the point of nLite though. It's mainly about removing useless components and services from windows that you never use, most of which you can't (or have a hard job trying to) remove manually after you've installed windows.

Also it can enable really useful tweaks like 'Disable SFC File Protection' and 'USB Polling Rate' which usually are hard to enable (i.e. via safemode or recovery mode), as well as the general tweaks section that usually you have to get such tweaks using 3rd-party apps like TweakXP/Tweaknow :rolleyes:

Btw, your 3.6GB install would be a lot less after nLite, my current install with all drivers and apps (including big apps like openoffice and PhotoshopCS) installed is around 1.6GB :cool:

[Rancidelephant]

i quite agree on the advantages of nlite, thats why i said make the uber small xp install first :D

i seriously reccomend the ghost method though, a full re-install in 10 minutes can keep a man very happy :D

[MrQ3W]

Is it of any use if you want to game or is it purely for benching/spi?

[kristos]

I'am a bit confused,do you need NET.Framework to run it or not,becaus i dont have that and i dont like to install it,is there a way to use nLite without NET.Framework.latest version doesn't require framwork, you some other files though, just check the site.

[Flib]

I used nLite with XP SP2 and 2003 Enterprise

The XP works fine, but the 2003 wont install because of a missing file and often the system freezes when you try to create the iso...

[SynGroW]

I'm currently using a nlite win2k install for benching.

Seems to work ok according to my 3DMark01 results

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=8423012

That is just a plain win2k install with the multiproc tweak and I killed explorer.exe + 3DMark @ realtime for that run.

[Trixxy]

I started using it a few weeks ago for XP & 2003 Server.

Yet to try the driver incorporating, but the unattended install feature is very handy. :banana:

[jumanji969]

Since I dont have a copy of windows 2000 I might just try this with windows xp tweaked to see if I can get some good benches.

[Malachia]

guys i'm going to try it, win xp service pack 1 or 2?

[RocKer]

I made one today,my XPpro+sp1a is now 120mb small :) ,instead of over 5xxmb,gone install it 2morrow.

[Malachia]

i made today a win 2k3, 133mb, try it now....

[isp]

I'm currently using a nlite win2k install for benching....<snip>

Nice man, what all did you remove? :)

[snq]

I seem to be the only one having problems :(
First I tried win2k.. nLite just hung at the first step while creating the new installation (something like "preparing tasks" iirc)
Then I tried win2k3.. Creating went just fine but I get a bluescreen every time I try to install it.. :mad:

So not so :banana: for me :)

[Kunaak]

so why are some things listed in red, are those things you shouldnt mess with?

[SynGroW]

Nice man, what all did you remove? :)

I don't know what I removed, but this is what the install cd does contain :P

Display Adapters

Paint

16-bit support
Floppy Support
os2 Subsystem
Posix Subsystem
COM+

As you can see almost everything is gone :p: and it still works ok for 3DMark

[b|gf|sh]

so why are some things listed in red, are those things you shouldnt mess with?

The items in red are cautioned items, but items like 'Outlook Express' etc. are fine to remove if you don't use them. I remove most of the cautioned items anyway, especially if making an install for benching :cool:

[speedstream5621]

Do you guys have benchies for comparison?

I think I'm going to go with the Ghost + DVD idea...gives me an excuse to buy a burner. :)

[isp]

I usually make ghost images and back them up on dvds too

Why not do both, make your skimpy install of windows for benching, load all your drivers etc, and ghost it so you won't have to do nlite anymore when you want a fresh bench...

[kristos]

what do you guys use for gosting?

[b|gf|sh]

Check out 'Acronis True Image' for ghosting, never used 'Norton Ghost' myself so can't compare them, but Acronis worked great for me.

[TEDY]

How to make "multiprocesor" tweak ?

[kristos]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=49345 ;)

You can also choose ACPI multiprocessor at a clean (winXP) install. (don't know if it 'll work with other OS')
Just press F5 instead of F6 when you are prompted to do so (you know, for installing SATA drivers and such :))

[THunDA]

I dont have any bench differences.. But I have been using Nlite for a while now.. Just awsome to get into windows and not have to tweak much..

[Rauf]

tested this nLite a few weeks ago:

a very stripped win2000 sp4 integrated, and ricky-tweak:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=8491773 - 31042

ordinary win2000 sp4 installation, just ricky-tweak:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=8492460 - 30955

I would say that's in the margin of error...

[ZMarre]

I used this for ages allready. Installfiles take 95MB on the CDROM, and WinXP takes 56MB ram on the desktop :toast:

[nordik]

Tried it today for the first time on a clean install of Win XP and I love it so far :)

Sped up the install process alot :D

[KoolDrew]

I don't like using it. I'd rather be able to disable things and then enable them if I ever need them again. With nLite they are not even installed.

[ZMarre]

I don't like using it. I'd rather be able to disable things and then enable them if I ever need them again. With nLite they are not even installed.

That's correct. I have a whole map CD-map full of windows installs... one regular, one for that kind of pc's, one for benchpc's, one for officepc's,... :slap:

[kiwi]

Yep, it is a great soft but to be honest I never used it before lol

[Flib]

i would take a normal install and disable all services you don't need
doen't work with 2003
but it's nice for installing service packs and such, the easiest way to do that!

[dexx]

The problem with nlite is that, if you come to need something you didnt include in your install CD, then you are screwed. Ive used xplite to good effect. It does much the same as nlite, but to the running system rather than the install CD.

[Kunaak]

I've used Nlite to make a few different versions of my XP Pro disc, scrapping out all the extra crap, so I can get it down to barebones for benchmarking.

so far I made 2 discs, 1 for Intel, and one for A64's.

from those 2 discs, I have had about 20 discs that were just unworkable.
my failure rate for modding the OS, is pretty high, so it can get frustrating, when trying to make a barebones OS.

[thegreek]

you guys can test it on VMware before reformatting your HD to check for errors, saves time and CDs

[sin0822]

anyone seen decrease in suerpi timE?