Windows XP is designed to be compatible with the broadest possible amount of hardware and software. As a result, more operating system services than necessary are started or modules you don’t need are loaded.
This can lead to problems; in extreme cases, installation can take hours, lots of unwanted and sometimes useless programs and services are installed and the user interface is optimised simply to look pretty. All this can be to the detriment of system performance and reliability.
If you’ve installed Windows XP a couple of times, you’ll be familiar with the amount of time you need to spend customising it to your requirements – installing up-to-date drivers and getting rid of unnecessary ballast, with the aim of creating a fast, slim and secure operating system from the resource-gobbling monster that is the default Windows XP.
Nlite to the rescueOne easy way to get to the root of the problem is to use the freeware program Nlite to create a made-to-measure Windows XP installation CD. The biggest benefit of this is the almost endless configuration options this procedure offers.
Whether you are talking about integrating service packs, hotfixes and drivers, removing unwanted components or adding Registry tweaks, you can use this remarkable little program to create your own personalised XP installation CD.
The software, which is just 1.37MB in size, is available on the Nlite website. We used version 1 Beta 6 and, despite its beta status, it gave us no problems.
The program has since moved to Release Candidate 5 status. The program is only free for non-commercial personal use.
The big benefit of this free software is its modular construction: you don’t have to perform all the XP modifications shown in this feature in the sequence shown.
You can use the program’s main menu to decide exactly which XP components you want to include on your personalised installation CD and which to leave out.
This makes it possible, for example, to make updated Windows XP CDs that include hotfixes, altered system settings, or with unwanted XP components left out.
You do need about three hours and a bit of patience to use this utility effectively. Whatever you do, make sure after creating your Mini XP CD you take time to test it.
To test your customised CD, use an empty partition or separate hard disk to reduce the risk of losing your data. Alternatively, it’s an ideal use for software like Microsoft Virtual PC or Vmware Workstation.
You can use virtual PCs created with these utilities to carry out a risk-free installation of the Nlite-modified XP version. You don’t even have to burn a CD or DVD, as both Virtual PC and VMware can use ISO image files directly to install the OS.
Whichever route you take, you’ll need a valid Windows XP licence key, and the installation will still be subject to the Microsoft licensing and product activation requirements.
Feature: Improve Windows XP and boost performance - Personal Computer World
Showing posts with label CD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CD. Show all posts
How to Find Drivers for Unknown Devices in Device Manager · EmergingTechs.com
Yesterday I reinstalled Windows on a laptop for one of our users at work. When the installation was complete, I popped in the driver CD to begin the process of installing the drivers that Windows didn’t install. For some reason the CD only contained two of the eight drivers that I needed. Normally, tracking down the right driver can be a huge annoyance, especially when your devices are showing up with generic names like PCI Device, Video Controller, System Device, or Unknown Device. But with the help of a little utility, I was able to find all of the drivers that I needed saving me lots of time and frustration.
This little utility is called Unknown Devices and it works with Windows 95, 98, 98se, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista. It’s also a portable application so it requires no installation.
When you run it, Unknown Devices immediately lists out all of the devices that Windows cannot find a driver for and tells you what each one is.
How to Find Drivers for Unknown Devices in Device Manager · EmergingTechs.com
This little utility is called Unknown Devices and it works with Windows 95, 98, 98se, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista. It’s also a portable application so it requires no installation.
When you run it, Unknown Devices immediately lists out all of the devices that Windows cannot find a driver for and tells you what each one is.
How to Find Drivers for Unknown Devices in Device Manager · EmergingTechs.com
Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD
Bart's PE Builder helps you build a "BartPE" (Bart Preinstalled Environment) bootable Windows CD-Rom or DVD from the original Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 installation/setup CD, very suitable for PC maintenance tasks.
It will give you a complete Win32 environment with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600) and FAT/NTFS/CDFS filesystem support. Very handy for burn-in testing systems with no OS, rescuing files to a network share, virus scan and so on.
This will replace any Dos bootdisk in no time!
Introduction
PE Builder is not a Microsoft product and does not create Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment ("Windows PE"). Using PE Builder does not grant you a license to Microsoft Windows PE or to use the Windows XP or Server 2003 binaries in a manner other than stated in the End-User License Agreement included in your version of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. Microsoft has not reviewed or tested PE Builder and does not endorse its use.
Please do not contact Microsoft for support on the preinstallation environment that has been created by PE Builder!
Microsoft does not provide support for PE Builder or for the preinstallation environment created by PE Builder.
The PE Builder program (pebuilder.exe) runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003/BartPE. It does not run on Windows NT4/ME/9x.
To avoid any confusion, the bootable CD generated by PE Builder should be called by its nickname "BartPE"!
Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD
It will give you a complete Win32 environment with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600) and FAT/NTFS/CDFS filesystem support. Very handy for burn-in testing systems with no OS, rescuing files to a network share, virus scan and so on.
This will replace any Dos bootdisk in no time!
 |
Introduction
PE Builder is not a Microsoft product and does not create Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment ("Windows PE"). Using PE Builder does not grant you a license to Microsoft Windows PE or to use the Windows XP or Server 2003 binaries in a manner other than stated in the End-User License Agreement included in your version of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. Microsoft has not reviewed or tested PE Builder and does not endorse its use.
Please do not contact Microsoft for support on the preinstallation environment that has been created by PE Builder!
Microsoft does not provide support for PE Builder or for the preinstallation environment created by PE Builder.
The PE Builder program (pebuilder.exe) runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003/BartPE. It does not run on Windows NT4/ME/9x.
To avoid any confusion, the bootable CD generated by PE Builder should be called by its nickname "BartPE"!
Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD
InfraRecorder
Need CD/DVD burning software for Windows? It doesn’t get much better than InfraRecorder (by the same author of TUGZip).
InfraRecorder can burn audio/data discs. It can handle multi-session discs, creation and burning of disc images (ISO and BIN/CUE), and can even save audio/data track information to separate files.
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