nLite - Windows size reduction utility

[Ruslan]

Hi All,

Want to share one great tool I'm using.
nLite (http://www.nliteos.com)
Complete Beginners Guide to nLite Unattended CD's (http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php'showtopic=28005)

My pre-history. I got for nothing 7-8 years old HP laptop designed to run win98. AMD 500Mhz/256MbRAM/6Gb HDD. Win2K runs OK, but slow. No way to install standard WinXP. USB GPS mouse wanted better OS, me too (stability, cameras support, etc.)....
.....
OK, now I have my old laptop running minimized version of the Windows XP. Works faster than Win98, USB, etc. what I need. Total size on HDD about 800Mb including 368Mb pagefile and some OpenOffice applications (different story), Apollo music player, Acrobat 7, ACDsee 3, 7-zip, OziExplorer (without maps). I'm planning to attach Lilliput 7" touch screen and link to car stereo.

In simple words the nLite removes by your choice inbuild applications, services, language packs, keyboards etc.

VMWare for quick testing fresh build images.

[jik22]

I use XPLite to do similar. The only word of warning I'd give non-IT literate people is that depending on what you remove can give some funny untoward effects ages later when you try and install something new and it can't find a required dependency, but the error it gives wouldn't even hint at the underlying cause...been there, done that, spent bloody ages trying to sort it. :o

[5teve]

been using it for years with xp installs.. mainly to integrate drivers service packs etc etc.. makes easy installs of around 10-15 minutes with the basics! I dont use the size reduction thing too much, but will do when i look at a carputer. excellent program that warns you if you remove something it may need, keeps getting better too!

Thanks

Steve

[loanrangie]

I have a couple of slower pc's (400 celeron/ amd's) can this nLite be used to make xp run better on these processors ? I could use some bits for a carputer if it works ok.

[5teve]

it wont make them run better just lighten up the load by stripping the install back.. problem is if you take too much out then who knows what software will work.

for the cost difference between a 400mhz cpu and a 1.4ghz cpu..(second hand of course!) i dont think its worth the time trying to see.. worth a search on the forums etc about seeing how far back you can strip it tho..

Thanks

Steve

[abaddonxi]

Just been playing with Nlite this week after reading about it here. 300mhz celeron 128mb ram.

Works a treat.

I'm going to have a go at cutting more stuff out to see how it goes. I'm only using it for very light browsing - no more than a dozen pages open at once, and word processing, so not exactly taxing.

Cheers
Simon

[abaddonxi]

BTW very slow installing stuff.

Verry slow. I've been loading up nlite and virtual PC and .net 2, and it's taken about an hour and a half:eek:.

I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm running the original 4Gb hdd.

Cheers
Simon

[Ruslan]

BTW very slow installing stuff.

Verry slow. I've been loading up nlite and virtual PC and .net 2, and it's taken about an hour and a half:eek:.

I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm running the original 4Gb hdd.

Cheers
Simon
Hi Simon,

I havn't tested it on slower than 450MHz CPU (Intel) with 128Mb RAM. Slowest install I had is about 40 minutes, Microbits PC with Samsung HDD (5400rpm).

I do not recomend install applications afterwards, do them as addons. It took me time to find optimal configuration first time i used nLite, about 15 images.

Most common problem I was getting with Prefetch. One way to find what is going wrong is to check Event Viewer logs. There are shoudn't be any errors and warnings, only info messages.

Sometimes you can get message "*.dll file missing". Just copy it from other full XP into System32 folder.

I'm using my laptop with nlited XP for 10 month now for navigation, no worries, very stable. Win2k was OK, but used to slow down on long run when OziExplorer was creating big .plt file.

Cheers,
Ruslan

[Ruslan]

I have a couple of slower pc's (400 celeron/ amd's) can this nLite be used to make xp run better on these processors ? I could use some bits for a carputer if it works ok.
Hi Loanrangie,

I don't think you can run original XP on 400 Celeron, probably you can install it, but it will be useless OS. nLite can remove/disable some services, so CPU usage and PF usage can be minimal and OK to be able to use such PC. For example, when my laptop is idling, CPU/PF 2% / 53.6MB. So than comes into account what application you going to use and how heavy it is for CPU.

One trick with services: removing is better then disabling, takes some load off.