[Guide] Slipstreaming/modding a WinXP install

P U R P O S E

To slipstream the most recent service pack into a Windows XP installation CD, with any number of desired updates, additional software, or modifications.

If one so pleases, the installation CD can even be made to perform an unattended installation, that is, it will install without (or with minimal) human interaction. Just put in the CD and go.

Usually, after the process is complete, the new installation itself will be significantly smaller. ~2GB Windows folder.

M A T E R I A L S

A copy of Windows XP. Almost any will do. Just try to avoid OEM copies (like the ones from Dell, HP) or one that your friend modified/slipstreamed/added things to. It could potentially save you a lot of time/trouble.

At least as much free space as there is data on the install CD. If your copy of XP is 400 mb, then have at least 400 mb of space free on your working drive. For simplicity's sake, just have a gigabyte of free space, ok?

nLite. Get it here.

The latest Windows XP service pack, SP3. Get it here.

A spare CD-R, or two.

A virtual machine, if you so please. (If you want to test this modified XP install before actually installing it.)

B A S I C . S L I P S T R E A M I N G / M O D I F I C A T I O N S

1. At this point, I'm assuming you have made at least a gigabyte of free space, installed nLite, and downloaded SP3.

2. Create a folder, and label it "XPCD." It can be labeled anything, but I tend to use this. The folder's location doesn't matter, but I usually keep it in "C:\"

3. Put your Windows XP CD in the drive, and open it. Drag-select the contents, and copy them to "XPCD."

4. Start nLite. nLite is a wizard-style application. There is nothing to do but select your language on the first page. Select it, and click next.

5. On the second "page," direct nLite to your "XPCD" folder. It will scan it to make sure that the contents are valid. It will also provide some information about the current state of the install, such as size, and service pack version. After you do this, click next.
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6. The third page is the presets page. Click next, unless you really want to check off "Load 'last session' on startup." Only useful if you plan to repeat the whole process several times, for whatever reason.
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7. The fourth page allows you to select one or more of several possible tasks. Select "Service Pack," "Components," "Options," "Tweaks," and "Bootable ISO." I'll go over some of the others later (only the ones I've used, which are the ones I know how to use. -.-)
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8. The following page will allow you to select the service pack for integration. Direct nLite to the service pack you downloaded earlier. nLite will then rip out the contents of the service pack, and update your ancient Windows XP installation files with the new ones.
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9. The following page will let you remove applications/components from Windows. This can potentially make Windows run fast (like a stallion of some sort) and/or make it buggy and unstable, like a psychotic entomologist. I'll recommend some of the things to remove. You can google around for more if you want to strip down Windows as much as possible.
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Typically, one can remove:
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Accessibility Options (unless you need need them)
Briefcase
ClipBook Viewer
Defragmenter, unless you are too lazy to find a better one
Games, unless you are a fan of solitaire/minesweeper, etc.
Internet games
NT Backup
Paint
Wordpad
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Cameras and Camcorders, unless you use a webcam
Display Drivers, particularly if you install your own drivers for your video card. If not, you can stay on the "safe" side and leave it.
Ethernet, particularly, if you install your own drivers (nForce, etc.) if not, just leave it.
IBM ThinkPad
IBM PS2 Track Point
ISDN, unless you use ISDN for internet access
Modems, for dial-up.
Portable audio
Scanners, unless you have a scanner
SCSI/RAID, keep it if you don't have your own drivers, or emulate CD/DVD drives with applications such as Daemon tools or Alcohol
Serial Pen Tablet, srslywtfisthisforyo
Tape Drives, lol
Sound Controllers, keep if you have no sound drivers of your own
Toshiba DVD decoder card, random archaic thing(?), remove it
Wireless Ethernet, keep if you have no drivers of your own
Bluetooth Support, remove if you don't use Bluetooth
Brother Devices, this is documented, you be the judge.
Floppy Support, are you serious, man?
Infrared, unless you know you need it
Iomega
Joystick support
Ramdisk
Sony Memory Stick
All keyboard configs except for the ones you need
All languages, except for the ones you need, probably English/Korean/Etc.

Acm Core Codecs
Active X for Streaming Video
AOL ART Image Format Support
Images and Backgrounds (you can put your own)
Luna Theme (you can put your own as the default visual style, or "theme," as it is called here)
Media Center, unless you plan on using your install as a media center
MIDI support, unless you listen to MIDI or use MIDI sequencers
Mouse cursors (you can add your own)
Movie Maker
Music samples
Old CD Player and Sound Recorder
OpenGL
Speech support
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player 6.4
Client for Netware Networks
Communication Tools
Control Test Terminal Program
FrontPage extensions
ICS Wizard
MSN Explorer
Netmeeting
NetShell Cmd-Tool
Network Setup Wizard
Outlook Express, if you don't use any other form of Outlook
Vector Graphics Rendering
Web Folders
Windows Messenger
Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Extra Fonts
FAT to NTFS Converter, doubt anyone could use this
Help and Support, this has NEVER helped OR supported me T_T
Help engine
Security Center, as per your preference
MS Agent
OOBE, allows activation, if your key will need it, don't remove it. You can remove this if you plan on integrating a key onto the CD.
Search Assistant, summons a dog which some may or may not find "cyoot." I recommend removal.
Shell media handler, if you don't want thumbnails for videos, which can slow down your system. If you remove this, explorer will not log details of media files, such as artist/track/genre info.
Alerter
Beep Driver, annoying
Error Reporting
Fax
Imapi CD burning, remove unless you use XP's default burning thing
Indexing, this is a big performance hog, REMOVE
Kebros Key Distribution Center
Messenger
Network Provisioning
Removable Storage
System Restore
Volume Shadow Copy
All items under "directories."

Please note that I referred to this list and compared it to what components my installation directory was missing, since I did this a long time ago. Some of the things listed here, I have not removed, since I didn't know the given component's exact purpose. More information about the services can be found here.

If you find something else that you think 95% of netizens don't need, recommend it in the thread. I'll try to add it.

10. The following page will present you with two tabs. I won't go into the first page too much, but I personally use the "Classic" setup option, disable the OEM branding (I just don't like the nLite logo), and enable "High compression."
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The second tab let's you set some cool settings. The first two may be set to your own personal preference. These two options are well-documented. I like to enable the last two settings. (At the very least, just enable the third setting, as it's completely harmless, and will allow you to freely use custom visual styles for XP.)
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11.. The following page will also present you with two tabs. The first tab is rather self-explanatory. You can set a bunch of options, and your installation of XP will have these as the defaults upon install (for all accounts.)
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The second tab is almost useless, since we removed almost all, if not all, useless services in a prior step. Some may find it useful.

12. The final step. Do you want to start the process? Yes, you do. (You probably do, unless you think you made a mistake back there.) Do it.

13. After processing, nLite will allow you to create a bootable .iso file. Create the iso file with the default settings, then burn it. Be sure to perform a proper image burn, and not burn a data-disc, or it will be unbootable, and hence, totally useless.

HF GL DD

[Guide] Slipstreaming/modding a WinXP install

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