64 bit XP can.Originally Posted by iM32
XP game edition. just the things that you really needs. You can't even install msn messenger.. Really quick and goodAll of these special "editions" are nothing more than nLited versions of the stock MS OS.
You can do it- probably better- yourself...and it's free.
As for boot speed- the OS is only part of the equation.
Hardware can make a huge difference- especially harddrive access time- and drivers can also speed things up.
Which brings us back to nLite...
If you've ever paid attention to a Windows install, at right around 19% of "loading files" you'll see it take quite a bit of time transferring the Driver.cab.
This a giant file of legacy drivers that Microsoft includes so that most hardware on most PCs has a chance of running right out of the gate.
Unfortunately, 99.9% of these drivers are completely irrelevant to a modern PC. This is why you have to use your motherboard/vid card driver disks after install to get things running right.
During boot, Windows parses all of the driver options till it finds the correct one.
Stripping out all the legacy crap and slipstreaming the correct drivers means that the OS has but one choice which can speed things up a lot.
The same is true for lots of parts of the OS...MS includes support for literally hundreds of keyboard layouts and languages...just on the off chance you may suddenly decide to start typing in Turkish or something.
All of this gets loaded everytime you turn on the machine.
You have to be careful when you start stripping components out though.
Microsoft has woven a very complex web of dependencies and some things you want may require a component that you otherwise would deem useless.
For instance, in Vista I was removing support for "tablet PC" (whatever the fuck that is...) but for some reason that also deletes the stock "snipping tool" (screengrab app), which I really wanted. Took me a while to realize what was going on.
It usually takes me a couple of tries with a new OS to get the nLite setup right.
Fortunately, it's completely worth it.
On my current PC, a nLite install (which is unattended, BTW, as you've already fed it all the info it normally asks for- install key, username, etc.) takes approximately 12 minutes start to finish. This puts me on the desktop, internet capable, with most of the drivers already installed (some drivers- like Creative's- cannot be slipstreamed and must be installed normally).
Naturally, all programs must be installed after the OS but I keep all those executables on disk, so I don't have to hunt them down.
All told, a complete wipe and reload takes about an hour.
You should try it.
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