Author Topic: Making a custom XP cd (Read 15670 times)

MrCrispy · « **on:** November 27, 2007, 03:49 AM »

As I said in my last post, I'm going to try and go back to XP from Vista on my new pc and see how it goes. After reading the recent news of how XP SP3 brings huge performance gains and how some apps like Office are 2x slower on Vista, I feel I have all the more reason to do so. It'll be a fun little adventure either way.

Since a normal XP install doesn't support SATA/Raid or any of the other new hardware, I'm going to make a custom boot cd. I've been reading the usual forums and links, such as nLite, driverpacks.net, msfn forums and there is just an unbelievable amount of customization going on - its all a bit overwhelming! And it turns out there are a ton of apps to bring most of Vista's gui to XP, so naturally I want to do that as well

Has anyone else made their special XP cd and what did you put on it? I will update with my progress and share any custom config I use.

f0dder · « **Reply #1 on:** November 27, 2007, 05:46 AM »

I've used nLite for quite a while, both for tweaking and driver+hotfix integration. I've always used RyanVM's update pack, since when I tried manual hotfix integration (hotfixes downloaded with windows update downloader), I appearantly tried to slipstream something that wasn't really a hotfix, which gave an error message during installation.

Other than that, I remove components and apply some registry tweaks for performance and app settings, like integrating xplorer^2 to replace explorer, set filetype associations for Notepad++ and ACDSEE32, etc.

nontroppo · « **Reply #2 on:** November 27, 2007, 07:30 AM »

nLite is great!

Nighted · « **Reply #3 on:** November 27, 2007, 10:57 AM »

I use nLite all the time. It's the only way I've installed XP for the last 2 years. The only thing I add to it is WinRAR, XP updates and drivers.

BTW....if you use nLite a lot, you may want to know about this site.

Weird...I didn't know about WUD until now. Thanks for that. I don't use RyanVM stuff at all as I prefer to compile my own updates. So far, I get my updates here and then add them to my nLite folder.

tinjaw · « **Reply #4 on:** November 27, 2007, 12:06 PM »

BTW....if you use nLite a lot, you may want to know about this site.
-Nighted (November 27, 2007, 10:57 AM)

Ummm. Why?

Nighted · « **Reply #5 on:** November 27, 2007, 12:48 PM »

It's pretty obvious when you look at the website. :p

tinjaw · « **Reply #6 on:** November 27, 2007, 12:56 PM »

It's pretty obvious when you look at the website. :p
-Nighted (November 27, 2007, 12:48 PM)

Umm. No. How does it differ from any other software download site? I know what nLite is, but I have never used it. Is this some soopr sekrit thing that I can't find out about until I am initiated?

Ralf Maximus · « **Reply #7 on:** November 27, 2007, 01:25 PM »

Since a normal XP install doesn't support SATA/Raid

Uh... really? Better tell that to my SATA/Raid controller. :-)

It's a PCIe card that XP recognizes without issue. If you mean XP won't boot from such a beast, then press F6 during the standard XP blue-screen setup (when prompted) and you can install the 3rd party drivers that came with the SATA/Raid controller. Then it'll be a permanant part of your XP install.

Or am I missing something?

Lashiec · « **Reply #8 on:** November 27, 2007, 02:08 PM »

XP SP2 supports SATA disks without any magic tricks

Nighted · « **Reply #9 on:** November 27, 2007, 03:21 PM »

It's pretty obvious when you look at the website. :p
-Nighted (November 27, 2007, 12:48 PM)

Umm. No. How does it differ from any other software download site? I know what nLite is, but I have never used it. Is this some soopr sekrit thing that I can't find out about until I am initiated?
-tinjaw (November 27, 2007, 12:56 PM)

Oh man, open your eyes!!! All the software there is configured to be added to XP installation discs.

MrCrispy · « **Reply #10 on:** November 27, 2007, 03:47 PM »

It's a PCIe card that XP recognizes without issue. If you mean XP won't boot from such a beast, then press F6 during the standard XP blue-screen setup (when prompted) and you can install the 3rd party drivers that came with the SATA/Raid controller. Then it'll be a permanant part of your XP install.

Or am I missing something?

I know I can do that. The point is I only want to have 1 install disk which works on all hardware. So I'm integrating the drivers into the install image.

tinjaw · « **Reply #11 on:** November 27, 2007, 03:57 PM »

Oh man, open your eyes!!! All the software there is configured to be added to XP installation discs.
-Nighted (November 27, 2007, 03:21 PM)

So, are you telling me (remember, I have never used nLite) that things need to be specially packaged to go on a nLite install disk? I was always under the assumption that 1) you could only add apps that supported silent installations and/or answer files (at which point you would want to create them yourself to fit your needs/requirements/wishes) 2) if not, they were something halfway between an answer file and a partial clone after being installed on the master machine.

So my take away is that they require special packaging and that the apps on the site have already gone through that packaging process and if you use them you get a default install w/o any customization (like choosing not to install them at C:\Program Files\AppName).

Nighted · « **Reply #12 on:** November 27, 2007, 04:12 PM »

Yes, you can add any installer, but you must know the switches for many of them. Some are obvious, some are not. Basically this is very confusing to many users, thus the creation of these CAB archives to simplify the process for people that just want to make a disc and not have to spend hours trying to add some extras. BTW, the only archiver I've used that can make proper CAB archives is Renegade's ALZip. Not even WinRAR or 7-Zip can do it properly. Probably not WinZip either.

Deozaan · « **Reply #13 on:** November 27, 2007, 04:12 PM »

XP SP2 supports SATA disks without any magic tricks
-Lashiec (November 27, 2007, 02:08 PM)

Not true. I downgraded from Vista to XP SP2 earlier this year because someone told me SP2 supports SATA no problem, but I still had to install the drivers manually. Which was impossible because I don't have a floppy drive in this machine. This machine was useless for about a month until I took it for about a 2-hour drive to my parents and borrowed a floppy from one of their machines.

Nighted · « **Reply #14 on:** November 27, 2007, 04:16 PM »

Not true. I downgraded from Vista to XP SP2 earlier this year because someone told me SP2 supports SATA no problem, but I still had to install the drivers manually. Which was impossible because I don't have a floppy drive in this machine. This machine was useless for about a month until I took it for about a 2-hour drive to my parents and borrowed a floppy from one of their machines.
-Deozaan (November 27, 2007, 04:12 PM)

I think you mean RAID. XP supports SATA interfaces.

You can integrate drivers into your XP install disc. Then they are automatically installed when you load Windows, no floppy drive or interaction needed.

tinjaw · « **Reply #15 on:** November 27, 2007, 07:11 PM »

Thanks for the info Nighted. I have two boxes that are on my todo list to put WinXP on for software testing. Maybe I will use nLite when I do it to see what it has to offer.

MrCrispy · « **Reply #16 on:** November 27, 2007, 07:40 PM »

I just made my custom xp cd -

- RyanVm's update packs (ryanvm.net) for post sp2 updates, IE7 and othe rmisc tweaks
- used nLite to remove all kinds of junk and make it unattended (except for cd key)
- added all the drivers from driverpacks.net

Total size was 350MB with no major compoents removed from xp! Tested under VirtualBox and it works great. My next step will be to make one with sp3 rc integrated.

Deozaan · « **Reply #17 on:** November 28, 2007, 03:27 PM »

I think you mean RAID. XP supports SATA interfaces.

You can integrate drivers into your XP install disc. Then they are automatically installed when you load Windows, no floppy drive or interaction needed.
-Nighted (November 27, 2007, 04:16 PM)

There's always the chance that I could be wrong, but my hard drives are not set up in a RAID. I just tried to install XP SP2 on my SATA drive and windows didn't recognize the drive.

I tried using nLite to make an install CD with the drivers but I kept getting BSODs during the install or upon booting up.

f0dder · « **Reply #18 on:** November 28, 2007, 04:01 PM »

Deozaan: unfortunately it's possible to remove critical stuff with nLite so you get boottime BSODs, but if you only integrate drivers/hotfixes and don't mess with anything else, then that shouldn't happen.

Once you get into component removing, be careful, and test in vmware before installing

Deozaan · « **Reply #19 on:** November 28, 2007, 04:04 PM »

Deozaan: unfortunately it's possible to remove critical stuff with nLite so you get boottime BSODs, but if you only integrate drivers/hotfixes and don't mess with anything else, then that shouldn't happen.

Once you get into component removing, be careful, and test in vmware before installing

-f0dder (November 28, 2007, 04:01 PM)

Problem with VMWare to test is that it uses virtual hardware, so there was no way to test if my SATA drivers would work. At least not to my knowledge. But now that you mention it, maybe I did get the SATA drivers working and I caused BSODs from removing stuff.

Nighted · « **Reply #20 on:** November 29, 2007, 08:59 AM »

Ok Deozaan, I know what you're talking about now. I heard about other people having this same problem and I'd totally forgotten about it. I guess other than a floppy, you could use a USB device (and for that you need a motherboard that supports the proper functions).