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Reformatting Windows XP the RIGHT way
Robert Hallock
October 21, 2008 12:34 PM ET in Tech
Customizing Windows XP
When Windows was released in 2001, it was not foreseen that specialized hard drive controllers for a new generation of hard drives would become the norm. As IDE died its slow death, the rise of SATA prevented the venerable floppy drive from going with it. While Vista accepts CDs and flash drives containing SATA drivers, XP recognizes only the dreaded floppy. Adding insult to injury, those lucky few who have a drive and the appropriate disk are met with scores of updates once Windows is installed. Pleasantly, there is a solution to these common irritations known as “slipstreaming.”
Once the domain of OEMs, slipstreaming allows a user to bundle newer service packs, updates, drivers or even applications right into the Windows install media. With the recent release of Windows XP Service Pack 3, there has never been a better time to build a disc to suit. In our Slipstreaming Guide we’ll tailor your old Windows XP CD to reduce its size, install faster, recognize your SATA drives during install, and pre-install your favorite applications.
All this customization has been made easy by the 2006 release of nLite, which made the cryptic art of slipstreaming broadly accessible. A clever combination of intuitive menus, concise documentation and easy-to-use automation has made it a rapid success. So before beginning with the reformatting process, make sure you are prepared with customized disc of Windows XP.
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