nLite, Windows XP and slipstreaming...

OZON

Hi,

I am a newbie what comes to slipstreaming Windows XP installationwith nLite...I am not an it professional but this is my hobby so I don't know everything about everything...please help.

1. I would like to know where to download all the necessary post SP 2 hotfixes and other updates with one single click...has somebody done a one single package of these all? It is quite a task to find all the necessary hotfixes one by one so I think there must be an easy solution for this....
2. Is it possible to use already downloaded hotfixes from my existing installation...where are all the hotfixes in my own computer...?
3. I also would like to find ie7 files, windows defender, windows media player 11 and so as a one single package for nLite...
4. If somebody has a one single file which to download with one single click only how do I know that the updated are genuine and not hacked in order to create holes for hackers...I know this may sound paranoid but I just want to be sure...

Is nLite a good software? Does it work well? Is it used by it-professionals? The idea of nLite is good and tempting but I would like to know if Windows installed by this method becomes unstable...then there is no sense in it. However I know that there must be a lean and fast way to install XP if you are gonna install 30 machines...what other methods there are but this nLite...?


That's all so far...please help a newbie.

OZON

I have now tested nLite and found a way to download all hotfixes nicely...

I tested the disk with with microsoft virtual pc...nice software but pretty needless however it was useful for this purpose: does nLite installation disks work at all?

Conclusions...

I think nLite is only waste of time.

Removing windows components cannot produce good system stability. Installing hotfixes with nLite produces dll errors and there really is no sense to study why. Its much easier let windows update decide...

In my opinion Windows is meant to be installed as a whole package, sorry to say this. If you customize it with some software like nLite it will be spoiled. It will then be like a customized car - far from that what was meant to be and much less reliable.

I really really regret that I wasted my time with nLite...

I wonder why it is so popular? Maybe people want to play with the software but I use my computer for serious work and therefore I need a system which is reliable and works well...unfortunately I have to use windows because there is no software for other systems so well.

Thrax

I've been building custom WinXP installs with nLite for more than a year, and have had none of the issues you experienced.

Allow me to be blunt: If you had problems, you did it wrong.

Your conclusions are inaccurate.

WinXP is exceedingly modular, and my XP install now covers all the software, drivers, hotfixes and BS removal that I desire. It's 250mb on CD.

cambrose

I'm working with a group now (well known in the torrent world) that does custom XP installs with all kinds of goodies, and nLite was the first thing I learned how to use and have never had any problems with it...

OZON

This is good to know.

My problem maybe that it does not work in Microsoft virtual PC...if I had installed it normally perhaps it could have worked...

Maybe I will give it then one more try....

I think it should be easy to use...I didn't get any error messages while I was making compilation...it does not replace newer files with older files and so on...I don't understand what went wrong...

While I was installing it the installantion complained that there was missing dll files ....