stein_brian

Thank you both, very good points. Though just for the record, I use a brand new CD-R each time (even used a DVD-R one time). Also for further info, the source test worked fine, meaning I installed use the ISO created thru Nlite from the original source with NO modifications made. So it's obvious for some reason something during the removing components part is removing the programs I tell it to keep. Do either of you, or anyone, maybe have like a reference guide that they used that seems to work well while also shrinking the size of the install? Thanks!

OK I understand, so I'm just testing it. I am attaching a screenshot of the unmodified source - I literally just finished copying the contents of the CD to the source folder and haven't even opened up Nlite yet so I can guarantee this is a clean, unmodified source. I am also going to just burn the ISO using Nlite as suggested and try to install from it just to make sure that works. Assuming it does, that is where I will need assistance in properly shrinking down the install with Nlite but properly preserving the programs I need to keep like IE and Windows Media Player, etc. Thanks! source.doc

Sorry johnhc, not sure exactly what you mean. When you say make an ISO from the source unmodified, what do you mean? I'm interpreting that as not using Nlite at all, thus not stripping down XP at all. Do you want the screen shot from my source meaning from the original Windows XP cd I used and copied to my source directory? Or do you mean after Nlite runs on that directory? My whole intention here is to shrink the size of the installation so that it fits onto my Mini dell laptop that only has a 7.5GB hard drive. If I run the regular install, by the time I get thru with that and Office install I'm well under a Gig left. Sorry but you could clarify what you're recommending? I just want to make sure I follow your steps corectly. thanks!

Yes I am sure this time I started with a fresh copy - I totally deleted my original directory, created a new folder, and copied my Windows XP with SP3 cd to the new folder and worked off of that. Also, I don't edit any files, I simply had to right click on the IE.inf file, choose Install, and then IE installs, don't know why. The only reason I changed the ComputerType is b/c one of the guides I found mentioned that for my particular model of laptop, they had to change it to make it work but I can certainly try again just using Default. Coonect to internet via a LAN - I thought it said I could remove Ethernet LAN if I install my own NIC drivers, which is what I did after the install? The media I used was an ISO downloaded from my technet account - it's Windows XP Pro with SP3. I've used it many times on other mahcines I've built. No, not currently using Vmware for this, I have a test laptop that is the model I need to put the Nlite version of XP on. ANy ideas why Windows Media Player wouldn't be there, or other things like Wordpad, etc?

Just to add to my above post, other programs as well that are supposed to be included are also missing just like IE is. For example, I told Nlite to keep Windows Media Player, and if I go into Program Files I see a folder for it but inside the folder is empty. God knows what else is missing! Any ideas on what I did wrong or what I'm missing? Thanks!

Thanks for the quick reply! OK here is the latest situation. I decided to do it over again from scratch and this time instead of following the guide I followed, I ran through it myself and just used my own best judgement on what to remove and what not to remove. The other big change I made, though admittedly don't know if it did anything or not, was when I get to the Services tab section where most of the guides I've read advise that you leave everything the way it is, I actually went thru it and changed all the services from 'Default' to either 'Automatic' or 'Manual' based on my experiences. The issue now is that Internet Explorer is still not installed. This time however if I go into C:\Program Files I can see the Internet Explorer folder unlike last time but inside of that is only a folder for Connection Wizard. And if I double click on the IE icon on the desktop it brings up the 'Open With' pop-up. So I'm going to have to go back to the INF file and install it from there - WHY? I am attaching the last session.ini file as requested. Thanks! Last_Session.ini

Hoping somebody can shed some light on what I'm doing wrong. I used Nlite to create a slimmed down installation of Windows XP with SP3 to use on a Dell Mini laptop (Inspiron 910). I even followed a guide I found online for using Nlite installs with the Dell mini's. Everything seemed to go ok, the ISO was created, burned to a disc, and installed Windows XP fine. However I noticed as soon as I logged in that there were some issues. Most notably with the exception of like 2 services, none of the Windows services started up automatically, even though many were set to 'Automatic' startup. If I clicked on each service and chose Start, they all started no problem so it wasn't like they couldn't start. It just seemed like they never even tried. I rebooted a few times and even reinstalled SP3 successfully but the behavior of the services remained the same - they would only start if I went into Services and told each one to start one at a time. Now I know if I wanted to I could create a login script/batch file to tell every service to start but I shouldn't have to do that. Has anyone come across this and could possibly help me out? What I also found and i add this in case it helps to shed any light on where I went wrong was that I pretty much had no programs installed. Even though I selected in Nlite to keep Internet Explorer and made sure not to remove anything remotely related to IE, when I would double click the icon it would ask me what I wanted to use to open this up and the only choice i had was Notepad. I went into the Program Files directory and there was nothing for Internet Explorer. I had to go into %Systemroot%\Inf directory and located the IE.inf file and choose to install it from there. Is that normal? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!