Jump to content

Let's UPX the rarely used dll's in system32 ?


Recommended Posts

Posted (edited)

Hi,

I have a Asus EEE PC with a 4 GB flashdisk with an nlited XP installed now.

But I was wondering if it's a good idea to make a list of the rarely used dll's and

to UPX then after the windows setup, which could save some valuable MB's :)

any idea's?

greetings,

Alfonso

Edited by AlfonsoX

Posted

TranceEnergy and AlfonsoX,

One reason to be careful about this is something I found (via Google) some time ago:

Windows reuses DLLs that are in memory for all processes requesting them. When a DLL is UPXed, Windows does not recognize it and will therefore load it as many times as requested by processes. Saving a little disk space, requiring decompression time on each load, then getting multiple copies in memory did not seem to be worth any HDD space saved. HDD space is dirt cheap now and is only going to get cheaper.

Enjoy, John.

Posted

Well i remember i used AsPack once upon a time on windows 2000 i think it was, that worked. Program had option to enable decompression by default in windows boot or something. Dont really recall too good, except that it worked. I know upx is far better for compression, but i'm regardless sure there are ways to compress system .

AlfonsoX: A couple of simple steps you could do to maximize space usage on your 4gb flashdisk.

Get a disk partitioning program that can set cluster size to 512bytes (0.5kb) and disable pagefile or at very least set it to a small size like 16mb minimum/16mb maximum for systemdrive and rather use a large pagefile on another drive, if you really think you need it..

Also you could use normal windows compression. I have no idea if there are tweaks to set a stronger compression as default in windows, but worth a google i guess.

On the other end there are tweaks to disable compression for good that i know.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Hi,

thanks for the response, some notes.

I know that the dll's won't be reused, that's why I want to UPX only the rarely used ones, which I think there are a lot...problem is more which one is rarely used and which one much. Mhh I think it's more an idea then realistic to do it.

I have disabled the pagefile and hiber file. The clustersize is probably a good one, because there is now 16MB wasted.

Posted

I have started to write some batch files that will effectively move files out of windows folders, to a backup folder mirroring the location of the original file.

If you have suggestions for what files to move im open for suggestions. I'm going to write this in some posts i have in a thread under windows 64bit (but would work for 32bit xp too im sure),

but currently, last time i checked, i could not edit my own first post there, so im not adding things to it until that situation has been resolved.

The whole idea i have is that, windows install can be nlited after windows install, and still be able to revert any changes to it.

F.ex Windows Error reporting, some like it some not, i dont really need it, but i found that it had like 20 dll files that were language files, so i added that i would move those files, so they can be deleted if user wants to.

Or one could back them up,archive them, whatever one wants.

Currently i can do small things like disable system restore, remove the system restore tab from my computer, stuff like that.

Posted
I have started to write some batch files that will effectively move files out of windows folders, to a backup folder mirroring the location of the original file.

If you have suggestions for what files to move im open for suggestions. I'm going to write this in some posts i have in a thread under windows 64bit (but would work for 32bit xp too im sure),

but currently, last time i checked, i could not edit my own first post there, so im not adding things to it until that situation has been resolved.

The whole idea i have is that, windows install can be nlited after windows install, and still be able to revert any changes to it.

F.ex Windows Error reporting, some like it some not, i dont really need it, but i found that it had like 20 dll files that were language files, so i added that i would move those files, so they can be deleted if user wants to.

Or one could back them up,archive them, whatever one wants.

Currently i can do small things like disable system restore, remove the system restore tab from my computer, stuff like that.

...And a new Bold Fortune is born! :D

GL

Posted (edited)

Anyone sane person, tho i consider myself crazy, would never consider buying text files. How ridiculous is that. lol.

I just hope to fill a hole in what nlite can't do, such as removing bloat that is installed from applications.

F.ex adobe cs3 installs like eula and different language files for xx different languages. So the plan basically is to build a set of such batches that will remove everything but english, as an example. I'm not sure how much i remove yet, but i think the file count is like 400+ atm.

I'm quite sure many of you like this idea of having that capability. It's kind of sad when you have made a nlite iso that works really great for you, and every application you install, comes with all these files that you will never, ever need. Tho if you might, you could put them back in, if you didnt delete files.

Edited by TranceEnergy
Posted

I didn't even know he started selling them...

But nevermind. I'm not particularly into this method - deleting files. I use regsvr32 /u instead. :lol::D:P

But Windows don't play fair and silently regsvr's them again. :o:angry: :angrym: :realmad:

GL

Posted
GrofLuigi: Not if i have moved/deleted the files! xD Whole point is to take charge of what files are kept in the system.

I know, but it isn't ideal. You can only get away with the odd ones that noone asks for. Otherwise, the 'hot' ones (and they are usually the most annoying) are referenced through:

1. Ole/Com registration - unregsvr is the cure for that (not perfect, as we know). BTW, Windows plays another dirty trick for some .dll's - they can't be unregsvr'd by themselves, you have to search&destroy their registration manually in regedit.

2. inf files - nLite is the cure for that. Or direct .inf editing if you have the nerves.

3. direct hardcoded dependency in another executable file - if you delete the referenced file, SOMETIMES you can get away with it.

4. Then there is WFP - that's completely cured. :)

I fear that the reversal of 1. will never be cured.

Reversals of 2. are slowly sorted out (as ironed bugs in nLite) but it still isn't perfect - and I don't know if Nuhi deliberately leaves some entries for compatibility reasons or not. But I like it that Nlite fights back too - patches if necessary. ;)

You can see 3. in Dependency Walker - hell, even Microsoft haven't sorted out MSJAVA.DLL yet, four years after it was removed. You always see it missing even on a full clean install.

So... it's difficult. But work on that is always welcome. :thumbup

GL

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...