Cut out Solitaire
0 MAXIMUMPC june 2007
BIw 2 ImprovIng your pc experIence, one step at a tIme
(If you didn’t use the RyanVM post-update pack, continue to use
your source directory, Original Retail.) Click Next until you get to the
Task Selection window and select Components (which lets you cut
out components that are installed by default), Unattended (which will
complete the entire install process without prompts), Options (whichlets you change things such as the install path), Tweaks (which lets
you make registry tweaks and service changes), and Bootable ISO.
Right now, however, we’ll integrate the service pack, so select only
Service Pack and click Next until you get to Components.On the Components page, nLite lets you remove components
that Windows XP would normally install by default. If, say, you’re
the evil IT manager who doesn’t want your employees playing
solitaire, you would drill down into Applications and uncheck
Games to have nLite chop that section out.Fix the Windows XP Installer’s
7 Bad Sense of Timing
NLite’s most satisfying features are its Unattended options. By set-
ting your username, workgroup, time zone, and product key, you
can intercept the nagging questions that XP asks while installing.
When you’re done, click Next.Change Your Options
The Options window lets you change the boot options, so the
disc will automatically start an install without you having to hit
a key during the boot. Heck, you won’t even have to pick the
default Windows install directory. On the Patches tab, you can
change four OS settings, including the maximum number of
unfinished TCP/IP connections, and increase the USB port polling
for faster mouse response. Click Next to see even more tweaks,
such as the default Internet Explorer cache size. Drill through the
settings and look for tweaks that you would do on a clean install.
If, for example, you like the Windows version shown on the desk-
top, check it. Click Next and nLite will prepare the files.The Options and Patches window lets you alter the
Windows install directory and USB mouse timing.Virtually Test Your Masterpiece
You’re ready to burn your disc now. Click Next and you’ll get the
Bootable ISO screen. You can create a bootable DVD or CD using
the ISO. A DVD is useful if you want to include additional files on
the boot disc. To add files, copy the files you want to transfer to the
Patched Retail folder if you applied the RyanVM Post-SP2 Pack, or
the Original Retail folder if you used nLite to slipstream SP2 into it.
When you’re ready to burn, set the mode to Direct Burn and click the
Make ISO button; nLite will burn the disc. However, we recommend
that you test your ISO first. Before burning it, set the mode to Create
Image, give it a name such as Test1.iso, click the Make ISO button,
and save the ISO to the desktop. Now download and install Virtual
PC 2007 from Microsoft. This free VM program will let you directly
mount and test the install without having to actually install it. To test
your ISO from within Virtual PC, create a new virtual machine and
launch it. Once the VM is running, under the CD label of the virtual
machine, select Capture ISO Image and point the file browser win-
dow at your Test1.iso that should be on the desktop.
Once you’re satisfied that you have it set up just the way you
want it, you can go back to nLite and set the mode to Direct Burn
to burn the disc or Burn Image to burn the image you created
onto a disc.NLite lets you create an ISO that you can mount in a
virtual machine for testing, or you can live on the edge
and burn a disc right away.Employees play-
ing too much
solitaire? Make
sure your image
doesn’t include
games by nuk-
ing them from
the Components
window.