howto make XP CD from HP recovery CD using nLite
thanks to Ignatius for suggesting I do a write-up on this.
1st off. I don't know why I can't use the vB code to add these pics normally. It just isn't working for me.
now on to the lesson.
Make an XP CD from a Manufacturer's Bundle
by not_it (aka jawz101 if you see me elsewhere)
www.antionline.com
Don't you hate it when you buy your new HP pc and it comes w/ all the bloat? And if you want to reinstall the OS you've got to lug out the 5 recovery CDs to install the junk along w/ Windows. Where's the Microsoft hologram one? I bought a licensed copy of Windows. I don't want this HP bloat version!
http://img406.imageshack.us/my.php?i...5852708dq7.jpg
When you put a CD like this in a PC and try to boot up you typically get a prompt saying they need the numerous other recovery CD's to start the installation.
http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?i...2551896na3.jpg
That's where nLite comes in. By the way, I just figured this out one day when I realized that these bundled manuf. CD's are probably made where the OS is on one of the disks.
Instructions
-Download and install
nLite
-Put manufacturer's OS CD in... not the other recovery CD's. Just the one labeled Microsoft Windows XP or whatever.
-When it asks to locate Windows installation browse to the i386 folder on the CD.
-nLite will ask you where you want to copy these files. Make a folder on your HD and copy them over. It'll churn for a while as it does this.
-Hit next through some screens until you get here & check these boxes for now:
http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?i...2458165yx4.jpg
That's basically it.
I am not teaching on how to use nLite. It's an app where your curiosity will take over once you use it. The main point of this lesson is to show you how to quickly make a legit Windows CD from a bloated one.
You can go through and remove optional components and do some of the other stuff, but the main thing is that you're creating an .iso install file of just Windows and not all the bundled requirements. This CD will install just like a regular XP CD.
Maybe you don't think this is cool but if you do it once you will realize how cool it is. Personally, I think stripping all the marketing bloat out is an awesome side effect of nLite... maybe works with vLite (vista's version) too. Plus, I have tons of these HP CDs from work that are useless because we use corporate licensing and Ghost images. Now, they have a purpose instead of becoming trash, because I can create an XP disk anytime I want.
Mods- pls help me get these pics working right. It would help. Maybe I'm just missing something, but the tags aren't doing anything for me.
Thanks!