Customize your Windows install

Have you ever tried re-installing Windows XP from an early CD (pre-Service Pack 2) and then had to suffer through endless updates? If so, I have found a neat utility called nLite.

This application lets you create a CD image that contains the exact components you want/need for your Windows install. You can suppress some components or add new ones. Here is a blurb from the nLite web site:

"nLite is a tool for permanent Windows components removal and pre-installation Windows configuration. After removal there is an option to make bootable image ready for burning on cd or testing in virtual machines.

With nLite you will be able to have Windows installation which on install does not include, or even contain on cd, the unwanted components."

This will certainly my life easier next time I have to reinstall Windows XP (not that I do this often...) Best of all, it's free!