Has anyone used Nlite to reinstal XP?

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I have created a slipstreamed CD using Nlite but halfway through the process I got this message:

'H-the specifed executable is not a valid Win32 application'

I have never reinstalled XP before...is there an easier way of doing it?

raptorman

Why are you not using the XP install disc?

I have never heard of NLite, what is it?

raptorman

Ah, just googled nlite and it looks like a
cut down version of XP.

Have you tried TinyXP? I understand from
friends that it works very well.

Chippy_Minton

It depends how much you're customising it. It usually takes a few goes to get XP exactly as intended, so use a CD-RW to avoid wasting CD-Rs.

At what point in the installation process does the error occur? Use the Recovery Console (F10) to check C:\windows\setupact.log and setuperr.log for errors.

The easiest way to reinstall XP is to, err, use the XP CD.

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Chippy_Minton wrote: »

It depends how much you're customising it. It usually takes a few goes to get XP exactly as intended, so use a CD-RW to avoid wasting CD-Rs.

At what point in the installation process does the error occur? Use the Recovery Console (F10) to check C:\windows\setupact.log and setuperr.log for errors.

The easiest way to reinstall XP is to, err, use the XP CD.

My CD version of XP is about four year old so I thought it would be easier to use Nlite,adding SP2 plus the 80 odd upgrades on to one CD. As Nlite is free I thought it would be easier that way! Nlite does it all for you if you get it right! I am not sure I have the CD right though because the error I got was before the CD was finalised.

The finalised CD booted OK and then downloaded drivers. It then asked me what partition I wanted to instal XP on. C FAT drive,C NTFS drive or D NTFS drive?
The default was the C FAT drive which only had a very small amount of memeory on it. I aborted the instalation at this point!

Where do I go from here

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raptorman wrote: »

Have you tried TinyXP? I understand from
friends that it works very well.

Thanks, I will have a look at this if I cannot resolve my current problem.

Chippy_Minton

Icon wrote: »

I am not sure I have the CD right though because the error I got was before the CD was finalised.

Ah ok, I thought you were getting the error during the XP installation/setup process. nLite should create a log file to help you to investigate the error - check on the forums or in the user guide. The error could lead to problems with the XP setup, so I'd fix it first.

The finalised CD booted OK and then downloaded drivers. It then asked me what partition I wanted to instal XP on. C FAT drive,C NTFS drive or D NTFS drive?
The default was the C FAT drive which only had a very small amount of memeory on it. I aborted the instalation at this point!

It should also give you the option of formatting and repartitioning the drive. I'd install XP on a C: NTFS partition - the size depends on how much customisation you've told nLite to do (e.g. removing unnecessary Windows applications, putting Program Files and/or Documents and Settings on another partition etc.). About 8-15GB should be enough just for Windows.

Stompa

Probably not what you're after, but this seems to do a similar job to NLite:

http://www.heise-security.co.uk/articles/80682

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Chippy_Minton wrote: »

Ah ok, I thought you were getting the error during the XP installation/setup process. nLite should create a log file to help you to investigate the error - check on the forums or in the user guide. The error could lead to problems with the XP setup, so I'd fix it first.

I didn't realise Nlite had a forum....I will have a look there,thanks

Chippy_Minton wrote: »

It should also give you the option of formatting and repartitioning the drive. I'd install XP on a C: NTFS partition - the size depends on how much customisation you've told nLite to do (e.g. removing unnecessary Windows applications, putting Program Files and/or Documents and Settings on another partition etc.). About 8-15GB should be enough just for Windows.

I didn't think the C drive could have both NTFS and FAT on it

Chippy_Minton

Icon wrote: »

I didn't think the C drive could have both NTFS and FAT on it

Correct. Once a partition is assigned a drive letter (C:, etc) it can only be formatted as NTFS or FAT, not both. Maybe it's a recovery partition without a drive letter (disk 0, which is also C: ). Perhaps you could you post a photo of the screen.