Stripped-down version of Windows XP?

[Styxx]

Is it possible to get a stripped-down version of Windows XP? I am putting together a display and need a PC without all the garbage like media player, real player, word, paint, Internet software, office publisher and more? Is this possible or do I have to resort to uninstalling all the garbage myself? I'm not going to use it for the Internet, office transactions or the usual. All I need it for is to run music software, sequencer, finale, GPO, Kontakt as well as others. Any suggestions, questions, comments or concerns?
Your input much appreciated. Then again, that depends on the output.

[Garritan]

There is a program called XPlite http://www.litepc.com/ that allows you to customize and trim down your Windows XP OS. I used 98Lite by the same company and had very good results.

Gary Garritan

[Styxx]

Thanks Gary! This is just what the captain ordered.

[lukpcn]

Thanks Gary! This is just what the captain ordered.

Hey Styxxi, tell me more about the prog when You get it... how much space can be saved - maybe I'll look into it to be able to build less space hungry win xp DAW....

PS: got the links to photos ???

[Pat Azzarello]

Are you trying to make your machine more efficient? Or just don't want to use the hard disk space? Or are you trying to save money?

If you install a retail copy of Windows (i.e., buy it at Best Buy or wherever) you won't get things like Office, etc. As for WMP and Internet, just don't configure them and they'll only take up some hard drive space (not affecting your performance). However, without Internet access you may have issues getting third party components (like Java, which at least one notation program requires) installed, not to mention getting through the authorization process (possible, but certainly more tedious).

You'd be surprised the number of components that DAW's require and use under the hood. In some cases they won't start without them, and in other cases you won't find out that there's an issue until you click on the menu items and the app fails (sometimes without an error message telling you what's wrong). Some might say this is bad app programming, but would you rather have your DAW checking for every component that should be in Windows, or coding up a new feature (or making it faster, etc.).

AFAIK, there is no legal, stripped down, version of Windows XP (at least that I've ever heard of). However, Windows XP Embedded (I was on that team for a few years) is one way to create a small OS. It is used in dedicated devices, including pro audio devices by Mackie, Digidesign, and a few others. However, it's actually easier to turn off services on XP (Home or Pro) than it is to build an XP Embedded OS, and getting access to XP Embedded it isn't difficult, but understanding how to build the OS takes some time - time that I'd advise spending on creating music.

Pat
Microsoft Guy

[Richard Berg]

It's important to note that things like XPLite may violate your license and will definitely make your config unsupported. Considering there's zero benefit to uninstalling Paint, it's probably not worth it.

[maxwell2112]

i dont mean to ask a stupid question, but if you dont want to use that stuff, how about just not using it,
it would seem that windows xp would be in its most stable form when installed the way it was designed .