Tiny XP: Everything you want, you got it
- June 25th, 2008
- 2 Comments
Tiny XP [Warning: Porn ads] is a stripped down yet simultaneously beefed up version of XP that includes almost all the drivers necessary to run on almost any hardware as well as a number of registry hacks that ensure that the install won’t bog things down.
Is it legal? No, but it’s basically a sysadmin’s godsend. It even includes a tiny copy of Linux for boot-time troubleshooting. “Tool” implementations like this have been around for years and their absolutely crucial for regular troubleshooting. It’s actually interesting: this version basically acts like a powerful Linux install, once the go-to tool for most sysadmins. How the worm has turned.
whiskey (Who am I?)
2 months ago
Reading through the description one shall note that OPTION_2 (that leaves out Messenger, IE, WMP & OE) might actually make difficult (if not impossible) to install normal “Shiny-Glossy-Eyecandy UI” apps (like some Norton Antivirus), because they usually need some IE components to display their screens… No worries there, just switch to another app that needs not this items (AVG 7.5 used to be cool like that but, alas, now 8 it’s not).
Sysadmins around the net know that if it’s not a LiveCD (or LiveDVD) it’s not much of a useful tool… Why not give try to SuperWinPE (”The super power”)? It’s live, it features tons of other tools…
Also try Hiren’s Boot CD. (That is i.e. if you find yourself locked out of any Windows XP or 2003).
What’s interesting though is how they managed to integrate all drivers… so a quick download to get some autopsy knowledge on how to do that could prove useful to do a better Restore CD for your PC’s.
Now if you want to stay on the legal side, just get yourself one of the many Linux Live CD’s or DVD’s (just look if they automount ntfs so you can read and/or write your important files).
Want the absolute most minimalistic approach? Just get the Morphix Live Kiosk CD (it’s reallly, really small) which only runs Firefox, be sure to have your USB drive conected at boot so it gets recoignized, and use the web as your OS.
(Whoa, actually this gives me a reason to write another entry to my site!)
whiskey (Who am I?)
2 months ago
If it’s not Live… then forget it.