How to make a Custom Windows Install w/ nLite
Most people have things that they remove from a fresh Windows install every time that they install. Such as services, tools, programs, and others. There are many ways to get settings removed before installing so that you do not have to modify it after every install. One of the ways would be to make a custom install for Windows. We are going to use a tool called nLite to make a fully unattended install and to customize many options so that you can have your own Windows “build”. The program(s) used throughout this tutorial can cause damage to your OS and or make your computer not function. Please, do not make changes unless you are sure you know what you are doing. We can not be held responsible for mistakes made to your PC. Also, be warned that there are a TON of options in this program and many of them are awesome. This process could take a couple of hours to complete, but once you are done it is really worth it. Sorry for the length of this tutorial, but I wanted to cover everything necessary to have a successful build.The first step is to get an intro to what nLite is.
“nLite is a tool for permanent Windows components removal and pre-installation Windows setup. 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 doesn’t include, or even contain on cd, unwanted components.”
You can nLite many different Windows operating systems (2000, XP, and 2003, all of which you can do x86 and x64 versions). You can integrate service packs and updates, remove unwanted components, Create an un-attended set-up(including ISO) integrate drivers to be automatically installed, enable hundreds of tweaks in the tool (from all over the internet), and configure services. nLite requires .NET Framework 2.0 to operate, and the most recent version of it is 1.2. I am using the previous stable build which is 1.0.1. You can download all of the pre-mentioned items at http://www.nliteos.com. nLite modifies what is called an RTM to create your install. You will need to download the RTM that you want from the internet. Just look around, you will be able to find them. You can also use a Windows CD. Just copy the full content from a distribution CD to a directory on your HDD and when it asks for your install source, go to that directory. Now, that you have a basic understanding let’s get started: once you have everything installed and directories created, we can begin the setup process. Keep in mind when setting up your directories, that you can only use the source files once. You can not nLite the same source files several times. Just copy the folder and rename it to something you would want to call your OS.
When you first launch the nLite.exe you will see the following screen:
;
At this screen just hit next after you select the language that you would like to use. The following screen will then appear:
This is where you pick where your source files are. Click on browse and go to where you placed your source files. The directory must contain the entire i386 folder and the setup files. Once you select the folder containing these files the bottom half of this windows will populate with the version, language, path, total size, and free space on current drive. As mentioned before, make sure that you copy the contents of your source folder if you plan on doing this more than once. (Most people do, it takes more than one try to get it exactly how you want it. Once you have selected your source folder, click next. The following screen will then appear.
This screen shows your last sessions. The will automatically make all the settings in the following steps be what you had them set to in a previous nLite. This can be helpful if you build an install and one thing isn’t perfect. You can change just that one thing and build it again without repeating the whole process. Select your session and click load to import the settings. If you are not using one or this is your first time just click next.
;
This screen allows you to modify what option you will be able to set in the following steps. For the sake of the tutorial, we will do them all except integrate a service pack, because the RTM that I am using has SP2 included.
This windows is where you can integrate hot fixes, add-ons, and updates packs directly into the install. The top one that I have listed on this screen is the RyanVM Update Pack, which can be downloaded from http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html. This is the most well known update pack and contains all updates to windows XP since SP2. I have also included NET Framework, and CCleaner. These will all install without ANY user intervention. On this window click Advanced and Enable remove catalog files. This will make setup a lot faster. There is a setting that must be set later in order for this to work but I will cover that when the time comes. Once you are done adding your updates, click next.
This window allows you to integrate the drivers for your particular machine into the install so that you do not have to install them manually after the install has completed. Click on insert and select the inf file for the driver that you wish to install. It could be names oemsetup.inf. If there are more than one, you only need to select the first on. It will then pull the other one automatically. After you are done adding drivers, click next.
This window allows you to pick features that you are going to use on your PC. This is a way to ensure that you don’t accidentally remove something that you will need. For example, If I want to be able to install cameras and camcorders, I would check that box and the program would then remove all of the features needed from the following screen so that I can’t mistakenly remove it. If you want everything to be removable don’t check anything.
;
This is where you can remove almost ANYTHING from the install. For a custom made – complete break down of what services requires others. Please check out this Excel sheet made by Brian Orange.Ensure that you fully understand what you are removing before you do. There are things that are highlighted in red text. These are features that nLite recommends keeping. Any box you check will be removed. The unchecked boxes will be installed. Once you have gone through all available options, click next.
This box has numerous tabs. On the first tab you want to change the mode to Full Unattended. Uncheck the OEM box only if you install SATA or RAID drivers from a floppy disc.
On this tab Put in the name of the Administrator and Organization and password. You can check blank password if you do not want to PW protect your machine. You can enable your machine to auto-login so that you don’t have to click on anything as well.
This tab is where you pick your computer type. Recommended is Automatic. Insert your product key for your installation, and select theme options. You can also turn System Restore on and off and modify its settings. If you are concerned with speed you should turn DEP Always Off. DEP is a feature that checks memory so it prevents malicious code running from there.
;
This is where you select your keyboard layout and language options ad well as your time zone. This is the last tab you NEED to set in order to have an unattended install. The other tabs have features that we are not going to cover in this tutorial because they are pretty much self explanatory. Once you are finished with all of these settings, click next.
;
This box gives you some more options. For example you can get rid of user profile in the temp folder if you are the only person using the PC and want the temp folder with easier access. Also, at the bottom of this page there are two settings under setup look. You can change both of them to enabled to MAYBE speed the install up a slight little bit. The other tab is the services tab. You can disable services from there. Once you are done click next.
;
This window has 4 pretty powerful settings in it. The first settings is how many simultaneous connections can be made through your Ethernet card at once. Making this number 16777215 will drastically increase your bandwidth capabilities when surfing the web. USB port frequency is how often the USB port checks for a status change of the device connected to it. The theme support will allow you to use ANY theme downloaded from the web even if it is not signed. The final setting, SFC needs to be disabled. This is the settings that I mentioned earlier that we have to set in order to remove catalog files.
After you pick your options on these settings click next.
This is where you can add or remove options from Windows. These are Tweaks that are usually done manually or with a patch from the web. nLite has compiled some of the most frequently used and powerful tweaks around. Go through these tweaks and enable the ones that you want. If you do not want to take a chance at removing something that you might need, uncheck the advanced check box at the bottom of the screen. Once you are done picking your settings, click next. You will get the following prompt. Click yes to start ripping apart the source files and compiling the new install for you.
;
It will go through the process. It may take several minutes. At any time if you need to complete another task on your pc you can change the Priority on the fly to make nLite not use all of the system resources.
;
Once the process is completed, it will tell you how much you have reduced the total size of the install by, and mow much of that space is used for drivers and such. Click next.
;
Now you can name your ISO anything that you want. Once you have selected a name you can click on Make ISO. If you would like to add additional files to your CD, just add them to your working directory before clicking on Make ISO. When you click Make ISO it will prompt you where to put it. Just save it where you would like and it will the go through the process.
Once the ISO has completed and you click Next, you will get this screen. nLite is donation based software so if you can, make a small donation to them. Thank-you for viewing this tutorial.
Popularity: 86% [?]
on April 12th, 2007 at 6:43 am
I will definitely have to try this one out.
on April 25th, 2007 at 5:07 am
woow it’s coo; i’ll try it…
on June 15th, 2007 at 6:21 am
Thanhk!!! I love you man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
on August 17th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Thank you so much I was stuck not being able to install XP on a ml350 server and this way worked like a charm!!!
Thank’s again
on September 16th, 2007 at 5:39 am
this is really kool but if it was having information on installing softwares which one have have to install after fresh instalation it would be of great help e.g how to integrate messngers, office , and other softwares !!!
i would say if these things were also told it would be perfect!
on October 5th, 2007 at 7:11 am
Plz inform how to add 3rd party Sw like office, firefox etc ..
on October 11th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Thank you so much I
I am deadly put fase of tanle, traing start up my HP ML150
It is dosent work whit is oun driver from CD (on CD rescue programm).
I’m dounload floppy boot arhive fron website HP.
It is does not work, then I trying make iso whit this programm.
It is work perfect.
Thanks so much.
on October 23rd, 2007 at 3:34 am
By the way since you didn’t mention that here is the site with a lot of addos for nLite: http://www.winaddons.com/
Integrate them as a normal hotfix and get all your favorite software installed during Windows Setup
on October 30th, 2007 at 3:29 am
pandor’a box a greek myth
http://www.zloyonline.info – tale of genji murasaki shikibu
on November 29th, 2007 at 3:38 am
Hi.
Good design, who make it?
on March 19th, 2008 at 3:03 am
What a awesome tutorial! This will help so many people including myself.
Thanks Mike for taking the time to go through this like you did, that’s what most don’t do and it leaves unanswered questions at the end.
Thanks again!
on March 23rd, 2008 at 6:50 am
Hi,
I am fascinated by your excellent tutorial. Definitely want to try it.
If I am building a new PC with a blank harddisc AND a XP installation disc with SP2 to start with, how would I proceed?
Of course, I have a PC currently in use. Do I prepare the nLite ISO on the current machine; and then burn the ISO to a CD and then use the CD to install on my new PC?
Thank you for your attention.
on March 23rd, 2008 at 7:55 am
CK Wong, Making the ISO on your current machine would be perfect. Thanks to nLite’s awesome features, you can integrate all your drivers for your new machine right into your install. I hope the tutorial helps you through it. Good luck.
on April 1st, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Just one question: .NET packages (2.0) are known not to work with nlite when slipstreamed in a regular way (with other hotfixes – as you did) so where did you get that package? Your own creation:>? Feel like sharing it?
Thx
on April 8th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
[...] This article was originally posted at Team Tutorials, here is the original article. [...]
on April 8th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
This walk-through has saved me several times after I initially used the slipstream process. Adding in the extra stuff from RyanVM’s site can also add a lot of functionality to a standard Windows installation.
on September 10th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
hi there i just checked ur tutorial and tried it but it gave me a error when i add my own softwares like msn messanger 8.5 or wmp11.exe setup files….during installation it gave me an error {please put the installed.exe in c:\programs\nlite folder} what should i put there……. i have tried to put the exe file and extracted exe file but it gives error again n again what should i do? plz tell me…….@
nauman_shahzad@hotmail.com
or feet_man05@yahoo.com
……..thanks in advance………..
on September 11th, 2008 at 9:47 am
@nauman:
You have to use switchless installers. You can not simply put an EXE in there and epect it to install. They have to be made specifically for this. I am working on a tutorial that will show you how to make these installers.
on September 22nd, 2008 at 1:42 am
Thank You…..
on October 29th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I’m hoping to install Windows XP (SP2) on my new MacBook using Mac’s BootCamp utility. It only supports SP2 and before I jump off the cliff, I’d like to get some feedback on anyone’s experience doing is from a CD made with nLite (and any other input).
Why Windows on the Macbook? Because the system fonts are too small to read and not changeable (Yes, I’ve tried 3rd party utilities – they don’t work, Also reduced the screen resolution – that helps but I like my Windows setup).
on November 27th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Hi i have used nlite and works great. But after i was done i don’t have support for pcmcia/wifi card anymore. xp just won’t recognize it. do you know by chance what component controls that so i don’t remove it again? thank you
on March 15th, 2009 at 7:56 am
You don’t need to be sorry Mike, this tutorial is awesome!
on March 24th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Thank you for your tutorial.
Would it be possible to expand your tutorial to give detailed & clear instructions for how to use the nLite Run Once feature? That one is a bit mysterious to many of us, and looks potentially very useful.
on April 15th, 2009 at 3:06 am
ya ihave used it its abetter toll ilike nlit
any one can use it
who has a little bit knowledge of an os
on April 15th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
how do you install your OS with a .ISO file? I burnt the ISO into a CD already and made it bootable, restart and boot from CD-ROM and prompt me the A:\ I cd into the cd-drive…
What is the ms-dos command to invoke the installation? Thanks for any help.
on April 16th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Ben
.ISO’s are bootable, Did you think you needed to add a boot switch or did some burningware give you wrong advice?
Just re burn your .ISO with a simple prog like
BURNCDCC.EXE , Google for it.
Use Killdisk for all HDD’s but WD’s for WD HDD’s get Diag504fCD.iso 2.10 MB
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=502&sid=30&lang=en
Burn the Diag504fCD.iso, weather you have an OS on your HDD or not.
Get into your BISO and set “Boot” to CDR .
Pop in The Diag504fCD CD , Hit the F-10 key Tap enter , tap the ECS key to get out of the lic Page. Use up-down arrows, Pic Write Zeros Quick unless you have a small HDD , Full takes about 10 min’s per G.[ I do full but start at the end of the day ]
When done take the Diag504fCD CD out and Put in you XP CD , The TURN “OFF” YOUR BOX!!!
Wait 15 sec’s or so and Start Your Computer.
You Will Boot to and start the Install of XP or any other OS if you made the CD properly.
Have Fun
Bill aka DRVTACH
on April 19th, 2009 at 6:33 am
ben said. if you dont know how to burn iso. then burn your modded xp direcly on cd. dont create iso:)
bdw, any news about RunOnce tutorial? please post a link.
sory for muy bad english.
on April 24th, 2009 at 5:17 am
i have used nlite b4 but now i can’t use it i get an error message sayinh” nlite.exe-application error ‘ the application failed to initialize properly (0×000007b).click OK to terminate the application)
I have tried to install net.framework as required to run “NLITE”…I nEED urgent HELp
on April 25th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Hi, I was just wondering if nLite is any use now that ive already installed windows xp on my netbook.. id like to use it to make my windows smaller and faster ofcourse
would really appreciate everyones help.. thanks.
on April 29th, 2009 at 3:11 am
[...] is your best friend.Tag = nlite tutorial Tutoriale : 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; Pentru a include diferite programe,cauti nlite addons (winAddons , rado354 , johndoe74 [...]
on May 4th, 2009 at 11:58 am
How can I incorporate XP SP3 into nLite?
on May 9th, 2009 at 3:23 am
I have a Toshiba Portege P3500 with a hard drive which was reformatted. This machine has no cd Rom. I have downloads all the drivers from toshiba website but I don’t have any recovery cd’s nor installation cd’s. I have read from the internet that these machines are not bootable via cd Rom but via floppy. It also has no floppy drive. They are not made with neither cd Rom nor floppy disk drives. Can someone tell me how do I get to use nLite in my situation?
Thanks,
Rohn
on May 13th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Wow!….. Nice Tutorial
on June 11th, 2009 at 7:16 am
Very nice article.
Can I share this tutorial as pdf with my blog readers?
I’ll be mentioning your link too.
on June 12th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I slipped xphome with sp3 onto my dell os cd. Is their a way in nlite to exclude all of dell’s proprietary info onto my new disk so it’s just like an xp home disk from Microsoft.
on June 25th, 2009 at 10:43 am
[...] How to make a Custom Windows Install w/ nLite | Team Tutorials Uite aici ceva, poate te lamuresti! __________________ Chieftec CX-03, CoolerMaster Real Power M620, Asus P5E, Intel E8400, 2×2GB DDR2 800+ A-Data Extreme Edition, MSI HD4890 OC 1GB, 1xHDD S-ATA2 WD 500GB, DVD-RW Samsung 22x, Creative X-Fi Gamer, Genius 5.1, Logitech G5, Logitech G15, Samsung 226BW [...]
on June 29th, 2009 at 1:33 am
Rohn,
Simply put, you don’t. You don’t have a copy of the o/s, you don’t have a copy of the recovery media, you don’t even have a drive to open a disc burned with nlite and no software or o/s to mount an image of nlite.
on June 29th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Hi,
This tutorial is very useful in creating custom made windows xp cd. If you can tell how to add programs will be much easier for us.
on July 7th, 2009 at 8:52 am
I have successfully installed xp sp 2 on my computer previously embedded with vista. This tool is useful and the tutorial is super comprehensive…
Good Job
on July 13th, 2009 at 10:54 am
hi, there is some problem when we try to put softwares like yahoo,antivirus,firefox plz clear these steps
on July 20th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Incredibly thorough guide. Thanks Mike!!!
@Rohn, even though you posted several months ago, maybe you still check in from time to time. You may wanna look into a USB installation. Buy an Xp or 2000 cd. Use another computer to do your build. Write the iso to a stick. Tell your NB’s BIOS to boot first device USB. Could have to update for this functionality. May be worth a shot. If the stick fails, you could try an external DVD-ROM drive (PA3246) that’s available as an optional external drive. May do the trick.
Let me know if this helps!?
Greets, Joby
on September 3rd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
So how can we incorporate XP SP3 into nLite?
on September 5th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
You need to download the SP3 Download from Microsoft and when you get to the part to install service packs, just browse to the download and select it. nLite should do the rest for you.
on September 14th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I read somewehere that integrating softwares like firefox,etc is not recommended becoz when u try to uninstall them, they will get installed again when you re-boot coz they are integrated into the installation.
Is that so??
on September 23rd, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Hi, I’ve just followed the tutorial, so easy thanks, But I still get the god damn BSOD when trying to install XP x86 on my Vaio WGN-FW260J/H.
, but yet I get that same damn BSOD oO.
I’ve installed the latest f6floppy.zip driver from Intel. extracted and been chosen as integrated driver, Image burned as usual, success booting for XP setup. I can see the setup copying the integrated ICH9e/m driver
I’m totally confused, and don’t know what to do further.
appreciate helping
Byte
on September 23rd, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Solved. The Problem may occur when you read the tutorial and apply to newer version. As I can see it’s posted in early 2007, and now it’s late 2009.
I’m just trying to explain to those who may get confused like me. that’s all.
the tut says:
“you only need to select the first on. It will then pull the other one automatically”
Now, it’s an clear what “select the first one” refers to !!!!!
is it about the INFs or the driver within?
cuse in the new version 1.4.9.1 after pressing Insert, it gives you two choices. Single driver ( referring to single INF file not the drivers within it) or multiple driver (referring to all INFs contained in a folder). right after that you have to choose the drivers withing that INF ( in my case I have two INFs which contain “7″ drivers. But choosing only the first one is not enough you have to choose the needed one cuse it will NOT add the others automatically!!!
great tutorial!!!!!
BTW: if you have windows 7 installed, the setup of XP will make Win 7 partition unrecognized. It will be shown as RAW format. so be careful. I’ve lost mine :S, all files have gone, so I’m gonna see what can I do to get it back to work.
wish me luck
Byte
on October 9th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Just wondering if you made that tutorial on creating the installers to add programs to the installation using the hotfix section of nLite?
I could really use it… I think I saw a program on creating the hotfix files to slipstream programs such as Nero and Firefox into the ISO. Can someone direct me to that?
Thanks!
on October 20th, 2009 at 4:56 am
This is an AWESOME program and tutorial.
Seems to be a high interest and demand on how to integrate all your preinstalled programs.
Personally I would like to make a bootable ISO with all my favorite programs including Adobe CS4. Takes a long time to install!
How would that work if the image goes above the size of one DVD? The CS4 program alone is about 8GB.
We are all jumping up and down for the Part II of this tutoral – PLEASE SHOW US HOW TO INTEGRATE 3RD PARTY PROGRAMS ! : )
Thanks