[winxp] GUIDE: Making your windows folder smaller!

December 9, 2003

OK.

Fixed CDAudio support, didn't noticed that before as I'm mailnly listen my MP3 collection :)

Deleted some minor files, empty directories and some referencies to them in registry.

It looks so lame :))

Working like charm. I will not experimement much because I have to capture and encode some TV show.

Have fun... and yes... here is a new list - 123 MB weight windows DIR.

No comments? I will be happy to hear some of your ideas.

Cheers!

WINDOWS.LST

1,084 · December 10, 2003

precjednik, it would be difficult to use your list as a universal. I'm sure it works great for you, and I now how hard these efforts can be slimming down one's XP installation, and you shoould be applauded for your efforts.

If I may interject something here just as a word of caution to others, and without hurting your feelings.

The drivers you have listed in C:\WINDOWS\inf are not the same for everyone. True, the majority of drivers on your list are univerisal for everyone's system; however, each system is differently configured, with different things.

Here's an example...

Here is a list that my system needs that you don't have on your list:

agp440.sys

ASPI32.SYS

CTAC32K.SYS

CTAUD2K.SYS

CTPRXY2K.SYS

CTOSS2K.SYS

CTSFM2K.SYS

Defrag32.sys

Defrag32b.sys

ELBYCDFL.SYS

ELBYCDIO.SYS

ELBYDELAY.SYS

ElbyVCD.sys

EMUPIA2K.SYS

Fastfat.sys

ftdisk.sys

HA10KX2K.SYS

I8042PRT.SYS

intelide.sys

KSecDD.sys

NV4_MINI.SYS

P3.SYS

PORTCLS.SYS

RAMDISK.SYS

SAVRT.SYS

SAVRTPEL.SYS

SYMREDRV.SYS

SYMTDI.SYS

Teefer.sys

ultra.sys

USR1806V.SYS

WG3N.SYS

WPSDRVNT.SYS

These drivers we both have...and I'm fairly certain that these ARE universal:

ACPI.sys

AEC.SYS

AFD.SYS

atapi.sys

AUDSTUB.SYS

BEEP.SYS

CDAUDIO.SYS

Cdfs.sys

CDROM.SYS

CLASSPNP.SYS

disk.sys

DMUSIC.SYS

DRMK.SYS

DRMKAUD.SYS

DXAPI.SYS

DXG.SYS

DXGTHK.SYS

FDC.SYS

FIPS.SYS

FLPYDISK.SYS

FS_REC.SYS

GAMEENUM.SYS

IMAPI.SYS

IPSEC.SYS

isapnp.sys

KBDCLASS.SYS

KMIXER.SYS

KS.SYS

MNMDD.SYS

MODEM.SYS

MODEMCSA.SYS

MOUCLASS.SYS

MountMgr.sys

Msfs.sys

MSGPC.SYS

Mup.sys

NDIS.sys

NDISTAPI.SYS

NDISWAN.SYS

NDPROXY.SYS

NETBT.SYS

Npfs.sys

Ntfs.sys

NULL.SYS

PARPORT.SYS

PartMgr.sys

PARVDM.SYS

pci.sys

PCIIDEX.SYS

PTILINK.SYS

RASACD.SYS

RASL2TP.SYS

RASPPPOE.SYS

RASPPTP.SYS

RASPTI.SYS

RDPCDD.SYS

REDBOOK.SYS

SCSIPORT.SYS

SERENUM.SYS

SERIAL.SYS

SFLOPPY.SYS

SPLITTER.SYS

SWENUM.SYS

SWMIDI.SYS

SYSAUDIO.SYS

TCPIP.SYS

TDI.SYS

TERMDD.SYS

UPDATE.SYS

USBD.SYS

USBHUB.SYS

USBPORT.SYS

USBUHCI.SYS

VGA.SYS

VIDEOPRT.SYS

VolSnap.sys

WANARP.SYS

WDMAUD.SYS

WMILIB.SYS

Again, good job, precjednik, and please don't take this as an insult to the hard effort you have put into this. I just think people should proceed with a little caution in this area.

However, I do want to thank you for pointing out to me these drivers, that I believe are also universal for systems, but are not listed in the Layout.ini file...which is generally a good place for people to start when seeking out which drivers they do need.

asyncmac.sys

ctlfacem.sys

ctljystk.sys

dmio.sys

dmload.sys

emu10k1m.sys

mrxsmb.sys

MSPCLOCK.sys

MSPQM.sys

netbios.sys

processr.sys

psched.sys

rdbss.sys

rdpdr.sys

sfmanm.sys

stream.sys

Edited December 10, 2003 by Bold_Fortune

December 10, 2003

Hey Bold THX for your reply.

Yes, this has to be point out. The following list is only for one PC.

It happens to work without problems on my PC (but ofcours it would'n work on any other).

And yes, there should be some standard dislaimer, I'm sorry for that.

Really, I don't see any purposes of my file list to anyone... yes it's true.

I will be more careful as you never know if someone would ruin his Windows installation because of wrong assume.

But I'll post later how I done this.

Cheers! Happy tweaking ;)

EDIT:

Here is a little explanatin:

First of all, sorry for crappy English and any mistake I wrote. Feel free to correct me, but I hope everybody will understand me :)

The main idea is to have clean install of Windows Pro, with all drivers, programs, tweaks and settings done.

Then we remove ALL of the components we don't need. I mean ALL of them.

And those embeded applications in Windows (like Windows Media Player, IE, Outlook ... etc) replace with free alternative. This is the fun part.

Here are some of them with their alternatives:

IE - Opera, Netscape...

Outlook Express - Gravity, 40tude dialog, Xnews, Agent...

Windows Media Play - WMClassic, BSPlayer...

Outlook - The Bat!, Poco...

Word - AbiWord...

Excell - Spread32, SpreadCalc...

...

Not only mostly freeware and much smaller, but some of them even better than their Microsoft's pandans (personal opinion).

Every installation monitored by some utility for watching all changes (InstallWatch...), some tweaking, cleaning unused files...

Step by step...

And finaly, EVERYTHING will work, no errors no BSOD...

Edited December 10, 2003 by precjednik

1,084 · December 11, 2003

I have completely updated my master file list for files which can be deleted to slim down XP, and it's sooooo long now, that it is too big to post on any forum. So I Zipped it up and am attaching it for all of you.

I sincerely hope some of you get something from this. It took me two years to compile. This was really a special project for me. I really and truly wanted to put together the list for people like myself who always wanted to know what could be deleted from a Windows OS...in this case, XP.

Enjoy.

Bold_Fortune

Oh, and keep checking in here because a fellow named kryzone is actually putting together modular bat files that actually will first backup the files, and then delete them for you...all in about two seconds.

http://www.bit-quest.com/forums/index.php?...opic=1697&st=60

1,084 · December 13, 2003

This is the way XPLite should have been written...where it actually backups the folders and files for you before it deletes them. So many people have asked for something like this for so long, but I couldn't help them.

So much thanks to devil270975, IcemanND, un4given1, and XtremeMaC, for giving me all their time and effort all day yesterday (and I do mean alllllll day yesterday). What a chore it was for them getting this over to me. Sorry for my being such a dummy, guys. You were great.

Copy this to Notepad and save it to your Desktop as "C Program Files Common Files.bat" When you doubleclick on it, up will pop the command prompt asking if this is a F = file, or D = directory. Type in D and then Enter for each entry, as it appears on the screen.

A folder named "backup" will be created on C:\ and in that folder you will see each of these three folders backed-up in their entirety, files and subfolder and their files and subfolders.

@echo off

echo Backing up folder and files...

cd\

md backup

xcopy "C:\Program Files\Common Files\MSSoap\"*.* c:\backup\MSSoap /s /e /c /q /h

echo finished backup.

echo beginning removal of original...

rd "C:\Program Files\Common Files\MSSoap" /s /q

echo Backing up folder and files...

cd\

md backup

xcopy "C:\Program Files\Common Files\ODBC\"*.* c:\backup\ODBC /s /e /c /q /h

echo finished backup.

echo beginning removal of original...

rd "C:\Program Files\Common Files\ODBC" /s /q

echo Backing up folder and files...

cd\

md backup

xcopy "C:\Program Files\Common Files\SpeechEngines\"*.* c:\backup\SpeechEngines /s /e /c /q /h

echo finished backup.

echo beginning removal of original...

rd "C:\Program Files\Common Files\SpeechEngines" /s /q

echo removal complete

2,063 · December 17, 2003

Bold, what will the bat file do if the file is not there?

I've been doing the deleting manually will that affect the batch file operation?

Really appreciate(sp?) the list you've made. (Y)

1,084 · December 18, 2003

iron2000, nothing. It won't hurt anything. I don't have many files, either. If certain files aren't there, it just moves on.

1,084 · December 18, 2003

My lists have finally come to completion. These lists took me over two years to compile. Many, many re-installs. So much frustration along the way. But I was sincere in my effort. I wanted very much to compile a list of files that would be okay to delete for people like myself who have always wanted to know.

Too many times I have seen this question asked on forums, and too many times the answer from "conservative" moderators and experts was, "Why delete anything? With the low cost of hardrives these days, just buy a bigger one." or, "You can safely delete the Help files and the tour folder files."

It's a very controversial subject, deleting files. You'll probably see many posts further down on this thread by people faulting it, saying how useless a thing this is to do. However, it is something that many people are interested in doing. And I think we that do, should be left to do it.

BTW, My current Windows folder size is below. Keep in mind, I do not use File Compression, and all my programs are installed on my C Drive along with my XP installation...and, I have not had to re-install or format XP for over a year and a half...honestly.

Windows Directory (includes all files and sub-folders and their files):

1851 Files.

94 Folders.

383 MB ...Size on Disk.

System32 Folder (includes all files and sub-folders and their files):

1551 Files.

32 Folders.

288 MB ...Size on Disk.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, my Christmas present to you. A Batch File for the Individual system32 files I remove from my system.

Keep in mind, everybody's particular needs for XP's applications are different. You may use Remote File Sharing. I don't. So obviously you wouldn't want to delete the System32 files related to Remote File Sharing.

Before I begin deleting Individual System32 Files, I make sure that everything is up and running on my system, and that I have my system setup the way I like it. They are the last files I remove. I also make a backup image of my system the way it is beforehand.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This batch file will backup and remove many files from C:\WINDOWS\system32 to a folder on C:\ ...named simply, "backup".

Within the backup folder will be a subfolder named "WINDOWS". Within that folder will be another subfolder named "system32"...where you will see the files that have been moved....many files.

I did it this way so you would always know the exact path where they come from should you decide to return any of the files to their original location.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A WORD OF CAUTION about kbd*.dlls. kbd*.dlls are Keyboard Layout files. My settings are for U.S. English, so I only need and keep the "kdbdus.dll". All others I remove from system32.

I've heard about another way to go about deleting the kdb*.dlls your system doesn't need...However, this will completely remove all unnecessary kdb*.dlls, not back them up like the Batch File will.

I've never tried this command, but if you would like to try it, here it is: Go to Start > Run. Copy and paste this in and click OK: del c:\windows.alt\system32\kbd*.dll

Supposedly, this will remove all the kdb*.dlls your system doesn't need.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A WORD OF CAUTION about NLS files. Delete any one of these you're not supposed to and your system may not restart.

NLS Files = Multiple Language Resource Files. Character Translation; National Language Services driver (font or font map).

My system settings are for U.S.English. If you live outside of the U.S. using a foreign from made for the U.S. computer you will need to check within your Layout.ini file within your Prefetch folder to see exactly which NLS files your system uses.

If you find you need one or two that I remove, simple look in the backup folder the Batch File Made on C:\ and replace those to your system32 folder.

For my U.S.English settings, I remove all NLS files, except for these:

c_437.nls

c_1250.nls

c_1251.nls

c_1252.nls

c_1253.nls

c_1254.nls

c_1255.nls

c_1256.nls

c_1257.nls

c_28591.nls

c_ctype.nls

l_except.nls

locale.nls

sortkey.nls

unicode.nls

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2,063 · December 18, 2003

Tried the batch file but without all the nls and kdb stuff.

Working fine for now.

1,084 · December 18, 2003

iron2000, will you do me favor? Look in the backup folder on C:\ where the system32 files were moved to with the Batch File, and tell me exactly how many files and MBs it moved. Thanks, I don't have many of the files on my system, and I would like to know.

Oh, did you not remove the kbs and nls? Or did you move them with the Batch File? Thanks, again.

2,063 · December 18, 2003

Currently I have 206 objects there, 15.5MB.

I moved a few files back like the System Restore files and Language bar.

I deleted all lines in the batch file with nls and kdb to exclude them from the move.

But now I've met up with a problem.

On japanese sites with drop-down menus all the jap characters dissappeared.

Other than that the rest of the site came out well, doesn't affect textareas though.

[EDIT] Fixed by putting lpx.dll and winnls.dll back.

Edited December 18, 2003 by iron2000

1,084 · December 21, 2003

Well, I finally did it. I actually weeded out all the DLLS in my system32 folder that my system doesn't use. I removed another 354 DLLS from system32.

I had a couple of bugs at first. Like I couldn't open Outlook Express, and Yahoo Chat had no sound at first, and I couldn't play a music cd I had inserted into my cd-rom drive. I worked it all out, though. Oh, and I couldn't run chkdsk...but I found that DLL, too.

Learning how to make a batch file for backing up and removing files really helped me out, because then it was just a matter of process of elimination which files I needed to have everything work right.

I now have only 990 Individual Files left in the system32 folder. That 990 files include 528 DLLS. Imagine, only 528 DLLS remaining. That's not too bad, I think. And system32 on my system now only makes up 202MB. ...and I don't use File Compression, and all my programs I install on C Drive along with XP.

This one is definitely NOT for everyone. You have to be willing to iron out any bugs that your system may have after you BACKUP...not remove these dlls. I can't tell you how it would work for you. I don't know what your system uses or doesn't use. I only know what my system uses.

I haven't had time to catalog all 354 additional DLLS with their definitions. So if you want to try this...you're on your own for now. Remember, I warned you.

I'm not here writing down "The Universal Files for Deletion", those which anyone can delete. I am cataloging the files MY system doesn't need, or use.

That's important to keep in mind. You can only use this list as a guideline, at best, to help you figure out which files your system uses, or doesn't use, depending upon the way you use it, and what you use it for.

If you would like to try this, here's the list of 354 additional Dlls, and and a batch file which follows. The batch file will back these DLLS up on C:\ for you in a backup folder...so you really can't get into too much trouble. You can always put the DLLS back into the system32 folder.

a3d.dll

aaaamon.dll

AC3API.DLL

acledit.dll

admparse.dll

adptif.dll

adsmsext.dll

adsnt.dll

alrsvc.dll

asferror.dll

ati2dvaa.dll

ati2dvag.dll

ati3d1ag.dll

ati3d2ag.dll

atkctrs.dll

atmpvcno.dll

atrace.dll

avicap.dll

avicap32.dll

avifile.dll

bidispl.dll

browser.dll

capesnpn.dll

cards.dll

catsrvps.dll

ccfgnt.dll

cfgbkend.dll

cnvfat.dll

comcat.dll

commdlg.dll

compobj.dll

compstui.dll

console.dll

corpol.dll

crtdll.dll

cryptdlg.dll

csseqchk.dll

CTAGENT.DLL

CTASIO.DLL

CTEMUPIA.DLL

CTL3D.DLL

ctl3d32.dll

ctl3dv2.dll

ctwdm32.dll

CTWFLT32.DLL

dbghelp.dll

dbmsrpcn.dll

dbmsvinn.dll

ddeml.dll

deskadp.dll

deskmon.dll

deskperf.dll

devcon32.dll

dgrpsetu.dll

dgsetup.dll

dhcpmon.dll

dhcpsapi.dll

dinput8.dll

diskcopy.dll

dispex.dll

divx.dll

DivXc32.dll

DivXc32f.dll

dmconfig.dll

drmv2clt.dll

dsauth.dll

dsprop.dll

dsprpres.dll

dsquery.dll

dsuiext.dll

ElbyVCD.dll

encapi.dll

encdec.dll

EqnClass.Dll

ersvc.dll

esent97.dll

esentprf.dll

eventcls.dll

expsrv.dll

feclient.dll

fldrclnr.dll

fontsub.dll

framebuf.dll

ftsrch.dll

glmf32.dll

glu32.dll

gpkcsp.dll

gpkrsrc.dll

hccoin.dll

hnetwiz.dll

hpzcoi06.dll

hpzlnt06.dll

htui.dll

iasacct.dll

iaspolcy.dll

iasrecst.dll

iassam.dll

idq.dll

ieakeng.dll

ieaksie.dll

ieakui.dll

iedkcs32.dll

iesetup.dll

ifmon.dll

igmpagnt.dll

ils.dll

inetmib1.dll

inetpp.dll

inetppui.dll

INETWH32.DLL

initpki.dll

input.dll

inseng.dll

iologmsg.dll

ipmontr.dll

ipnathlp.dll

ippromon.dll

iprop.dll

iprtprio.dll

iprtrmgr.dll

ipsecsnp.dll

ipsmsnap.dll

ipv6mon.dll

ipxmontr.dll

ipxpromn.dll

ipxrip.dll

ipxrtmgr.dll

ipxsap.dll

ipxwan.dll

irclass.dll

isrdbg32.dll

javaee.dll

javaprxy.dll

jet500.dll

jobexec.dll

jsproxy.dll

keymgr.dll

licmgr10.dll

licwmi.dll

lmhsvc.dll

localspl.dll

localui.dll

loghours.dll

lprhelp.dll

lprmonui.dll

lzexpand.dll

MAPI.DLL

mapistub.dll

mcastmib.dll

mcd32.dll

mcdsrv32.dll

mchgrcoi.dll

mciavi32.dll

mciole16.dll

mciole32.dll

mciqtz32.dll

mciseq.dll

mciwave.dll

mdwmdmsp.dll

mf3216.dll

mfc40.dll

mfc40u.dll

MFC42ENU.DLL

MFCANS32.DLL

mfcsubs.dll

MFCUIA32.DLL

mgmtapi.dll

mll_hp.dll

mll_mtf.dll

mll_qic.dll

mmdrv.dll

mmsystem.dll

mmutilse.dll

modex.dll

mp43dmod.dll

mprddm.dll

mprdim.dll

msacm.dll

msafd.dll

mscat32.dll

msctfp.dll

msencode.dll

msexch40.dll

msexcl40.dll

msimsg.dll

msjet40.dll

msjetoledb40.dll

msjint40.dll

msjter40.dll

msltus40.dll

msobjs.dll

mspatcha.dll

mspbde40.dll

mspmspsv.dll

msports.dll

msrd2x40.dll

msrd3x40.dll

msrepl40.dll

mssap.dll

mssign32.dll

mssip32.dll

MSSTKPRP.DLL

msswch.dll

mstext40.dll

msutb.dll

msvcrt20.dll

msvideo.dll

msw3prt.dll

mswdat10.dll

mswstr10.dll

msxbde40.dll

msxml2r.dll

mtxdm.dll

mtxex.dll

mtxlegih.dll

nddenb32.dll

netplwiz.dll

npptools.dll

npwmsdrm.dll

ntlanman.dll

ntlanui.dll

ntmsdba.dll

ntmsevt.dll

ntmssvc.dll

ntprint.dll

nv4.dll

nviewimg.dll

nvinstnt.dll

nvmctray.dll

nvoglnt.dll

nvshell.dll

nvwddi.dll

nwprovau.dll

objsel.dll

ole2.dll

ole2disp.dll

ole2nls.dll

olecli.dll

olesvr.dll

oline.dll

OPENAL32.DLL

opengl32.dll

panmap.dll

paqsp.dll

pid.dll

pidgen.dll

pifmgr.dll

pjlmon.dll

plustab.dll

pmspl.dll

polstore.dll

prflbmsg.dll

pschdprf.dll

psnppagn.dll

qedwipes.dll

qmgr.dll

qmgrprxy.dll

qosname.dll

RDOCURS.DLL

rdpdd.dll

rdpwsx.dll

routetab.dll

rpcns4.dll

rsmps.dll

rtipxmib.dll

rtm.dll

S32EVNT1.DLL

sbe.dll

sbeio.dll

sblfx.dll

SCP32.DLL

security.dll

senscfg.dll

serialui.dll

setupdll.dll

SFCVRT32.DLL

sfman32.dll

SFMS32.DLL

shell.dll

shellstyle.dll

SIMONW32.dll

sisbkup.dll

snmpapi.dll

softpub.dll

spmsg.dll

spnike.dll

spoolss.dll

sprio600.dll

sprio800.dll

spxcoins.dll

srvsvc.dll

sti_ci.dll

storage.dll

streamci.dll

svcpack.dll

sysinv.dll

sysres.dll

syssetup.dll

tcpmib.dll

tcpmon.dll

tcpmonui.dll

traffic.dll

trkwks.dll

tsbyuv.dll

tsddd.dll

txflog.dll

ufat.dll

umandlg.dll

upnphost.dll

ureg.dll

usbmon.dll

usbui.dll

usrcntra.dll

usrcoina.dll

usrdpa.dll

usrdtea.dll

usrfaxa.dll

usrlbva.dll

usrrtosa.dll

usrsdpia.dll

usrsvpia.dll

usrv42a.dll

usrv80a.dll

usrvoica.dll

usrvpa.dll

vbajet32.dll

VBAME.DLL

vcdex.dll

vdmredir.dll

ver.dll

verifier.dll

vga256.dll

vga64k.dll

vss_ps.dll

w32topl.dll

webclnt.dll

webzone.dll

wiavusd.dll

wifeman.dll

win32spl.dll

win87em.dll

winsock.dll

winstrm.dll

wmiprop.dll

wowfax.dll

wowfaxui.dll

wshatm.dll

wship6.dll

wshisn.dll

wshnetbs.dll

WshRm.dll

wsnmp32.dll

xactsrv.dll

xolehlp.dll

2,063 · December 21, 2003

Anyone know how to work the cmd files found here?

http://jdeboeck.msfnhosting.com/

Found the link on Bold's forum, just want to play safe before trying to double-click on those.

2,063 · December 24, 2003

NLS are sure risky.

I tried deleting those numbered ones in the bat and got locked out because of a missing nls.

Better not mess with them.

1,084 · December 24, 2003

My system settings are for U.S.English. If you live outside of the U.S. using a foreign from U.S. computer you will need to check within your Layout.ini file within your Prefetch folder to see exactly which NLS files your system uses.

For my U.S.English settings, I remove all NLS except for these:

c_437.nls

c_932.nls

c_936.nls

c_949.nls

c_950.nls

c_1250.nls

c_1251.nls

c_1252.nls

c_1253.nls

c_1254.nls

c_1255.nls

c_1256.nls

c_1257.nls

c_28591.nls

c_ctype.nls

geo.nls

l_except.nls

l_intl.nls

locale.nls

sortkey.nls

sorttbls.nls

unicode.nls

iron2000, this is how I always had it. Then for some reason I switched to deleting a few others; however, I discovered I needed these others to access Regional and Language Options in the Control Panel...even though I never change anything the there. The list above is a much safer bet for U.S.English settings.

1,084 · December 24, 2003

Here, I made a few adjustments on this last batch file. This will also reflect the change in the NLS files.

1,084 · December 24, 2003

Oh, sorry. The batch file above is for "Other system32 DLLS" I remove besides what's listed in this batch file below. The batch file below reflects the NLS changes.

December 24, 2003

I'll try this but the last time I buggered around in the windows folder my dad got the idea and deleted evrithing!!!!!! :pinch:

:angry: :angry: :angry:

2,063 · December 25, 2003

Bold, do you know what files are needed for System Restore to work?

1,084 · December 25, 2003

Here you go:

srrstr.dll ....System Restore Restore Operation Library (Deleting this will also remove the System Restore applet from Systems Properties.)

srsvc.dll ....System Restore Service (I don't use System Restore.)

2,063 · December 26, 2003

Seems like there is more.

After playing around I found out that some other file in System32(too many to test one by one) and pchshell.dll in PCHEALTH/Binaries must not be deleted for System Restore to work.

December 26, 2003

There used to be a program called Cleansweep. This program would scan your system for unneeded files and delete them. I hated this program because it always deleted needed files, and would cause headache. I don't see why people are risking breaking there computer to save a couple megs, when hard drives are in the gigs. Even if a file isn't in use, deleting it could break other things.

-gosh

8,596 · December 26, 2003

@gosh

just for the heck of it i presume :laugh:

1,084 · December 27, 2003

Not sure if saving space has anything to do with it, gosh. I'm sure it's not about improving performance. It's more like guru said, for the heck of it. For the most part, it's just something to do.

1,084 · December 28, 2003

I've updated my system32 batch file (below).

I wanted to be certain about exactly which individual system32 files I was deleting with my batch file...I didn't want to remove any files put into system32 by any programs or driver updates I installed after the installation.

I did a fresh format and install of XP with my slipstreamed XP/SP1 installation CD. I only installed two programs: Drive Image 2002 and WinDriversBackup Personal Edition 1.06.

I also had to install this patch: WindowsXP_KB823980_x86_ENU.exe, which prevents RPC from being disabled, as I am on a dial-up connection.

I did not install any other programs, or update any drivers.

I disabled Hybernation, System Restore, Automatic Updates, Remote Assistance and Error Reporting. Not in Services, but in System Properties and Display Properties. I left all my Services at their default settings (which I will get back to below).

And I set the visual effects to my liking.

Then I downloaded 20MB of 15 Windows Critical Updates and Service Packs from the Windows Update Site, which have been offered by Microsoft since making my slipstreamed XP/SP1 installation CD.

Then I disable Windows File Protection and purged my dllcache folder of its contents.

I kept Services set to their defaults. Windows didn't seem very willing to let me easily delete these twenty system32 files unless I disabled their corresponding Services. I usually delete these only after setting up Services the way I like them, but I decided to take them out of the batch file for now.

devcon32.dll

ersvc.dll

inetpp.dll

lmhsvc.dll

localspl.dll

msnsspc.dll

mspmspsv.dll

mstlsapi.dll

pjlmon.dll

seclogon.dll

sfman32.dll

spoolss.dll

srsvc.dll

tcpmon.dll

trkwks.dll

upnp.dll

usbmon.dll

webclnt.dll

wuaueng.dll

wuauserv.dll

I removed some other files, too. Mostly these were related to programs and driver updates I installed after installing XP.

It's been over a year since I installed XP, and so it was inevitable I'd find a few other files in system32 not included in the old batch file, and I included these in the updated batch file.

By my count, this batch file will remove from the system32 folder and backup 690 individual files (just over 40% of the system32 files Microsoft said we can't live without)....leaving in the system32 folder 968 individual files from a clean installation.

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This batch file will backup and remove many files from C:\WINDOWS\system32 to a folder on C:\ ...named simply, "backup".

Within the backup folder will be a subfolder named "WINDOWS". Within that folder will be another subfolder named "system32"...where you will see the files that have been moved.