Thinkpads Forum

Hi Folks,

I'm trying to slim down my system as much as possible. I don't use rescue and recovery. What can I get rid of? What services can I disable?

Also, as I recall, CSS was a waste of time last time I looked - all it came out to be was a glorified password manager. Is this still the case? If so, I'd like to get rid of all that overhead too. So, same question - what can I get rid of? What services can I disable?

Thanks a ton!

Allie

T400, XP SP3

A few points:
1. Use nLite to create an installation of an apriori slimmed down XP (no need to tweak anything afterwards). It´s compatible with SP3, offers many options ranging from removing various XP components to presetting different "working modes".
2. Use bold_fortune´s Slimming Down Windows XP guide. It´s extremely informative, helpful, well thought and very extended (thanks to forum member TomKroscavage for providing the link)
3. Again on recommendation of TomKroscavage, you may want to try SpaceMonger
4. If you ask, what Lenovo programs you could get rid of, here is a short list of what I keep: Power Manager, Active Protection (I don´t use it anymore because of the built-in G-shock feature in 7200.3), Hotkey/onscreen display, and of course all Lenovo drivers except for the ATI one (I use either modded ATI drivers or the default from windows update (M$ WDDM, if I remember correctly).

Hope this helps

Marin

I got rid of everything (thinkvantage stuff) except PowerManager, Fingerprint stuff and Active protection...

I really don't need most TV apps since I found better alternative...

See what YOU really need, and decide for yourself...

Services will be removed as you uninstall the apps (talking about preloaded software, not the OS)...

If I am not mistaken there are various permutations of Rescue and Recovery and Client Security. If you have the combined package installed, then uninstall Rescue and Recovery and Client Security Solution package from Add or Remove Programs. If you have the individual packages installed, then just uninstall each one from Add or Remove Programs. I believe I would uninstall Client Security before Rescue and Recovery, but I am not sure it makes a difference. I have not read about this in awhile, but I believe I got it right.

thanks guys. i got rid of both CSS and rescue and recovery. the whole CSS thing is a joke. do we REALLY need a hardware chip to store passwords??? give me a break. it was cool when you could encrypt individual files. if there was a chip for fast on-the-fly decoding, then that would make sense. as it is now, total waste.

that link to the services page, while many things are listed, i didn't find too helpful. most of the information he gives about the services are simply copies of what pops up in the service window when you click on them.

@marin85 - what custom ATI drivers do you use? I wouldn't mind getting away from these annoying lenovo ones - they keep resetting the screen every time i open and close the lid.

albo wrote:that link to the services page, while many things are listed, i didn't find too helpful. most of the information he gives about the services are simply copies of what pops up in the service window when you click on them.

Check the following link (click on specific service for more details):

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

albo wrote:that link to the services page, while many things are listed, i didn't find too helpful. most of the information he gives about the services are simply copies of what pops up in the service window when you click on them.

If you mean bold_fortune´s guide, the services part is the smallest thing there Most of it are actually tips what files/folders you can remove from XP installation to free up space and how to do that without harming the functionality of XP OS. As I read that you are trying to slim down XP as much as possible, I thought you might be interested in how much "needless" stuff you can get rid of.

albo wrote:@marin85 - what custom ATI drivers do you use? I wouldn't mind getting away from these annoying lenovo ones - they keep resetting the screen every time i open and close the lid.

I just pick the latest desktop FireGL or Radeon driver from ATI and then use driverheaven´s Mobility Modder to make it installable on my ThinkPad (otherwise they won´t install because they are meant for desktops). In most cases I prefer the FireGL drivers because they seem to be more stable and surprisingly yield better gaming performance on my laptop than the corresponding Radeon driver.

Marin

Marin85 wrote:If you mean bold_fortune´s guide, the services part is the smallest thing there Most of it are actually tips what files/folders you can remove from XP installation to free up space and how to do that without harming the functionality of XP OS. As I read that you are trying to slim down XP as much as possible, I thought you might be interested in how much "needless" stuff you can get rid of.

gotcha - thanks a bunch.

Marin85 wrote:I just pick the latest desktop FireGL or Radeon driver from ATI and then use driverheaven´s Mobility Modder to make it installable on my ThinkPad (otherwise they won´t install because they are meant for desktops). In most cases I prefer the FireGL drivers because they seem to be more stable and surprisingly yield better gaming performance on my laptop than the corresponding Radeon driver.

Interesting - I have no idea about all these firegl vs. radeon vs. lenovo things. But I'll look into it. I assume the basic advantage is that you don't have to wait for lenovo to patch the drivers for use on thinkpads. Are there any disadvantages to using the modded drivers?

albo wrote:Interesting - I have no idea about all these firegl vs. radeon vs. lenovo things. But I'll look into it. I assume the basic advantage is that you don't have to wait for lenovo to patch the drivers for use on thinkpads. Are there any disadvantages to using the modded drivers?

In most cases Lenovo (as well as M$) uses very outdated driver versions. AFAIK there aren´t any disadvantages of using modded ATI drivers. The driver packages actually apply to a wide range of ATI cards. Although ATI doesn´t officially support mobility Radeon/FireGL drivers for Vista, the modded driver (well, "modded" is not really a good word here, as the driver itself only gets adjusted to be able to install on mobile platforms) successfully recognizes my ATI Mobility FireGL card. Also, the CCC that comes with the latest ATI drivers offer more features than the one from Lenovo (clear as the versions are very different).

Marin