Is there a way to install XP without NETWORK?

[Stuee]

Hi, any ideas on this would be appreciated...
In short, I use one of my PCs for pro music applications in my studio.
I would like to be able to install XP without any of the stuff I won't ever use, such as Networking.
I have tried Nlite, which allows you to compile a custom XP install cd minus a range of components (very cool!) but there is still the question of Networking, which I really will never ever use.

Please someone tell me there is a switch I can use to stop Windows trying to install Networking. PLEASE???!

Thanks all.
Regards, Stuee

[david eaton]

Have a look at www.blackviper.com] here for details of how to trim down the default Windows services.

[Jiggy]

Try here www.blackviper.com

Dave your [URL bits wrong lad.

[david eaton]

That's what comes of posting late at night!
thanks Jiggy

[Stuee]

Thanks guys, but that's not really what I'm after. I know about disabling services once XP is installed...
You know that bit during XP install, just after entering the product key, where it says "Installing Network"...?
Well I don't want that to happen. I want NO network! ;)

[malcore]

Do you want no internet also?

When you get to that screen during setup, do you have the option to "customize"? If so, select customize and remove all clients and protocols.

If you can't customize, once XP is installed, go to your network connections folders, and for each adapter (ie, Local Area Connection, 1394 connection, etc.) right click and choose "Properties". Highlight each entry under "This connection uses the following items" and click "uninstall". If you wish to keep internet capability, leave Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) alone.

If you keep the Internet Protocol, you can click on it, choose the Properties button, click "Advanced", go to the "WINS" tab and check "Disable NETBIOS over TCP/IP".

Also, you can disable the NETBT driver by going to regedit (Start > Run, type regedit, press enter) and got to : HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\
Services\NetBT\Parameters, in the right-hand side of the window find an option called TransportBindName, double click that value, and then delete the default value, thus giving it a blank value. Close and reboot.

You can then also disable any network adapters in Device manager.

[Paleo Pete]

Unfortunately XP does not offer the customization options win95/98/ME did. You get it exactly the way M$ wants it, that's that. You might be able to remove some of the components and protocols after installation, but my opinion is it would be best to simply disable services you don't need and won't use, basically the same as suggested above via the Black Viper site posted.

You're not talking about huge amounts of hard drive space, maybe 10-30MB at best, and if this machine is used for sound studio work, it probably...ok BETTER...have a huge hard drive to begin with. For a machine to record audio on I wouldn't go for less than a 120GB drive, preferably separate from the drive containing the OS. The small amount of space used for the networking components shouldn't be a major issue.

[ms-fixit]

I wonder what would happen if there were NO hardware components in the computer that related to networking, ie, no modem or NIC - would XP still install the networking?

Is the issue hard drive space? Is the issue preventing all copying of your own music works? Maybe we could suggest something else, if we knew WHY you wanted this setup?

[classicsoftware]

I hate to say this, but in this day and age it is simply foolish to have a computer and not have it hooked up to the internet. How do you upgrade? Install the latest drivers?, download AV updates?

It just makes no sense to me at all. You are going to install software and hardware that will allow you to create and distribute music and you will never need to update either the hardware or the software. Not in the real world.

Networking takes up very little space on the disk and really takes up very little in the way of system resources.

My question would be: What do you hope to gain by doing this? What is your goal? What benefits do you see in ditching the networking components?

[ziba-june]

Ms-Fixit brought up a very interesting question, In the old versions of windows if you didn't have a NIC in your computer, the windows would not install networking. Does anybody know if this is true in case of Win XP?

[classicsoftware]

It probably is true. When you run XP for the first time, it asks about network and gives the option of no network. But my question remains, why in the world would you want to.

[Paul Komski]

If you have a look at XPlite's page (http://www.litepc.com/xplite.html) you should get an idea from the directory tree on the right if you can "abolish" all the networking components that you don't want.

Not connecting or disabling networking hardware goes farther than NICs and an Internet Connection since networking is intrinsic to firewire (if you have it on your system) and is also easily enabled through USB.

I too wouldn't get too "hung up" about software networking components being installed since they use very little disk space and few system resources if you are not using any networks.

[Stuee]

Thanks for all your input guys. Let me explain what I'm doing here...

Firstly I'm not hung up about it, I was just thinking that if XP was completely customisable I would be able to install just the components I need for my specialist hardware and applications - after all, isn't that the whole point of the PC? If I can build my own computer, carefully tailoring the hardware to my needs, why shouldn't I be able to do the same with the operating system?
And I don't think I'm "stupid" for not wanting my DAW anywhere near the Internet. If I need an update (which is not often considering 99% of Microsofts updates and patches are network or security related... irrelevant if I never use the Internet), I can download it on my 'Internet PC', scan it for viruses and then bung it on a CDRW or data stick.

Anyway, if I'm recording a lead vocal, guitar part, or a drum track for that matter, I want my gear to be 100% reliable so I can capture the performance every time, glitch and crash free. For this I need the OS to be 100% stable, all of the time - so if I can strip away any part of Windows that doesn't need to be there for the job in hand, I'm gonna do it. And if I can stop these elements ever being installed it'll save me time on builds (& trouble shooting) and I can be sure I've got as lean & clean a system as possible.

I think it's a shame that Windows install options aren't the other way round: i.e. so you can opt IN to components, rather than have to root around in the registry for switches, and use third party utilities to disable things you don't need/want.

I must say I feel a little patronised by some people here who presume to criticise me without knowing me or what I do, and who seem more concerned with the 'WHY' than the 'HOW'. But thanks to all who try to help :-)

Keep 'em coming! Cheers, Stu

[Paul Komski]

why shouldn't I be able to do the same with the operating system?
You can if you use DOS, design your own OS, etc - but Bill Gates has always tended to want people to do things "just his way".

BTW - and thinking about it - I'm pretty sure that WindowsXP networking is not installed by default under Windows PE for example (as you would find on a Bart's CD). Using Safe Mode might be another "trick".