Posted by member 376487 on 2007-11-10 20:37:27 link
Yeah, DeViLbOi, it could be a big DVD, if I pack it full of stuff. But right now, with all the apps, the drivers, my themes and cursors, the wallpapers, and the OS, it's sitting at about 695 mb. But of course, that is because my original windows XP pro w/service pack 2 is only 175 mb in size. It doesn't have anything extra in it, just the stripped down OS itself. It leaves lot's of room for packing stuff into the disc.
If I wanted to make a DVD, I could really add a lot of stuff to it, being that I would have like 4 gigs of space and all. But I just want to get something that would get me up and running after catastrophic system failure. I find that often it is easier for me to just reformat and re-install everything when my pc starts getting sluggish. I keep all my important files on a seperate drive so I don't risk losing anything. Sometimes I install stuff that clashes with other software, sometimes I get some mysterious malware that can't be found by scanners. What eveer the reason for the system slow downs, I just find it easier and less time consuming to start fresh.
But, the reason an unattended windows install appeals to me, is that you can put the disc in, choose the destination and initial settings, and go do something else. When you come back, it's all done and ready to be used. No answering all those questions about what name you want to give the pc, or please enter your serial number to activate windows. Everything is done for you. Of course you can even go so far as to make it completely unattended and remove the initial settings like which drive to install to, or would you like to format. But I really think it's best to maintain those user interfaces.
As to juggs comment about it being outdated, this is true, but all windows install discs are outdated from the moment they leave the shelf. That is why there are so many updates to download from microsoft. Software does get outdated fairly fast, but sometimes it is better to use older versions anyway. Some of them use up less memory, and some are more stable than newer versions. There are even some older versions of software that offer certain options that newer versions do not. WinAmp in particular is usually a better bit of software if you can find an older version, like 3.0 or older. The older versions don't have the irritating spyware stuff that they put in the newer software.
So there are many reasons why it would be bad to have the software all burned into the install disc, but there are also many reasons why it could be good. I think, if built right, you could have a very useful OS with minimal input in the install proccess, allowing for far greater ease in the install proccess.
If I wanted to make a DVD, I could really add a lot of stuff to it, being that I would have like 4 gigs of space and all. But I just want to get something that would get me up and running after catastrophic system failure. I find that often it is easier for me to just reformat and re-install everything when my pc starts getting sluggish. I keep all my important files on a seperate drive so I don't risk losing anything. Sometimes I install stuff that clashes with other software, sometimes I get some mysterious malware that can't be found by scanners. What eveer the reason for the system slow downs, I just find it easier and less time consuming to start fresh.
But, the reason an unattended windows install appeals to me, is that you can put the disc in, choose the destination and initial settings, and go do something else. When you come back, it's all done and ready to be used. No answering all those questions about what name you want to give the pc, or please enter your serial number to activate windows. Everything is done for you. Of course you can even go so far as to make it completely unattended and remove the initial settings like which drive to install to, or would you like to format. But I really think it's best to maintain those user interfaces.
As to juggs comment about it being outdated, this is true, but all windows install discs are outdated from the moment they leave the shelf. That is why there are so many updates to download from microsoft. Software does get outdated fairly fast, but sometimes it is better to use older versions anyway. Some of them use up less memory, and some are more stable than newer versions. There are even some older versions of software that offer certain options that newer versions do not. WinAmp in particular is usually a better bit of software if you can find an older version, like 3.0 or older. The older versions don't have the irritating spyware stuff that they put in the newer software.
So there are many reasons why it would be bad to have the software all burned into the install disc, but there are also many reasons why it could be good. I think, if built right, you could have a very useful OS with minimal input in the install proccess, allowing for far greater ease in the install proccess.