[ottothecow]

Any one have any suggestions for a stripped down windows 7 for xbmc and light general use?

My win7 install left me with about 5-6GB free on my 32gb SSD (win7+chrome+spotify+xbmc is all I have). This works...but I'd like to open up some more space. This seems high to me...so maybe I have some other issue (install files that weren't cleaned up or something)

I've seen rt7lite configs that get the installed base down to 4GB or so...but I don't want to cut out too much stuff. I'd be happier leaving in components even if it got up to 8-10gb if that meant I could avoid reinstalling 6 months from now when I realize I am missing a piece needed for some new streaming service or something.

Anyone have a good saved settings file for rt7lite or a list of things to remove that works? I'd like to avoid making a bunch of test version that end up not working if someone already has a setup that is golden.

[bluray]

1. Turn off all updates. (hide all Windows related stuffs)
2. Un-install all Windows updates. (For me, just Silverlight and IE for Netflix and Surf the net.)
3. Un-install all security stuffs. (Don't need it for HTPC)
4. Install only FFDshow to support MPC-HC bitstreaming. (un-install all other codecs)
5. Un-install all Microsoft office. (All you need is notepad to generate external bat/xml files)
6. Un-install all un-necessary stuffs and keep only required stuffs to run XBMC and external players.
7. Remove all sample photos and videos from it.
8. Remove all items from Download folder.

You should have 10GB left out of 32GB. I use 32GB in my Windows 7 AsRock E350M1 HTPC, and I have 10GB of free space.

[toymachine2009]

Which SSD do you use bluray? I have been considering switching to SSD its just all have such poor ratings it seems as if the technology just isn't their yet.

[bluray]

Which SSD do you use bluray? I have been considering switching to SSD its just all have such poor ratings it seems as if the technology just isn't their yet.

This one- Patriot Torqx 2 PT232GS25SSDR 2.5" 32GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD). It's very fast, and very reliable so far!

[Balinus]

3. Un-install all security stuffs. (Don't need it for HTPC)

well, if you go on the Internet, my guess is that you need security stuff. Otherwise, your HTPC becomes your own trojan horse on your home network.

[bluray]

well, if you go on the Internet, my guess is that you need security stuff. Otherwise, your HTPC becomes your own trojan horse on your home network.

Never have any problem with my PC's so far, and I don't have any antivirus on it either. My Dell desktop is running without any antivirus for nearly 6 years now. It seems to run faster without antivirus and all the updates too.

I don't use my HTPC to surf the net anyway. I surf the net to Google for drivers and codecs at the begining- that about it. I don't have any reason to surf the net on the 56" HDTV screen anyway. All my W7 HTPC's are setup/configured strickly for HTPC purposes. It's no different than running Linux without antivirus.

[toymachine2009]

Yea as long as you dont go to super sketchy websites you should be fine. I have not run antivirus for years on my computers and never had any problems and I am always doing torrents and usenet.

to me it seems viruses are overrated.. I dont think I could ever get one unless I purposley went looking for one. I still go to sketchy websites and I am still fine

[soundbyte]

Head on over to http://www.rt7lite.com/ and give it a read. There are guides somewhere for maximizing (minimizing space requirements) Win7 for SSDs. If I find them I'll let you know

[Lidless Eye]

well, if you go on the Internet, my guess is that you need security stuff. Otherwise, your HTPC becomes your own trojan horse on your home network.

bigtime. i wouldn't be uninstalling windows updates either. bad idea jeans.

[Atomic Zombie]

bigtime. i wouldn't be uninstalling windows updates either. bad idea jeans.

Hardly, it's not like you're gonna go to like porn sites and such, chances are all you are gonna do is go on Youtube or other trusted websites.

[Jetster]

Leave updates on (Important one only) ....turn off the system Restore. Reduce the size of the virtual memory down to 1Gb

I think the rt7lite is a hack so no telling what youll get

[Lidless Eye]

It's hardly necessary to go to 'risky' sites to get a virus or worm.

[teaguecl]

All my W7 HTPC's are setup/configured strickly for HTPC purposes. It's no different than running Linux without antivirus.

No, it's not. I don't want to ignite a flamewar over win/linux security, but this statement is just plain ludicrous, even with a smiley on the end.
I'm no fan of antivirus software - I don't run it on my Windows machine. However, that's a virtual machine running on a Linux host, both of which are protected by a pretty hefty firewall.
The notion of "don't download updates, don't use antivirus" is not good advice. Download all security updates (non-critical updates can be skipped). Use a antivirus depending on the riskiness of your behavior, and get a good firewall. Most importantly, backup anything that's important to you!

[>>X<<]

Any one have any suggestions for a stripped down windows 7 for xbmc and light general use?

My win7 install left me with about 5-6GB free on my 32gb SSD (win7+chrome+spotify+xbmc is all I have). This works...but I'd like to open up some more space. This seems high to me...so maybe I have some other issue (install files that weren't cleaned up or something)

I've seen rt7lite configs that get the installed base down to 4GB or so...but I don't want to cut out too much stuff. I'd be happier leaving in components even if it got up to 8-10gb if that meant I could avoid reinstalling 6 months from now when I realize I am missing a piece needed for some new streaming service or something.

Anyone have a good saved settings file for rt7lite or a list of things to remove that works? I'd like to avoid making a bunch of test version that end up not working if someone already has a setup that is golden.

Your space problem cant be all be down to Win 7 I'm running Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit and I have 13GB left on a 30GB SSD 1 GB of space is taken up by my XBMC cache and Win 7 64 bit is much larger than 32 bit

Have you limited your cache space in spotify because it works in a similar way to P2P and will store files on your SSD for this purpose it uses 10% of your disc space by default so that will be over 3GB's right there you can limit this to 1GB or change the cache location to a different source so its not on the SSD

As for antivirus anyone would be nuts not to use one if their browsing the web I found "Microsoft Security Essentials" to be perfect for HTPC very small footprint and uses no resources and believe me I never thought I would ever run an MS product but have been very impressed so much so I switched to it on my other machines

[Jaken]

You could try vLite. I used nLite back in the days to optimize my windows xp installations

http://www.msfn.org/board/forum/153-vlite/