XP Performance

[Planefreak]

I recently tried a disc my friend gave me. He said it is a copy of XP Performance. I installed it with no intention of really using it but it runs very fast. He also brought over his copy of GTA IV which ended up failing due to my older setup and huge monitor.

XP performance is basically a copy of XP pro that someone cut away all the bloat and excess fat that comes with windows to make it runs very fast. It looks like windows 98 but with the compatibility of XP. Its very odd.

Has anyone else used this before?

[glc]

If you installed it without using a legal product key, it's illegal, and we can't discuss it here. It's simply a copy of XP modified with NLite.

[Bambo]

If you do a regular, and legal, install you can obtain the same "speed" - which is more of a feeling of having tinkered successfully than actual speed

nlite is good for making a new XP for use on perhaps Virtualbox because you can limit disk usage, the bloat you speak of do not necessarily slow down XP but it will take up space on disk. And there can be some conveniences with nlite - you can make it install hd controller drivers so you dont have to use F6/floppy disk method. And many people have used it as an easy way to integrate Service Packs, with burn option even - vlite can do the same for Vista. Great program for that.

So it came from your friend. Well you can get "ultrafast" XPs elsewhere - but be careful since you dont know how it is put together. I believe nlite has same ability as BartPE so actual 3rd party programs, or worse like malware/virus, can be slipped in as well.

About the legal stuff - it is possible to also embed a legal license key so user dont have to punch it in. If XP is activated the correct way it could be legal. May be not so likely but still.

[Planefreak]

I'm aware that it could be illegal. I've heard of nlite and BartPE. I was looking into putting XP onto a flash until I heard that flashdrives eventually die after so many uses and the failure of my second drive. I know what you mean by slipping in viruses. No spyware or OS so it would be extremely easy to write one in. I've used XP before after a fresh install and as far as I can tell, it is a little slower. I can't run any games or system extensive programs because I can't install drivers so no real definitive answer.