This post is no longer being used but should be kept for reference purposes only. If you need help or assistance with anything you should go here from here on thanks and enjoy!

COMPONENTS that CAN be removed

Notepad
Paint
Wordpad
Printer Drivers
Printer Support
Media Metadata Handler
Photo Metadata Handler
Windows Aero Theme
Windows Media Codecs
Windows Media Player
Desktop Window Manager
Windows Remote Management
DHCP
SuperFetch
Windows Color System
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
SQM (Software Quality Management)

COMPONENTS that CANNOT be removed

Game Explorer
Snipping Tool
Welcome Center
Windows Image Acquisition
WLAN Support
Internet Explorer
Network and Sharing Center
Windows Firewall
Application Experience
Internet Connection Sharing
Multimedia Class Scheduler
Background Intelligent Transfer
Windows Update
Component Cache (winsxs)
Manual Install (Setup.exe)
Microsoft HTML Engine
MDAC

SYSTEM files to PROTECT and REASONING

wer.dll (have to protect this file in order to remove the error reporting service)
msdrm.dll (have to protect this file in order to remove digital rights management)
browcli.dll (have to protect this file so net start/stop will work by command prompt)
msoert2.dll (protect this file only if you are going to use and install msn messenger)
winipsec.dll (have to protect this file in order to remove the ipsec policy agent service)
Magnification.dll (protect this file if you are not removing Snipping Tool or it won't work)

APPLICATION and COMPONENT Removal Issues

Removing Help component breaks Windows Features
Removing Fax Support component breaks Windows Features
Removing Windows Search service breaks Windows Features
Removing Task Scheduler service breaks Disk Defragmenter
Removing Windows Connect Now service breaks Devices and Printers
Removing Crash Dump Support breaks Hibernation and Hybrid Sleep
Removing Event Log service breaks Tweak 7 Final and O&O Defrag 11
Removing Distributed File System component breaks Group Policy Object Editor

Wow that sounds awesome mate. I am going to give it a shot and report back to you as soon as my home internet gets all sorted out. Cheers!

ive removed sqm in 32bit without any update problems; also office 2k7 installs & runs fine! if anyone wishes & the OP doesnt mind, i will post a guide here on how i removed stuff with dism (without installing waik for windows 7) & vlite?

ps the minor problem i had was some of the shortcuts were still left in the start menu & the windows features was broken (but it shouldn't matter too much as the needed components are installed)?

With all due respect: I think none of the above. My preset removes 170 out 202 components for build 7137 and I only have 1 issue with it (Safe removal USB). Will test again when I get my hands on build 7229 or 7230 or I can get the Dutch language pack for any of the other builds.

Its ok Jeronimo i respect your opinions but these presets and info was geared to the average user. Obviously you must of figured out something that i didn't if you don't mind pm ur preset or post if u want don't care. Id like to give a whirl and we figure out something different for the xtreme preset i can update the main post. The more removed the better that's why we are here in the first place. I think we are all anxiously awaiting 7230.

dead0 if you clear it with the ops i will edit the main post with guide have been very interested in doing it that way as well.

My preset can be found in the topic Windows 7 "Keep" List, here a direct link to my post with details on how which steps I followed to vLite my Windows 7.

btw whats your final install size? ive got mines down to just under 4gb! im sure i could shrink it further tho?

unfortunately, my version only works with x86 as i havent tested it with x64

I matched your Extreme preset against mine and you have these components extra:
At least I know Crash Dump Support will cause your pc not to go hibernation and isn't EAP used for WLAN?

Yes EAP and NAP are used for wireless but i have used wireless with them removed as long as the WLAN autoconfig service is set to automatic and running wireless should work.

dead0 with drive compression on and DVD maker, Microsoft games deleted, wallpapers and sounds.
paging file and hibernation disabled as well. Getting 7229 x64 as of now hehe

win7elite64 (4.05 gigs)
win7super64 (3.91 gigs)
win7xtreme64 (3.80 gigs)

here's a temporary guide:

tools required: WAIK 1.1, gimagex (optional), vlite 1.2
all must be installed!
nb. this method has been tested on windows 7 build 7201 x86

Stage 1:

1) create 2 folders such as c:\s1 & c:\s2
2) copy/extract the contents of iso/disc to s1
3) mount install.wim (image 5) to s2 folder using gimagex or imagex
4) from a cmd prompt, run install_wim_tweak.exe /m & then type c:\s2
Click to view attachment
to take ownership of reg hive, created by & credit to BM wnuku
5) commit changes & unmount


Stage 2:

1) first download this: Click to view attachment
2) extract the batch file to the sources directory ie. c:\s1\sources
3) mount install.wim (image 5) to s2 folder using gimagex or imagex
4) run rem7201.bat from the sources directory (which has s2 folder already selected)
optional: while the batch file is running, you could delete the Recovery folder from c:\s2\windows\system32 directory, delete the contents of c:\s2\windows\winsxs\backup (you may need unlocker as the files are locked; do not delete the backup folder itself), also delete the folders & its contents from c:\s2\windows\web\wallpaper except for the windows folder which contains the default wallpaper, again you will need the unlocker tool)
5) once done, commit changes & unmount

then use vlite with my last session: Click to view attachment
before you create the iso in vlite, make sure you delete every file in the sources folder except for boot.wim & install.wim. also, you will need to extract from the original iso, setup.exe from the sources folder to c:\s1\sources otherwise you will get a cd driver not found error when trying to install!!!

i've just installed this in vmware, set my paging file to 512mb, installed vmware tools, ran windows update to install the sound driver, restarted & my hd usage space is showing up as just under 2.5gb!

nb. as the sources folder already includes dism, you do not need to download & install waik for windows 7! the bat file uses dism from the sources folder to remove the packages from windows.

awesome dead either i would say make a new post or i can add it to the main one of mine its up to you but wow that looks great 2 mins left for 7229 can't wait to get started again hehe

i'll do a proper one once i get 7229! i'll even give x64 a try?

ps i would recommend keeping error reporting service just for compatibility reasons! also i would keep remote desktop & assistance, just so when i click on the remote setting link in system properties, no error pops up!

ya the x64 bit rocks working with 7229 now and i heard a rumor 7231 might surface soon as well

What kind of compatibility issues you having with removing Error Report service? Remote Desktop if you use it i would keep it but if not removing it in my eyes is better b/c i could be a way of gaining control of your system so i see it as a security threat.

just for future compatibility & the remote desktop & assistance is just for cosmetic reasons! you could remove the client tho

ps looks like b7229 has more packages than 7201?

I understand the cosmetic reasons because of the remote settings under system properties and the shortcuts on the start menu. Packages using the DISM tutorial u mean or under vlite im still getting 202 using vlite. Working on my first test now wish me good luck.

ps in regards to removing packages for b7229, rename 7201 with 7229 in the batch file

im testing 7229 now...will let you know how it goes in 30mins

when i ran the install wim tweak, it was showing 264 or so with 7201 & now, it shows 357? with 7229

My first install failed i am trying Jeronimo's preset i unchecked game explorer and network explorer i am trying again.

just did my first install, followed my method above, beside a few errors in event viewer, everything seems to be running fine in vmware! this is the new Click to view attachment but i will use my last session from my guide instead! this install size is about 3.4gb tho?

failed again i am gonna try again thanks for the preset and i will post back. Did you get the x64 build this time around? I am using the latest version of virtual box. Did you test the power options if u did the x64 build?

why are you protecting these 2 files? U use media center, and most of the networking ?

windows\system32\tbs.dll
windows\system32\msoert2.dll

This one is not really needed b/c activation doesn't require it ne more it did at one time.

windows\system32\SCardDlg.dll

The unattended options aren't really good to have there either

i keep tbs.dll coz i get an installation error regarding trusted platform. dont know why tho? msoert2.dll is kept for installing msn messenger 8.5. scard was kept for activation!

the unattended settings arent used at all in vlite but for some unknown reason it still shows up in the lastsession.ini

OK this time i am rechecking game explorer and network explorer and just unchecked windows firewall but not ics service and ignored the warning.

keep ics! anything relating to windows firewall, you should keep!!!

im off to bed, will try x64 2moro & post my results here

Added those two file protection entries to my preset and kept windows firewall and ics this time but removed game explorer and network explorer. Below are a list of the files that i have protected based on your input as well as Jeronimo.

windows\system32\tbs.dll
windows\system32\wer.dll
windows\system32\msdrm.dll
windows\system32\browcli.dll
windows\system32\msoert2.dll
windows\system32\winipsec.dll
windows\system32\werconcpl.dll
windows\system32\Magnification.dll

If there are any others please share will add them to main post then

For what it's worth, the power applet is working again in 7229 x64, after vlite.

Hey guys just my 2 cents. I used the super version as indicated in the parent post of this thread. I think I went a little conservative because there were some conflicts with services and some apps that were being removed so I allowed those to be added back in. My final install size on a vm is 5.4 gb and my image size is around 1.86 gb. I am using W7 x64 7229 right now.

So far the only thing I have noted and that is cosmetic is the Gadgets icon when you right click on the desktop.

Also I noticed that the resource monitor is gone as well...thats a bummer because I definitely would like to have that back. I am guessing for that to work I need to not remove the performance counters?

Also another thing I noticed in the event logs is that the Print Spooler had 2 errors upon initializing...it was looking for tcpmon.

Click to view attachment
you could try this batch file for x64 for my guide! seems to be working in removing the packages? the wim tweak also seems to work too? unfortunately, the testing in vmware takes too long as im using a 32bit OS as my main system!

ps this will be my only test with x64 as its too time consuming in vmware!

Thank you Bilar Crais and now i can confirm this as well

Yes the gadgets have been removed. So i knew about that one. The resource monitor you need to keep a few things

Services (Diagnostics)
System (Performance Counters)
System (Reliability and Performance Monitor)

Google tcpmon and you need to protect those files inside vlite.

actually looks like the batch file does not fully work so ignore it neither does the wim tweak? will stick with 32bit testing for now....

You cannot remove Game Explorer with this build

removed the TPM.dll from the protect list b/c it forces you to keep the TPM service.
shouldn't really need this file unless you are planning on utilizing bit locker encryption.

windows\system32\wer.dll
windows\system32\msdrm.dll
windows\system32\browcli.dll
windows\system32\msoert2.dll
windows\system32\winipsec.dll
windows\system32\werconcpl.dll
windows\system32\Magnification.dll

Currently experimenting with trying to remove windows firewall, internet connection sharing service, network list service as well as network location awareness service and then i should be able to update the presets in the first post.

Removing the stuff in the above statement didn't work now trying all of the 4 besides internet connection sharing will post back.

Hey guys I keep getting a Load Driver popup saying that ' a required dvd/cd drive device driver is missing...etc etc.' when I am trying to run the vlited dvd in my system. You have any idea how to circumvent that problem?

make sure you have setup.exe in the sources folder, otherwise copy the setup.exe from the sources folder in original iso to the sources folder of the vlited dvd

Did you remove Manual Install (Setup.exe)? Do you have a raid, if not what kind of hard drive controller you have? Maybe u removed the Driver under Storage that you need.

lol we answered that one at the same time

Hmm **** that sounds like quite an important step! Wonder how I missed that! I was wondering if I was doing something else wrong like installing vlite 1.1 and then slapping 1.2 on top of it to bypass the waik requirement...or removing the games or the windows beep. Looks like I am gonna try all over again. Thanks for the pointer!

If I have not mentioned this before let me do it right now but thanks for the super fast replies fellas! Cheers! I will try what you suggested and post back if it worked!

use the xtreme v2 preset and work your way down from there. You can remove the games just not the explorer and windows beep can be removed as well.

Thanks for that suggestion. I did remove all the drivers but then I did download the latest windows 7 x64 drivers from the nvidia website and am integrating into vlite so that should work if I recall.

You running a 780 sli board ? I am running a 790 sli board What i do is just copy the sataraid and sataide folders under the IDE directory after u extract the drivers to a new folder in the root of the install directory then load them using the browse feature during the install.

Good tip I will keep that in mind just in case this one does not work. I did notice that the setup.exe file was missing from the sources folder and so I dropped that in there from the original and now I am burning another dvd lol through vlite and keeping my fingers crossed

I really appreciate all the advice though.

Bugger still did not work even with copying the setup.exe file over!

Check your PM box before you burn, and also why don't u install from a flash drive ? Save those discs

Sent you a PM liquid thanks a bazillion