[aviv00]

[Guide] Windows 7 - Safe WinSxS Removal With Vlite and RT Lite
and Make OS still updatable



General Notices :

1.before u apply this enable or disable feathers cos after the vlite u wont able to do that not matter if u gonna use win7 or server
[no need to apply if u choose Method 5]
2.u also want to remove comps that vlite dont remove like printers drivers
[no need to apply if u choose Method 5]
3.this guide apply to all win6.1 32bit or 64bit

4.before u delete this file u need to know its like file with some process that need to be done after doing update or removing or adding packages mostly not effect the system

Intro:
Till now we get setup problem at the end of the setup on windows 7
"...windows could not configure one or more system components..."

Vlite with Component Cache (winsxs) remove all winsxs dirs and cause that


use kb947821 hotfix to fix the updatability [ credit goes to aelibey ]


Ver 2 Final 5 Methods:

Method #1 : after u removed the "winsxs cache" using vlite remove Pending.xml from winsxs dir using imagex.exe

or

if u don't ever used imagex or dont have waik install...
Method #2 : Forcely finishing setup by running cmds while the setup

0. use vlite and choose Component Cache (winsxs) too

1. install the os

2. wait the msg to come [ "...windows could not configure one or more system components..." ]

3. press and hold shift + f10 to open cmd console

4. go to oobe in system32 dir

5. run msoobe.exe and make ur user.....after finishing it then run Audit.exe
the system should reboot it self automatically if not msoobe.exe progress didnt finish

[ http://www.greatis.c...a/audit.exe.htm ]
[ notice the user creation appear only in windows 7 ]

that will end the setup and reboot the os

then update will appear and failed will reboot again and the os will start

6. dont forget to remove $windows.-bt and $windows.-ls from c:\


Method #3 : before u apply winsxs removal using vlite install the os on vmware
then sysperp /gen capture it to wim image and then use vlite to remove winsxs
[its best the way but its longest too no need to remove pending.xml if u use this method cos its already applied ]


method #4 For 32bit os only [64bit comin soon]

use whereisit application to open this clg file
http://www.2shared.c...32bitfinal.html
check my guide about winsxs removal for more info
u should compere the clg file to ur lited os and remove the files that not exist in the os
office 2007/10 pro plus should work vs2010 ultimate
[tested on WES7 32bit]

RC
http://www.2shared.c..._-_32bit_n.html


Method #5
u dont have to download waik to have vlite fully working u can download older vlite and then update or find it around

use RT lite first and then use VLite to remove winsxs [ NOTICE use rebulid all image with RTlite to save time 30mins and u NEED to recapture the image ! ! !]
here the config files thats works so far
http://www.2shared.c...IN_INSTALL.html
notice: after applying RT Lite and then Vlite u wont need to delete pending.xml or whatever



Config files for windows 7 SP1 RTM
http://www.2shared.c...yyo/sp1_v2.html
Or Guide by
http://www.msfn.org/...post__p__962916

Config files for Server 2008 R2 SP1 [NOTICE use Dism.exe to enable features RTlite Server is bit buggy]
Soon


Change log:
http://www.msfn.org/...post__p__894780


Pictures :
really easy, hope its will work for u guys i test it on server 2008 r2
and win7 32bit


Windows 7 32bit with dead0's bat applied and more dirs got deleted

Attached File(s)

•  Windows_Server_2008_R2_x64_2009_11_22_22_34_30.png (128.71K)
  Number of downloads: 672
•  Windows_Server_2008_R2_x64_2009_11_22_22_08_15.png (29.2K)
  Number of downloads: 398

This post has been edited by aviv00: 18 June 2011 - 02:39 PM

[dead0]

testing it now but i dont think there will be a much reduction in size? plus it may cause more problems than it solves by removing component cache in vlite?

[aviv00]

Change log:
v2.5
*server 2008 R2 SP1 config added
*reduce work time by 30-45min for method 5

v2.1
*windows 7 sp1 added

v2.0
rtlite and vlite [method 5] added

Quote

i did 2.4gb and 1.07gb iso

about the problems [windows update wont work ] yes its for Extremers only

maybe its could be list that vlite wont remove to make it less Extreme

like urs

This post has been edited by aviv00: 24 February 2011 - 01:01 PM

[Alex]

@aviv00

Thank You for your guide. For me everything works fine even without reboot.xml removal. My winsxs folder only 105 mb. And I even can install all updates from window updates. Did not tested language pack as I do not need it and anyway you can integrate it before install.
The only problem I have is one channel in event log does not work. See images below. Do you have this problem then cheking administrative events?
Any ideas how to fix that?

Thank you for your support!

Alex

Attached File(s)

•  Capture.PNG (19.81K)
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•  Capture1.PNG (33.06K)
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•  Capture2.PNG (27.08K)
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•  Capture3.PNG (2.58K)
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This post has been edited by Alex: 28 January 2010 - 11:11 PM

[aviv00]

did u remove event log too with vlite ?
try use dead0's ini
there protected files that not need to be delete i think

This post has been edited by aviv00: 29 January 2010 - 04:05 AM

[gendouhydeist]

w0w this is awesome! can't wait to try this one... now i have reason to reformat my computer

Edit:

Quote

2. wait the msg to come [ "...windows could not configure one or more system components..." ]

i didn't get any errors.. it installs normally

Ok ive tried it and it works perfectly also used my custom removals and ini.
588MB ISO winx86
I got 1.24GB used space HDD without pagefile and hibernation file
80MB winsxs with 5,300 files on it
we can still make the ISO smaller we just need need to list all files that aren't include in winsxs folder.
well there's still alot of files can be remove in Filemaps and ManifestCache since only few files remaining on winsxs..

This post has been edited by gendouhydeist: 29 January 2010 - 08:28 AM

[Alex]

@aviv00

No, of course I did not remove the event log with vlite. Just tell me do yoy have this problem o not?
Maybe I should leave GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package...

Thanks,
Alex

[Alex]

tested with frsn windows 7 ult and removed only winsxs, no way the same error with event log, so it can not be that you do not have this error too.

Alex

[aviv00]

its must be the GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package
btw how u could update with winsxs remove that werid

[Alex]

@aviv00

It is not GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package, but thank you for the tip.
Update works and that is how it should be!

All the best,
Alex

[dead0]

some updates install, some don't with winsxs removed?

[Alex]

@dead0,

I can install all updates! Didn't tested only language packs as I do not need them. But before doing some other tests I will try them too and will report back if you are interested.
Nuhi left some mistakes with channels but it is easy to fix actually.

Alex

[zebus]

Hmm I tried following this guide and I could only do misc updates like drivers and spyware checks, most of the hotfixes had errors.. maybe I'm doing something wrong.

[MagicAndre1981]

never remove WinSxS! Windows Vista/7 updates are diffs which need the RTM fies from the WinSxS to generate the new file. The genrated files are now stored in the WinSxS folder and mapped as hardlinks to the destination folders! So, they don't use space!!!!! Only Explorer is not able to see that the files are hardlinks and count them several times.

So, NEVER touch WinSxS folder and NEVER DELETE this folder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[aviv00]

Yea alex ur case is weird i cant install any updates with winsxs removed
maybe ur config is the way to do that ?

[aelibey]

all updates worked after installing kb947821.
 Capture.PNG (106.72K)
Number of downloads: 294

[zebus]

Hmm well I didn't try updating again after the initial failed attempt, so I'll load up my virtual box and try again and see what happens.

[zebus]

Yep, installed that update first and after that it all worked great. Weird thing I noticed though, just after installing that one update my winsxs folder had already grown by like 100 mb *cry :.(

*edit*
Reinstalled again and watched the winsxs folder while the hotfix was processing and it was adding folders to their like crazy, I'm guessing that update fixed whatever we did the the winsxs folder that it didn't like.

*edit* *edit*
I think I'll integrate that hotfix with DISM and see how that goes.

This post has been edited by zebus: 05 February 2010 - 03:49 AM

[aviv00]

zebus, on Feb 5 2010, 02:42 AM, said:

Yep, installed that update first and after that it all worked great. Weird thing I noticed though, just after installing that one update my winsxs folder had already grown by like 100 mb *cry :.(

*edit*
Reinstalled again and watched the winsxs folder while the hotfix was processing and it was adding folders to their like crazy, I'm guessing that update fixed whatever we did the the winsxs folder that it didn't like.

*edit* *edit*
I think I'll integrate that hotfix with DISM and see how that goes.

gr8 try use kb947821 and then install the updates
lets see if aelibey is right
if yes i will remove Extreme tag

[zebus]

Okay, so in the end this is what I ended up doing to make my install disc perfect.

1) Loaded virtual machine, manually applied kb947821 to repair winsxs folder, integrating it as a hotfix didn't work, had to be done after install.
2) After the update installed and the winsxs folder was fixed I shut down the VM, and extracted the winsxs folder off it.
3) Mounted my install.wim I had been working on, deleted the winsxs folder in it, and replaced it with the now fixed winsxs folder I pulled off the VM.
4) Made a new iso with vlite, installed, and everything worked right off with no need to apply the hotfix and the winsxs folder was still as small as it originally was!! YAY!!

I'll try to make a new .bat file to save people the trouble, because I'm pretty sure in doing this I've found the absolute minimum (or very close to it) the winsxs folder can be and still work, pretty much everything in there is 100% necessary for windows update to function meaning you can't get any smaller without breaking windows update or having to run the hotfix.

Here is a log of the directory structure if anyone wants to check it out before I get to writing a .bat file for it,

http://www.mediafire...wino/winsxs.txt

The txt file was so big I had to host it on mediafire


*edit*
Forgot to mention was on ultimate x64, and the end size ended up being 169mb

This post has been edited by zebus: 05 February 2010 - 05:54 PM