[monohouse]

would anyone know if and how it may be possible to reduce/replace with older version the biggest DLL (8MB) file in XP ? I have been able to replace it with a win2000 version but programs have errors and some do not load, and those that do load, will not allow using the "open" dialog box, what loads the shell32.dll ? is it possible to replace the loading file and thus replace this file with it ? like both versions from win2000 ?

[monohouse]

works ! : replace XP's : shell32.dll, comdlg32.dll and maybe comctl32.dll
with 2k's sp0 versions, and you just saved at least another 5 MB of memory, and increased speed, especially when opening the open/save dialogs (which open three times faster than before, because : 2 MB now instead of 8 MB shell32.dll and no icons are displayed).

now only left to properly get rid of winsxs and that should do it.

[dirtwarrior]

Good find

does it change the look

This post has been edited by dirtwarrior: 03 December 2006 - 05:49 PM

[monohouse]

sorry small mistake : you also need to replace shlwapi.dll with win2k's versions, if you want blackbox and it's plugins to be able to execute files, the look may be a problem for some, but if you also replace the shlwapi.dll you get the icons working again in the open/save dialog, my site is going to take a while until it is back, but the new deleted edition version will contain ALOTE of new changes, and I intend to make it smaller than 50 MB on disk, I currently on 60, and that is before I actually started working with winsxs and before I started replacing other files with win2k versions. I have not tried but it *MAY* be possible to replace some of winxp's files with win98 versions, that's quite far away, but most changes in winblows are in kernel not in libraries it just loads them differently, so I would not be surprised that using win98's files is possible.

[Madhits45]

why not just reshack the xp shell32.dll and replace all the icons with 1 size. That reduces the heck out of it and should make it run faster. So that would be better then w2k ver of shell32 right?

[monohouse]

great idea, how do you do that ? resource hacker ? why not both ?

[dirtwarrior]

I like the idea of an OS running more efficient.

[monohouse]

here is my version of win2k's shell32.dll, it has these changes :

1. deleted almost all icons, only the small directory icon exists, the rest have been replaced with 1-bit transparent icons (4 of them)
3. removed a load of dialogs
6. new size : 1,419,024 bytes, original size : 2,352,400
7. warning may not be compatible with explorer.exe (not tested), only blackbox and windows/total commander
8. drive formatting no longer possible and is not supported, use DOS/Linux to format your FAT/Ext2 file systems
9. some other things may be missing, blackbox/commander users should not have a problem with it
10. please report any bugs.

oops forum does not allow uploading of files > 500 Kb ?
anyway soon deleted edition site will be up and you will be able to download it from there, one other thing I have discovered, there is an another problem with using the shell components (shell32.dll, comctl32.dll, shlwapi.dll, comdlg32.dll) of win2k in xp : it seems that desk.cpl, sysdm.cpl and network connections do not work, so far I have been able to make the first two to work, simply use desk.cpl and sysdm.cpl win2k versions and everything works, I am still checking into the last problem, I believe it has to do with netshell.dll, unfortunately using win2k version of this file will simply disappear all network connections from that menu, so I recommend, for now, everyone to use this replacement only AFTER your finish configuration of your network interfaces, and you might wanna keep a backup of those replaced files in case you will want to perform configuration again.

I have created 2 other files : comctl32.dll which is now 439,056 instead of 553,232 (all other languages removed), and comdlg32.dll which is now 217,872 instead of 242,448 (printing dialogs removed, new open/save dialog, places bar does not exist anymore).

This post has been edited by monohouse: 05 December 2006 - 04:59 PM

[Madhits45]

-------------------unfortunately using win2k version of this file will simply disappear all network connections from that menu, so I recommend, for now, everyone to use this replacement only AFTER your finish configuration of your network interfaces, and you might wanna keep a backup of those replaced files in case you will want to perform configuration again.---------------------



Ohh lord that sounds like way to much work. Just use resource hacker and shrink the xp shell32.dll.

Anyone wanna try reshacker. Just google it. Once you open up shell32.dll youl see the icons and junk just delete and replace as you see fit and there you have it. I'll work on this when I get a chance but I like icons so mine might not be what all of you are looking for.

[fdv]

I love this idea but I have to ask, monohouse, with that avatar, are you still using Windows? I can't read the text but it looks like you're not a fan of Microsoft

[jmbattle]

Yes, Resource Hacker is surely the wiser option. It would seem that the more you try to use Win2k files, you may as well just revert back to the older OS.

Cheers,
James
x

[monohouse]

one thing at a time :

"way too much work" - is for lamers, I am not that case, and I don't like lazyness in general, you want something good, it always takes work, but you're lucky, I am doing the work and you only get to use it, besides lazyness is what brought us here in the first place, if we were not idiots and ensistsed on our software to be good and not buy until it is good, we would not have a problem now, all those lazy idiots are the reason nLite exists, it might not have had to exist if lazyness could be avoided.

I used resource hacker, resource hacker on xp's shell32.dll might (at best) give you around 7 MB instead of 8, while win2k's version gives you just a little over 1 MB so the decision is to use both, resource hacker and win2k's version just as I did.... and nobody really needs to configure network interfaces after they are configured.

read what text ?, if you mean the text between the lines, then yeah, BILL MUST DIE !!!, just wait until my site will be up there will be a lote of text there.

no I may not revert back to win2k, well at least not entirely because : win2k does not understand that programs are ment to be loaded into memory not back to the hard disk where they came from, and only xp allows disabling swap file completely and properly without out of memory dialogs, so you're only partially right, revert back everything except the kernel to win2k if possible, except for the network stuff which require security (particularly blaster fix) (not that there is much of a problem for the 1337 as they can handle without any of that crap) and because it is smaller.

my Deleted Edition is now a little < 50 MB on XP SP1 with only 3 xp's files replaced with win2k's versions.

oh yhe and about the winblows question, I am a fan of some software that was programmed to run on winblows (Cubase, Reaktor, Recycle, Nuendo, FM7, Kx Project, Wavelab and some others), not winblows as in itself, and if it is not yet hard for you to think that I am using winblows, wait until I get to 10 MB, it will be getting very hard for you to think that then ?

This post has been edited by monohouse: 06 December 2006 - 08:07 AM

[Madhits45]

I know for a fact you can shrink the win xp shell32.dll to below 3mb. I have DONE it. All I did is clear 80% of the icons that are old out and it was less then 3mb. You could import the old win2k icons into the xp shell and that would make it i bet less the 500k bigger then 2k ver of the file.

Having versions from other OS's is just asking for instability to come knocking.

Is 500k worth all that? Heck is a 1 mb worth all that?

[monohouse]

I made a 2k version and it is good, are you willing to make the xp version ? and maybe then we can evaluate the differences when we have something on hand, if you really believe it will be up to 1 mb bigger than the 2k version of the file we may be able to properly determine the exact differences, although there are no instability I have encountered, other than the lack of network connections being unavailable there is nothing wrong with it...

even if you do manage to get it as small as that, you are still forgetting the bigger picture, the other files, are always smaller, all win2k files are always smaller, there is not one xp file that is smaller than it's win2k version, look at netshell.dll, it's 1.5 mb in xp and only 400 kb in 2k, of corse it will take some hacking before it will be possible to use any of those files safely in xp, and I am still working on that.

if you think big, look at a wider range of things, one file 500 kb bigger maybe nothing, take 10 files bigger by 500 kb, and you find yourself counting.