The subject of this article is intended only for people a little more experienced in computer science in general and on the Windows operating system in particular. When we talk about " Windows installation " Microsoft has accustomed us to do everything easily and with the release of Windows 7 the whole procedure becomes easy even for a child. But when, in computer science, we talk about " personalization ", things often get complicated. Customizing such an important installation as that of Windows is not such a trivial operation, even if supported by tools and automatic tools which are simple to use.
Customizing the installation of Windows means creating a cd / dvd different from the original one. Basically it is a matter of choosing, before installing, which parts of the operating system to put on the CD so that, in the end, Windows becomes leaner, without all those tools that are not needed.
The problem is not within everyone's reach is to understand what are the unnecessary parts of the operating system.
Be that as it may, for those who want to learn and those who intend to create a customized installation CD to use on various computers, let's see which programs to use.
First of all, Microsoft Windows 7 AIK software is also available for Windows 7 to create a customized Windows installation CD .
Since this is an official tool, it is advisable to use it also for its ease. Basically, you can choose the components to be included in the installation disk, leaving out those that are not considered useful.
For Windows 7, simpler to use programs, not Microsoft, have recently been released, in which it is sufficient to select, in a list, which components to include in the installation package .
2) Win Reducer is a free utility that allows a user to perform a custom installation of Windows 7 and choose what to install and what not to install.
Win Integrator itself is also very easy to use. There is a main window that asks the user to provide the Windows 7 installation files. Then the other tabs are enabled with which to choose the updates and drivers to integrate and the Windows components to remove.
The Features tab allows the user to remove or maintain some internal Windows features with a long list of items that should be known, at least in broad terms. In the Apply tab you can confirm your choice and apply the changes made to the installation file while the last tab allows the user to create the customized ISO so that it can be burned onto a DVD. This program is good because it works step by step, in a systematic and logical way, but the difficulty of choosing, if you do not have experience, remains serious.
2) RT Se7en Lite is perhaps the best program to create a custom Windows 7 CD to install the operating system by choosing what to include and what not. RT Se7en Lite is quite useful especially because it allows you to integrate Windows Update updates into the Windows 7 DVD and thus avoid having to waste time downloading them. This program also allows you to choose the language pack and thus choose the Italian language of the operating system, even if you had an English version.
Specific drivers for hardware components such as printers, scanners or other external devices can also be incorporated into the final package.
RT Se7en Lite, as the name suggests, is used to lighten Windows 7 from internal components that cannot be removed in a normal installation (Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, the countless network services, backup tools and so on).
The main purpose of those who want to use a customized installation CD is to choose in advance all general settings such as language, time zone, activation, license, computer name, network data and so on . There is therefore the advantage of being able to install Windows all at once, without any interruption. With RT Se7en Light, once you have completed your choices, you can copy the package to a DVD or even to a USB stick. As mentioned above, choosing which components to remove is an operation not to be done haphazardly, which requires a preliminary study.
The consequence could be that of having an operating system lacking fundamental functions in the use of the computer.
3) Se7en Unattended is perhaps the simplest of these types of programs but also the most amateur. There is a single screen from which to choose whether to add Windows Updates, drivers and even programs. Each selection that can be made is accompanied by a short explanation so you can guess what it is for and what is being removed.
This type of program is very useful to those who work as a systems engineer, to those who are called to install Windows 7 on multiple computers, to those who, for example, have to prepare the computers in a classroom of a course and so on. They also become useful to those who want to install Windows 7 on a PC with a low-capacity hard disk and want to save space. Those who want to create a Windows 7 Lite installation CD can find an excellent test field for experimenting and learning.
