Wired News reports on Super WinPE Ultimate Boot CD 2004 Pro, a DVD image circulating via BitTorrent, with dozens of "remixed" versions of Windows on it — including Windows with all the security patches pre-applied, lightweight Windows that takes up little disk space, troubleshooting Windows that boots from optical disc, and easy-install Windows that doesn't require as much user interaction:
In addition to two Chinese variants of Windows, the Super WinPE disc includes dozens of boot-time utilities for troubleshooting system snafus. One is an experimental "pre-installation environment" that uses a "mini-Windows XP" for system scanning and file recovery, similar to the popular Knoppix LiveCD version of Linux…
Minimalism defines many tweaked versions. Windows XP SP2 Corporate Edition is 580 MB in stock form, but can be pared down to as little as 235 MB, the size of the so-called "WinXP SP2 Lite Edition."
The Lite Edition strips out everything but the very basics: no Windows Media Player, no documentation and a far smaller library of drivers. It also forgoes the standard check for minimum system requirements, shortening the overall install process.
In fact, many cracked editions feature an install process that dispenses entirely with the standard setup dialog. Pop in the system burned to CD, reboot, and a few minutes later come back to a freshly installed, custom copy of Windows.
