Guide: Optimizing Your Windows XP/Vista Notebook

Question

purpose:
to build a highly optimized, personalized, faster, smaller and more secure OS installation using windows xp (can use vista also but this guide will not cover it in any detail)
plus i was bored to tears
information:
this is a somewhat advanced guide not meant for those unfamilure with the tools and techniques used here
the basics of this guide can be applied to most/all windows xp/vista notebooks and desktops, not just Lenovo, however in my case i run windows xp pro on a T60 (8743) with an add-on graphics card (similar to a T60p i assume) and this guide will be geared toward this config.
many alterations can be made, so it is very general in nature and should not be taken literally
this is my personal machine and i am not on a private network. you may have to adjust as necessary.
disclaimer:
it ain't my fault
what will you gain:
* a highly customized OS
* faster boot times
* more free disk space
* a lighter, snappier feeling OS
* a more secure OS
* a more stable OS
* more free RAM
* less problems (or maybe more if you're not careful)
with all due respect to Lenovo, i have found that the less Lenovo software i install the fewer glitches i have and the faster things run. this is often the case for various other hardware vendors that supply proprietary software which is often not needed, or not all of which is needed.
what you will need: (all free, except for possibly the OS):
* a windows xp/vista installation disk. though you may be able to do this using your i386 directory (perhaps on the recovery partition), a full, non-OEM disk is preferred.
* SP2 and SP3 (it is my understanding that either SP1 or SP2 should be installed before installing SP3, though i have built installations with SP3 only).
* dotNet runtime
* nLite (or vLite for vista) - http://www.nliteos.com/
* Ryan's Windows XP Post-SP3 Update Pack - http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/
* Ryan's integration tool - http://integrator.siginetsoftware.com/index.php?do​wnload
* all current drivers for your hardware
please read any license agreements for the above (for instance, nLite is not to be used for commercial applications)
also visit the nLite and RyanVM forums as there's a ton of helpful info there, add-on packs, etc., and please consider donating to them both if you like the software. both are great guys. i wouldn't bother running windows anymore without nLite. from Nuhi's page (his english is not the best):
Have you ever wanted to remove Windows components like Media Player, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, MSN Explorer, Messenger...
How about not even to install them with Windows ?
nLite is a tool for pre-installation Windows configuration and component removal at your choice. Optional bootable image ready for burning on media or testing in virtual machines.
With nLite you will be able to have Windows installation which on install does not include, or even contain on media, the unwanted components.
Features
* Service Pack Integration
* Component Removal
* Unattended Setup
* Driver Integration *
* Hotfixes Integration **
* Tweaks
* Services Configuration
* Patches ***
* Bootable ISO creation
basic build procedure:
* install the dotNet runtime
* install nLite (or vLite for vista)
* create a directory structure something like:
c:\nlite\source\
c:\nlite\working\
c:\nlite\sp\
c:\nlite\hotfix\
* download Ryan's post SP3 update pack and dump it in c:\nlite\hotfix\
* download Ryan's integration tool and dump in c:\nlite\hotfix\ 
note that you can use nLite to integrate service packs and hotfix's, but i prefer Ryan's tool as i have had problems in the past using nLite to integrate Ryan's post SP update cabs, though this happened during the earlier beta days of nLite.
* download xp SP2 and SP3 service packs and dump in c:\nlite\sp\
* copy contents of windows installation disk to c:\nlite\source\
* using Ryan's integrator, set update pack path to c:\nlite\sp\WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe, windows source to c:\nlite\source\, and destination to c:\nlite\working\ and start integration
* using Ryan's integrator, set update pack path to c:\nlite\sp\WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe set windows source to c:\nlite\working\ and destination to c:\nlite\working\ and integrate SP3. after SP3 is integrated, if you want to save the windows installation for the next time you install, copy it elsewhere before moving on.
*  using Ryan's integrator set source to c:\nlite\hotfix\ (where you dumped Ryan's post SP3 update cab) and destination to c:\nlite\working\ and run it.
* start nLite and set the windows installation path to c:\nlite\working\
make sure that, in the "version" box, that SP3 is written, otherwise you've made an error earlier.
IMPORTANT: when using nLite be very careful and move slowly, making sure to READ ALL DESCRIPTIONS and explore all options -- it's easy to skip or screw up something if you're not very careful. 
rule of thumb: don't remove something if you don't know what it is or what the implications might be
* following the wizard, select your options. i would suggest the following:
remove components
unattended
options
patches
tweaks
build ISO
in the case of my thinkpad my hard drive will not be recognized by windows unless i integrate the driver for the SATA controller using nLite OR enter BIOS setup and put the controller in compatibility mode so i can install the driver from windows (after which BIOS needs to be changed again).  integrating drivers will require extra reading on your part and is beyond what i wish to get into here, so, to make things easy if you're not comfortable doing this, just put your controller in compatibility mode if necessary and install the driver from within windows.
* following the wizard and hitting "next" as necessary, if you've selected the options above, nLite will pop-up a compatibility options window where you want to select what components you really need (prevents you from removing dependancies later).
* in the next step you'll remove unwanted components - the part i enjoy most.  be careful what you remove! stuff in red is important. this is what i typically remove, give or take:
Accessibility Options
Briefcase
ClipBook Viewer
Defragmenter (replaced with JKDefragGUI)
Games
Internet Games
Paint
Pinball
Screensavers (useful only for very old CRT monitors)
WordPad (replaced with PSPad)
Keyboards (i remove all - nLite will keep default for your language)
ActiveX for streaming video (depends on IE which i remove parts of)
AOL ART Image Format Support (depends on IE which i remove parts of)
Images and Backgrounds (desktop eye candy)
Luna desktop theme (cartoonish desktop theme)
Media Center
Mouse Cursors
Movie Maker
Music Samples
Old CDPlayer and Sound Recorder (replaced in part by foobar2000)
Speech Support
Tablet PC
Windows Media Player (replaced by foobar2000, VLC and Satsuki codec pack)
Windows Media Player 6.4 (replaced by foobar2000, VLC and Satsuki codec pack)
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer (replaced by XnView)
Windows Sounds (unneeded sound themes)
Communication tools (phone dialer, hyperterminal, etc., some replaed by better 3rd part s/w)
FrontPage Extensions
Internet Connection Wizard (not needed to create a connection)
Internet Explorer (i keep the core (there's 2 options for removing this; one to remove parts but keep basic functionality and another to remove the core, which i suggest keeping) as it's functionality is needed by many applications - removing this will remove the "Program Files\Internet Explorer" directory, but you can still browse the web using windows explorer (file manager) if need be. i replace with Firefox)
Internet Information Services (IIS) (i use Apache (WAMP) for web development)
IP Conferencing
MSN Explorer (partially replaced with Miranda IM)
Netmeeting
Outlook Express (replaced with Thunderbird)
Peer-to-Peer (only for MS networks, nothing to do with P2P)
Share Creation Wizard
Synchronization Manager
Vector Graphics Rendering (VML) (depends on IE i think, which i remove parts of)
Web Folders
Windows Messenger (replaced with Miranda IM
.NET Framework (i don't install this at all)
Blaster/Nachi removal tool
Color Schemes (predefined desktop color schemes)
Desktop Cleanup Wizard (replaced with CCleaner)
Disk Cleanup (replaced with CCleaner)
File and Settings Wizard (used to transfer settings between 2 computers)
File System Encryption (try TrueCrypt or AxCrypt - note that MS encryption is propritary and, as such, should not be trusted)
Help and Support (huge space hog)
IExpress Wizard
Manual Install and Upgrade (ability to upgrade OS, which is always a bad idea (better to install clean))
MS Agent (used for annoying animated paperclip in MS office)
Out of Box Experience (OOBE) (do NOT remove unless you have a VLK)
Remote Installation Services (RIS)
Search Assistant (annoying animated dog in search window)
Security Center (replaced with Comodo firewall)
Service Pack Messages
Shell Media Handler
Tour (useless windows tour)
User account pictures
Web View
Zip Folders (replaced with IZArc and Universal Extractor)
Automatic Updates (hardly needed once attack vectors are removed)
Beep Driver (annoying beep, such as when you press too many keys at once)
Error Reporting (automitic error reporting to MS - i suppose vista is the result?)
IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service (replaced with ImgBurn)
Remote Registry
Secondary Logon
System Restore Service (bloated nonsense used for restoring viruses to their orgional state - better to reinstall)
Languages (i remove all - nLite will keep your default language)
as should be apparent from the above, security is already enhanced since many attack vectors were removed (OE, WMP, MSN, remote registry, system restore, etc., etc., etc.).
missing functionality is replaced by better, more functinal and more secure software
* for the "unattended setup" step, you can select many options, change default paths (Program Files), disable hibernate, configure network adapters and much more.
* next is "options" where you are presented with many more choices.
* next is "patches". here i would highly suggest turning off SFC (windows file protection) as this is an incredible annoyance for many people and will greatly increase the time required for your installation.  furthermore, malicious folks and vendors that write drivers know how to get around this nonsense anyway.
* next is "tweaks" and then you'll finish up by building your installation. i typically cut the size of a default windows xp install by about 50%, but i'm a bit agressive with what i remove.  also some of that space is used by 3rd party software to replace the components removed.
* if you are comfortable with virtual machine software, that'd be the way to test your shiny new installation ISO. if not, then get ready to take the plunge
when installed an nLite OS on my thinkpad for the first time (a day or 2 after i got it), i did a test install first - i kept the recovery partition in tact. once i got comfortable with installing the drivers and got everything working, i un-hid and formatted the recovery partition -- gone! you may want to do the same, though speaking from expierence i can tell you that it's rather trivial to get everything working on my T60 (though i do not have nor did i want a fingerprint reader, i would doubt it would be an issue to get working).
* once windows is up and running, there will be allot of broken stuff  
some of the "Fn" keys will not work, some will (because the hardware is configured in BIOS). you'll need to install the drivers for the items that you want to work, and this is another area where i depart from the norm. here's some things i don't install and the reasons why (whenever possible, any hardware below is disabled in BIOS or device manager):
* easy eject utility - not needed/i don't use it anyway
* hotkey driver - bloated and sometimes buggy software that may corrupt OGL and DX full-screen display (games) and cause stop errors (BSOD)
* trackpoint - i don't use it, though it works anyway with limited functionality if not disabled in BIOS/device manager
* trusted platform module - yeah, well i don't trust it
* away manager -  don't use it/lighter weight alternitives available
* keyboard customizer - not needed/i don't use it
* scroll lock indicator - not needed/i don't use it
* software installer - bloated mess/not needed (subscribe to the Lenovo RSS feed to be made aware of updates)
* thinkpad configuration package - i'll configure it myself, thanks
* thinkvantage access connectkions - bloated mess/slows boot time/not needed (better and lighter weight alternitives * available if you need this functionality)
* ultra-nav wizard - not needed
* bluetooth - i install the microsoft bluetooth stack (which is smaller and simpler) and have noticably less lag with bluetooth devices resuming from a standby state (mouse in particular)
* display drivers - i use the highly acclaimed and optimized Omega drivers.
for the drivers i do install, i install only the drivers, NOT the software (in other words i do not run the installer). i do this by extracting the installer using IZArc or Universal Extractor and using device manager to point the hardware to the extracted *.inf files.  for me, there is only one device that comes up "unknown device" before drivers are installed (i forget which).  the rest are named, so it's easy to tell what path to give them for the drivers. installing drivers for the unknown device is then simple a process of elimination, or you can use software to help identify the device.
::: the end :::
hack it 'till it BREAKS!

Answer 1

*bookmarked for desection*
I already see flaws, like turning off remote registry for example. Remote registry only has very limited access, and you can change the access, but why would you? You can see what it has access to by going into Control Panel > Administative Tools > Local Security Policy > > Local Polices > Security Options, then scroll a little more than half-way, and it's under the Network access box.
There are so many crack pot guides out there, that the only good advice is to look where they looked, and if you don't get it, and don't go though all of it, LEAVE IT ALONE! It only makes servicing the box at a later time a HUGE pain, and if it's in a business, it'll just be reimaged.
Keep this guy's disclaimer in mind at all times. Just do the easy ones to start, like run CCleaner, it basically does everything for you, and doesn't cause any errors (or as far as I know, and I use it just about every other day)
Currently Just passed the CompTIA A+ 601 with flying colours! =D
Owner of an SL500 running Vista Business with 4GB of PC2 6400 RAM