• Stripping down Windows
    18 replies, posted
I am making a teeny tiny computer with a pico or nano ITX motherboard, which have processor speeds of around 1ghz to 1.5ghz. The graphics accelerator is a so called "Integrated VIA UniChrome™ ProII 3D/2D AGP graphics with MPEG-2/4 and WMV9 decoding acceleration" which probably shares something like 32 or 16mb with the onboard memory, which maxes at 1gb. Obviously, this is going to struggle running just about any version of Windows. So I was wondering if I should use XP or 7, and how I would go about stripping either down to run better? It's going to be used as a nettop/portable htpc, if it matters.
WindowsCE, or XP, Linux could be a possible option, try that fist and use VLC, but drivers might be easier to come by on wndows.
What are you using this computer for? [editline]4th December 2010[/editline] for most things, Lubuntu/Xubuntu/Debian (with XFCE or LXDE desktop environments) should work perfectly well. [editline]4th December 2010[/editline] or mint fluxbox if you're using it as a multimedia center
[QUOTE=wlzshroom;26476919]What are you using this computer for? [editline]4th December 2010[/editline] for most things, Lubuntu/Xubuntu/Debian (with XFCE or LXDE desktop environments) should work perfectly well. [editline]4th December 2010[/editline] or mint fluxbox if you're using it as a multimedia center[/QUOTE] I'm using it as a web browsing computer/video player/some other things. But I'll look into those, thanks. Also found an even better version of the motherboard that can accept 2gb of memory and upgrades from the UniChrome to a full Chrome9 with support for 1080p playback.
Try using XP and using Nlite to strip it bare.
I have one of those, XP runs fine on it totally unmodded. The minimum requirements for XP are PII 266Mhz and 64MB RAM.
[QUOTE=CarlBooth;26487525]I have one of those, XP runs fine on it totally unmodded. The minimum requirements for XP are PII 266Mhz and 64MB RAM.[/QUOTE] Good to know, thanks! Now I can order the parts since I know that it runs well.
Is this going into that Xbox 360 case?
Yes, the 360 HD DVD drive. After reading another pico build log, I found out that the P820 will run Windows 7 64bit, so I will use a copy of Home Premium I have. This entire computer could theoretically fit in the unused 5.25" drive bay on my desktop.
Scratch that, Windows 7 is just too demanding on the poor Chrome9. Going to put in good old fashioned XP since reviews say that even just dragging windows in 7 is laggy, and above testimonial to XP working fine. Also considering a light distribution of Linux, but would prefer XP simply because I am used to it. [editline]4th December 2010[/editline] gah, dammit. Forgot automerge had a short timer. Again.
[QUOTE=MacTrekkie;26499921]Scratch that, Windows 7 is just too demanding on the poor Chrome9. Going to put in good old fashioned XP since reviews say that even just dragging windows in 7 is laggy, and above testimonial to XP working fine. Also considering a light distribution of Linux, but would prefer XP simply because I am used to it. [editline]4th December 2010[/editline] gah, dammit. Forgot automerge had a short timer. Again.[/QUOTE] I f this is just for media playing, why not put some Linux distribution on it? [editline]5th December 2010[/editline] Maybe this will work for you?: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubuntu[/url]
You should maybe try and go for a Clarkdale with integrated graphics on the chip, those are supposed to be fast and not that power hungry.
Maybe a distribution like [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythbuntu]Mythbuntu[/url] could do the job?
[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;26501698]I f this is just for media playing, why not put some Linux distribution on it? [editline]5th December 2010[/editline] Maybe this will work for you?: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubuntu[/url][/QUOTE] lxde feels weird to me, i'd go with xubuntu
[QUOTE=BmB;26516295]You should maybe try and go for a Clarkdale with integrated graphics on the chip, those are supposed to be fast and not that power hungry.[/QUOTE] A clarkdale? Not a chance. Only Pico-ITX boards will fit in this case, and only ones of those I've seen for a reasonable price are powered by VIA Nano or C7 processors. But thanks for the suggestion. [editline]5th December 2010[/editline] [QUOTE=GoDong-DK;26501698]I f this is just for media playing, why not put some Linux distribution on it? [editline]5th December 2010[/editline] Maybe this will work for you?: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubuntu[/url][/QUOTE] Thanks for the suggestion. I'll probably try Win7, XP, and some different distros of Linux.
linux
Arch Linux
[QUOTE=MacTrekkie;26520634]A clarkdale? Not a chance. Only Pico-ITX boards will fit in this case[/QUOTE] No, NanoITX will also fit.
[QUOTE=B1N4RY!;26542063]No, NanoITX will also fit.[/QUOTE] Fair enough. I should have said "Only Pico-ITX boards will fit in this case comfortably with a hard drive and disk drive."
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