This content is 19 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.
I heard about nLite whilst I was listening the episode 41 of the This Week in Tech podcast. I haven’t used it yet, but it sounds like a great freeware tool for customising a Windows installations right up to creating a bootable ISO image, including slipstreaming service packs, hotfixes and drivers – it sure beats Microsoft’s Setup Manager.
nLite has a dependency on the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 but also has a selection of popular packages ready for integration into the Windows source as add-ons (Firefox 1.5, Adobe Reader, AVG AntiVirus, etc.). If I hadn’t already put a lot of effort into an unattended XP build and didn’t already use WSUS for windows updates I’d be seriously tempted to give it a go.
I’ve used nlite for a while now, and I find it the best way for creating a custom unattended install. It’s a very nice and powerful tool.
Too bad we didn’t have this tool when I was in college doing labs with unattended W2K installs.
A few months after I wrote this post, I did use nlite to create a slipstreamed Windows XP2 CD. It’s definitely a great tool.