Home PC Support Guides - AudioXP Build Guide

Preamble: AudioXP is a stripped-back build of XP or XP x64 designed primarily for use with audio workstations. It is fast, up-to-date and provides excellent security and streamlined use. They are the builds I use in my music studio, on three different computers. I will not provide an ISO or downloadable build, only instructions on how to build it yourself, using nlite.

If you want a solution for building streamlined Windows 7/8/10 ISO's, look at ntlite.

• x86 (32-bit) XP build Guide
• x64 (64-bit) XP build Guide
• Installation Instructions

x86 (32-bit) build Guide

You will need:

1. .NET Framework v2 or higher installed (if you're running Vista/7/8 this will already be installed, if you're running XP it is not included by default - download here).
2. 7-zip or similar installed (for extraction).
3. Nlite installed.
4. Your Windows XP Professional cd (should probably work with XP Home, haven't tested, won't guarantee).
5. My audioXP nlite settings file.
6. Hard drive text-mode drivers for your particular motherboard (if not sure which your motherboard uses, download and integrate all four of these):
   • Nforce RAID/ACHI textmode drivers
   • Intel ICH-chipset textmode drivers
   • Intel X79 chipset textmode drivers
   • ATI/AMD SBxxx ACHI/RAID textmode drivers
   If your motherboard's chipset does not fit these categories, either the built-in windows drivers will, or there should be textmode drivers specific to your motherboard which you can download and integrate, on the motherboard manufacturer's website (search for your particular model). If you're running your hard drive in IDE mode, generally you won't need a textmode driver for your hard drive chipset.
7. The latest XPSP3_QFE post-sp3 update pack from here. There are other update packs available, however this one is the best I've tried.
8. The SP1 Firewire drivers. These were the only firewire drivers that ever worked correctly with 1394a (firewire 400) devices under 32-bit xp. Do not download if you're using 1394b (firewire 800), instead install the AVT alternative firewire bus drivers after installing your OS.
9. If your Windows XP CD is not already sp3 (service pack 3 updated), you will need the full SP3 network update package.
10. A program installed to burn your resultant Windows XP ISO to CD. I recommend Infrarecorder.

Build instructions

1. Create a folder on your hard drive somewhere. Use 7-zip to 'unzip' (extract) the files from your hard drive text mode driver packages to it. Do the same for the 1394 driver files, but to a different folder.
2. Put your Windows XP cd in your CD/DVD drive. Close any application that automatically starts.
3. Start nlite. Select your language and hit 'next'. Locate your Windows XP cd using the browse button. Create a folder on your hard drive to copy your CD to. Some details will come up about your XP cd version.
4. If your Windows XP cd is already SP3 (service pack 3), hit 'next', then go directly to step 5.
   

   If your Windows XP is NOT SP3, do the following:

   • Hit 'next' twice, skipping the presets screen.
   • On the task selection screen, tick only 'Service pack' and hit 'next'.
   • On the service pack screen, hit select and browse to find your SP3 network update package (which you have downloaded). Nlite will now integrate the SP3 Update to your existing CD copy.
   • Once it's finished, hit 'next', then 'finish'. Nlite will close.
   • Open Nlite again, hit next, then hit browse and select the folder your copied your XP disc to originally. The details of the (now SP3) installation will come up. Hit 'next' and continue to step 5
5. Hit 'import' and find the audioxp32bit.ini file which you've downloaded. Select it. Click 'next', then 'next' again.
6. On the 'Hotfixes, Addons and Update packs' screen hit 'insert' and select the XPSP3_QFE post-sp3 update pack .7z file which you've downloaded. Click 'next'.
7. On the 'drivers' screen, click 'insert', 'multiple driver' and select the hard drive textmode drives which you've downloaded. Find the folder you've extracted the hard drive textmode drivers to in step 1, and select it. Click 'all', then 'ok'. On the 'driver integration options' popup, under 'textmode integration options' click the first entry, then hit CTRL-A. This will select all the drivers. Click 'ok'. Now, repeat the process for the 1394 (firewire) driver folder. Then click 'next'.
8. On the compatibility popup click 'ok'. You are now on the 'components' screen. By default, audioXP is only set up for english. If you are planning to use any languages other than english under windows, then expand the 'Keyboards' and 'Languages' trees and make sure the other languages you wish to use are unticked. Once finished, click 'next'.
9. On the 'Unattended' screen, click on the 'Regional' tab. Select your language, localisation, language groups and set your timezone. Click 'next'.
10. Hit 'next' twice, skipping the 'options' and 'tweaks' screens - these are already set for you. Nlite should ask you if you want to start the process. Click 'ok' and wait while Nlite integrates and tweaks for you. This could take anywhere between 2 and 20 minutes depending on the speed of your machine. Once finished hit 'next'.
11. On the 'bootable iso' screen either click on 'make iso', or burn your image directly to CD by changing the 'mode' under 'General' to 'Direct Burn'. I recommend creating an ISO image as you can make additional copies later if your CD media fails. Once you've burnt your CD or created an image, click 'next' then 'finish'.
12. You're done! Your .iso file should be somewhere around 170MB. Go to Installation Instructions at the bottom of the page.

x64 (64-bit) build Guide

The 64-bit build is about 5% faster on the same machine running 32-bit apps, and has fewer memory limitations so I tend to recommend that, but it basically depends whether there are XP x64 drivers available for your devices, as to whether it's worth it for you. Please note, a lot of 64-bit device drivers are built into XP x64 - so you might be lucky..

You will need:

1. .NET Framework v2 or higher installed (if you're running Vista/7/8 this will already be installed, if you're running XP it is not included by default - download here).
2. 7-zip or similar installed (for extraction).
3. Nlite installed.
4. Your Windows XP x64 cd (please note, there is a major difference between "XP x64" and "XP 64-bit" - do NOT use "XP 64-bit", it was designed for one specific branch of intel processor).
5. My audioXP x64 nlite settings file.
6. Hard drive text-mode drivers for your particular motherboard (if not sure which your motherboard uses, download and integrate all four of these):
   • Nforce RAID/ACHI textmode drivers
   • Intel ICH-chipset textmode drivers
   • Intel X79 chipset textmode drivers
   • ATI/AMD SBxxx ACHI/RAID textmode drivers
   If your motherboard's chipset does not fit these categories, either the built-in windows drivers will, or there should be textmode drivers specific to your motherboard which you can download and integrate, on the motherboard manufacturer's website (search for your particular model). If you're running your hard drive in IDE mode, generally you won't need a textmode driver for your hard drive chipset.
7. The latest 5eraph post-sp2 update pack from here.
8. If your Windows XP x64 CD is not already sp2 (service pack 2 updated), you will need the full SP2 network update package. Please note there is no SP3 for XP x64, it is a different system entirely based on Windows Server 2003.
9. A program installed to burn your resultant Windows XP ISO to CD. I recommend Infrarecorder.

Build instructions

1. Create a folder on your hard drive somewhere. Use 7-zip to 'unzip' (extract) the files from your hard drive text mode driver packages to it.
2. Put your Windows XP x64 cd in your CD/DVD drive. Close any application that automatically starts.
3. Start nlite. Select your language and hit 'next'. Locate your Windows XP cd using the browse button. Create a folder on your hard drive to copy your CD to. Some details will come up about your XP cd version.
4. If your Windows XP cd is already SP2 (service pack 2), hit 'next', then go directly to step 5.
   

   If your Windows XP is NOT SP2, do the following:

   • Hit 'next' twice, skipping the presets screen.
   • On the task selection screen, tick only 'Service pack' and hit 'next'.
   • On the service pack screen, hit select and browse to find your SP2 update package file (which you have downloaded). Nlite will now integrate the SP2 Update to your existing CD copy.
   • Once it's finished, hit 'next', then 'finish'. Nlite will close.
   • Open Nlite again, hit next, then hit browse and select the folder you copied your XP disc to originally. The details of the (now SP2) installation will come up. Hit 'next' and continue to step 5
5. Hit 'import' and find the audioxp64bit.ini file which you've downloaded. Select it. Click 'next', then 'next' again.
6. On the 'Hotfixes, Addons and Update packs' screen hit 'insert' and select the 5eraph post-sp2 update pack .7z file which you've downloaded. Click 'next'.
7. On the 'drivers' screen, click 'insert', 'multiple driver' and select the hard drive textmode drives which you've downloaded. Find the folder you've extracted the hard drive textmode drivers to in step 1, and select it. Click 'all', then 'ok'. On the 'driver integration options' popup, under 'textmode integration options' click the first entry, then hit CTRL-A. This will select all the drivers. Click 'ok', then click 'next'.
8. On the compatibility popup click 'ok'. You are now on the 'components' screen. By default, audioXP is only set up for english. If you are planning to use any languages other than english under windows, then expand the 'Keyboards' and 'Languages' trees and make sure the other languages you wish to use are unticked. Once finished, click 'next'.
9. On the 'Unattended' screen, click on the 'Regional' tab. Select your language, localisation, language groups and set your timezone. Click 'next'.
10. Hit 'next' twice, skipping the 'options' and 'tweaks' screens - these are already set for you. Nlite should ask you if you want to start the process. Click 'ok' and wait while Nlite integrates and tweaks for you. This could take anywhere between 2 and 20 minutes depending on the speed of your machine. Once finished hit 'next'.
11. On the 'bootable iso' screen either click on 'make iso', or burn your image directly to CD by changing the 'mode' under 'General' to 'Direct Burn'. I recommend creating an ISO image as you can make additional copies later if your CD media fails. Once you've burnt your CD or created an image, click 'next' then 'finish'.
12. You're done! Your .iso file should be somewhere around 300MB. See Installation Instructions below.

Installation Instructions

• While it's possible to 'burn' your ISO image to a flash drive, I've seen too many borked installations of XP done this way. Save yourself some misery and burn it to a CD instead. The installation time difference is trivial given the size of the ISO.
• When burning your CD, use 16x, 'Disc-at-once' and 'close' the disc. This ensures maximum compatibility and readability by different CD/DVD drives.
• Do Not have any other FAT32 partitions on any drives (this includes flash drives) plugged into the machine when you do the installation, unless you want your system partition to end up as 'd:' or 'e:'...
• For most installations, NTFS is the fastest and most secure file system available for XP, please format to that if you have to format your hard drive/partition. I have a full guide to optimal partitioning for DAWs here.
• Make sure you have downloaded all the driver packages for your motherboard, video card, hard drive chipsets, audio devices, network devices and other components and peripherals Before you start your install. Preferably, have them unzipped to separate folders on a flash drive or hard drive plugged into your computer. While these builds will retain a lot of drivers, (a) it's always best to have the most recent drivers and (b) it can be tricky downloading drivers when your network device isn't already working!.
• Once installed, there's something you might want to do to eliminate firewire/usb/latency issues: edit c:/boot.ini (carefully) and change the following text: "/noexecute=optin" or "/noexecute=optout" to this: "/execute". Do Not change anything else in the file. This does disable some low-level microsoft-antivirus protection, but if you're not a complete klutz (and you don't use pirated software or other stupid things) you will be fine. It was never terribly effective anyway, compared to actually running an antivirus package. And it can interfere with firewire/USB and cause glitches.
• However, if you're running XP 32-bit and you have at least 3GB 'available' under task manager, you can also add ' /3GB' to the same line that 'execute' is on. This will enable applications to access 3GB of memory address ram instead of the default 2GB. Use with caution, and if you experience glitches, change it back.
• There are some other tips for DAWs here.
• Integrated explorer zip support (it wasn't good) is removed in these builds, so install 7-zip or similar to deal with zip files. Windows Media player is removed, so use a better alternative like Media Player Classic, Explorer-based cd burning is also removed, so use something good like Infrarecorder.
• If you want a great, repeat, *great* looking XP, download and install the Equinox Evolution Midnight theme and install it. You might want to change the grey for '3D Objects' (control panel->display->appearance->advanced) to a mid-shade of grey for usability.
• Have fun.

While all attempts are made to make this guide generic and straight-forward, I cannot guarantee that these builds will work on your specific computer due to the variance between computers. All advice given without guarantee - use your brain - if anything dies/fries/stops/explodes, see a doctor (but don't talk to me).


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