Introduction and about my user name and a big Thank You!!

I am very honored to be a part of the WinReducer 8.1 project and I would like to introduce myself so you have an idea of my background and knowledge coming into this project and this forum.  And, oh, Rule Number Five ..............  never assume I know anything at all and we will get along just fine

I have been the lead technician for a big company in the US repairing computers and so my background in the electronics end of computers is very heavy dating back to when Mr. Bill Gates and I were just kids and he was busy bringing us DOS  (remember that?) so the rest of us building them would have something useful to do with them.  For those of you that don't know what DOS is, that was the operating system that Microsoft first came out with before Windows was created and changed the world forever. This is why my friends have called me Geekster for years now.  But if you like, you can call me Steve as well.  I have spent a few years jail breaking into smart phones and taking out all the "bloat" as Winterstorm calls it or "crap ware" as I call it.  Taking out the bloat from a smart phone and Windows is somewhat similar in some ways and in other ways totally different.  Trust me when I say it's far easier to deal with apps on a smartphone.  Most of them have nothing to do with the underlying operating system and that's the way Microsoft should have treated Windows over the years instead of it becoming one big mess. 

Nonetheless, you get the picture, and so when I found WinReducer I knew I had found a gold mine.  I read a very well written article at this website: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] .   I first downloaded Winreducer8.1 about 2 weeks ago now and I have lost count of how many builds I have created already and its amazing how much I have learned just in that amount of time.  I have two computers, one is a Dell Laptop and I have been using it as my so called Virtual Machine or guinea pig   haha   My other computer is a desktop Acer where I have been busy creating as nice of a slimmed down version of 8.1 for my laptop first.  It has a calculator and a few other features along with networking.     Anyways, goodbye Modern UI's, and goodbye Internet Explorer and lots of other stuff that should have never even been put into an Operating System to begin with (and sorry but that is just my humble opinion).  And then from there I went to work on a version for my desktop that is used entirely for a game I have played for ten years now called X-Beyond The Frontier.  It's NOT an American game.  It's very British and has the best AI you can find on the market that drives it.  And no I am not trying to sell anyone on a game.  I am simply trying to paint a picture of what I am working on for my desktop computer.  And yes, as you guessed, I first have taken everything having to do with networking or the internet out of it.  And I still have not been successful.

Now I would like to share a few tips I have in starting out with WinReducer to save you from a lot of headaches.  First, do yourself a favor and go buy some decent DVD's to work with!!  I had more problems starting out with DVD's becoming corrupted.  I also have found out that not every ISO that is created by WinReducer is perfect either.  I have had a couple of them corrupted before they have made it to a DVD.  And I give Winterstorm a lot of credit, however, no one in this world is perfect, and so expect there to be a few flaws here and there.  It's a great piece of software and I can tell he has spent countless hours putting his whole heart and soul into what he has freely given and shared with the rest of us.  I was VERY happy to become a VIP member right away.  I have already made my own fair share of errors in creating the ISO's that I have been successful with.   One last bit of advice is always start out with a fresh load of the OS you want to work with.  I had some bad experiences already trying to make changes from the last build that I did.  A lot of corruption can be introduced doing that.  Just remember that every time you move data from one place to another there is always the possibility of corruption being introduced even if it's just one file.  And if your luck is like mine, that one file is likely to be a very critical one   We are working with some very big files here and so that can also increase the risk of corruption happening. 

There are a couple areas I have had a lot of problems with and need to take that up with Winterstorm or if he chooses to start a new topic on them, that would be nice too.  The areas I have had problems with are the Unattended options so as of now I just leave that out and don't mind.  Also I have had a lot of problems with getting Themes to work right.  For some reason they never get created in the ISO and so no Themes show up in the new install.  Again, no big deal and I can live with it.  Let me be clear here though and add that I am only having problems with the Windows Desktop Themes and not the WinReducer Themes.  The WinReducer Themes are totally awesome and may I suggest the Space Theme.  It looks so awesome when your install begins in the clouds.   Obviously I am doing something wrong with the Windows Desktop themes and I am sure I will get it all sorted out.

I would like to help anyone and so don't be shy and speak up.  I have always believed that the only stupid question is the one that you didn't ask.  I am very down to earth and love helping in any way I can.  Hopefully, I can help with any Beta testing necessary to make progress with this project.  I know I have shared a lot of my own opinions and if you wanna give me hell and poke fun at me, go ahead.  I don't mind other people sharing their opinions and telling me where I am wrong. 

Anyway, I look forward to a happy future with what Winterstorm has started and I hope everyone is enjoying WinReducer as much as I am.  And I am very happy to be a part of this family.  And one last time, THANK YOU Winterstorm for doing this!!!

Steve

And so ............ after I wrote my introduction I got to snooping around and loving the forums and how they are set up.  And I found Winterstorm's EXTREME presets and gonna try them out.  Sounds like the perfect thing I need to work with my game.  I will let you know how it works out.

Hello and welcome.

I think its one of the longest posts here and it was really nice to get some infos

i also used DOS for some time but my first experiance was windows 95 (in 1998). And since windows xp im removing all "crap" i dont need and its not limited to PCs /Notebooks. I also removed things from android/ios smartphones.

Your "problem" with your dvd´s: why dont you try using an USB Drive? i cant remember when i last used a cd or dvd and 3 or my 4 Notebooks dont even have an cd/dvd drive.
also installation of i.e. windows 7 (reduced) takes to my ssd from an usb3 drive like 5 minutes

it´s always nice to see people who are interested in this software and want to help and post bugs, it always makes each version of winreducer better and better.


i moved for now this post to the forum news, because we dont really own an off topic section. maybe winter will create one.


EDIT: i also like this software and im greatful to winter for it.
one of my hobbys is bug/beta/alpha etc testing, so if you get anything you can count on me !

Thanks for your welcome and your response to my post.  And thank you very much too for your suggestion on getting a USB drive.  I am sure it would be far quicker than burning DVD's anyways.  The only problem would be if you have more than one version going but that's an easy workaround using the USB drive for the interim build and then once it's like I want it, then burn it to a DVD.  And I have no problem with you keeping me straight on what forum posts belong in.  That's always kinda confusing when you're new in the neighborhood.   

Geekster

Hello and Welcome,

I read your post with a great attention, with really interesting information, and as KrX said "the longest post" in the forum

The WinReducer Project only exists because there are many motivated and important users, in different domains (moderators, builds testers, translators, bugs reporters, ideas or requests options) ... this participates to improve all software by much !

I'm totally agree with you about that : "the only stupid question is the one that you didn't ask" ! We are all here to share our own experiences (bad or good) even if we are beginners or experienced users : this is the most important to me and all moderators !

As you noticed there are still remaining bugs, but with the wonderful and motivated WinReducer Forum community, many of them have been already solved and many of them will be issued in the future !

In the next days, there will be new important builds (to test and reports good or bad things) with new options, and in the next weeks there will be new WinReducer Software

So, WinReducer is an alive project and will be much more alive in the future (I'm preparing many interesting new software), so if you are interested to do tests you will have everything you need

PS : I've created an "Off Topic" based on the excellent KrX request and moved the thread in it

Thanks again WinterStorm for the welcome aboard and yes I will certainly help with any testing to keep the project going    It's really nice to see users like KrX that have a similar background and interests as me.  So, now I must go and write KrX an email about a "bug" I found last night and hopefully there is an easy fix.

Geekster

hey,

you dont need to espacially send me an email. you can open a thread in the right forum. maybe someone already got the same problem.

i will also do some teststo find what is causing it.
but that will be after christmas, i will spend the next days at my parents home.

So i wish all of you a Merry Chrismas, and see you soon.


EDIT: but that doesnt mean that you cant send me an email or PN a lot of other people do it to so i have no problem with that

Thanks to KrX's suggestion I ended my year off quite nicely and finally went and bought a few USB Flashdrives.  I spent the whole day mastering how to create a bootable USB.  I finally succeeded and so much for burning DVD's!!!  I think that was the fastest I've ever seen Windows install.  This will certainly make testing and getting creative a whole lot more fun.  I had no idea when I bought these 3 flashdrives that there was two speeds and these are the 2.0.  However, after looking around on websites I see the 3.0 must be relatively new since they are much harder to find.  I got a really good deal on these 3 PNY 8Gb for $20 and then 50 DVD R's for another $20.  So I am all ready to rock and roll now. 

And by the way KrX I forgot to tell you how great it is to be working with someone else that has a background in Androids and hacking them.  It certainly sheds a whole new perspective and deeper appreciation for all the hard work that Winter has put into WinReducer.  I feel quite lucky to have gotten involved at a really great time when lots of new things are coming about.  I spent a whole day working with Windows 10 the way it is and I have to say Windows 8.1 is very tame compared to it   haha   I felt like Windows 10 wanted to take over my world and so it did not take long to slap it down with a WinReduced 8.1 really fast.   Trust me when I say I very much look forward to making Windows 10 far more worthwhile and tame.  Thank you for this opportunity and best wishes to everyone here involved in the year 2016. 

Steve

I love your story my friend. I work on WinReducer to make my projects one project I made over and over since last year some might of heard of it some might not heard of it it's called Windows 7 Final Remix I've made this OS.

Without Winreducer I do not know how I would make my projects.  I love making customized OS and tweak with it for the fun of it.

It's great to have a hobby like that.  Its' something to keep your mind sharp and it's self-fulfilling when you accomplish something like that.  Thanks for sharing that with me.

Geekster