Ongoing Optimizing Vista for Mediaportal (1 Viewer)

[eXDee]

Hey Guys,
Just installed Vista Business 64bit as to take advantage of EVR video acceleration.
With XP i had it trimmed down so mediaportal was the shell, login boxes and everything were disabled/hidden and anything unnecessary was disabled.
Now vista has a whole bunch more stuff, apart from trolling through Autoruns/services, what kind of optimizations are useful to speed things up?
Don't want to disable aero as someone mentioned that this disables EVR DXVA video acceleration.

So my goal is to make it look less like a computer and more like a media platform - a transformation.

Specs are loaded in profile.

 

[happy]

im currently working on this also, take a look at vlite

seems to be the start, long winded process, but load virtual pc and try and see how its working and when you got a good setup try it on a live machine

 

[eXDee]

Yeah i know about vlite, i used nlite (only trimmed some) for my xp install.
The problem is i don't know what is safe to remove.

edit: from searching it seems theres a lot of interest in VLite to get vista trimmed down. But no one ever replies.
So if anyone is interested at all and wants to give some input on what to remove/what not, that would be useful.

Also found this, which confirms what i'd head:

Actually you should not disable AERO if you are using EVR. EVR uses AERO (at least one possible side effect is tearing as video rendering is synced by AERO).

DXVA2 itself should work without AERO.

br,
tourettes / MP dev

The goal here is to have vista running as lean as possible, so its not really about removing things to decrease the install size, more so about trying to speed it up, and then customization so it appears less like a computer. But unncessary things like games and windows mail etc will still be removed. This is obviously coming from the point of a dedicated mediacentre.
Also it cant chop off parts that will likely be needed by mediaportal plugins.

So far i know the following must be kept
*Aero (if using EVR/DXVA)
*Anything media player related

In the compatibility window i have ticked:
*Aero Glass
*Internet Explorer (i actually use firefox but im not sure on this)
*Reccommended
*Windows Update
*Mediaportal (in applications tab)

Now onto the components - what i've ticked to REMOVE

Accessories:
*Games
*Mobility Center
*Speech Support
*Windows sidebar and gadgets

Drivers:
*Diva Server
*Modems
*Printers
*QLogic Fibre Channel Adapter
*Scanners

Hardware Support:
*Fax Support
*Modem Support
*Windows Mobile Device Centre
*Windows Portable Devices (???)

Languages:
*All ticked, i personally only speak english, so the rest aren't of any use to me. If someone has a good reason why i shouldnt do this then i'd be glad to hear it.

Multimedia:
*Movie and DVD Maker
*Music and Video Samples
*Sample Pictures
*Sideshow
*Windows Calendar

Network:
*Unsure, i wouldnt imagine leaving these all in would affect running processes/speed?

Services:
*Unsure

System:
*Digital Locker
*Malicious Software Removal Tool? (not sure on this one, i dont plan to run an antivirus for obvious reasons, but not sure if this is a good idea. Manual scans every month or two are likely though)
*Windows Defender (Runs in background, as with antivirus i dont see the need)
*Windows Easy Transfer

Tweaks

Security:
*Antispyware: Disabled
*User Account control: Disabled

System:
*Autoplay: Disabled (stick in a DVD/CD etc, dont want a window popping up while in fullscreen)

Explorer:
*Control Panel Classic View: Enabled
*Show extensions for known file types: Enabled
*Show hidden files and folders: Enabled

Internet Explorer:
*Both Phishing options disabled

Services
*Unsure, might be better to config them here than completely remove them above....