[codetrotter]

I remember in the WinXP era there existed a tool called BartPE that you could use to make WinXP bootable live CDs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BartPE

[godzillabrennus]

Who can also forget the venerable “nlite” for slipstreaming updates, drivers, third party software, and minimizing the foot print of Windows XP.

https://www.nliteos.com/index.html

[accrual]

I credit nLite for my general NT knowledge today. Taking Windows apart and putting it back together was a fun way to squeeze every MHz/Mb from your hardware.