Filed under: Windows
How to build a smaller and faster Windows VM
by Jordan Running Jul 20th 2006
When you're running a Virtual Machine, you don't always need all the trimmings--usually your goal is to get a particular set of tasks done, and a full-fledged install of Windows has a lot that gets in the way of that and can slow you down. Jeff Atwood has a great tutorial at his blog about creating smaller virtual machines. He says that since Microsoft made the Windows version of Virtual PC free, he's "become obsessed with producing the smallest possible Windows XP Virtual PC image." While your run-of-the-mill XP install takes up more than 1GB, Atwood's tutorial squeezes it down to 758MB. Still big, but better. One of his steps involves the use of XPlite, an app that will cost you $39.95, which might not be an investment more casual VMers would want to make. His tutorial is aimed at Microsoft Virtual PC, but it's probably applicable to other virtualization solutions as well.
The standard del.icio.us bookmarklet is great—I especially like the auto-complete for tags—but sometimes it can be slow to load, which is a pain if you just want to slap a few new tags on a bookmark. John Resig has created the solution: the 
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
