If you’re not happy with using the heavily customised version of Linux that comes with the Asus Eee PC 701 and 900, there’s nothing to stop you installing Windows on it instead. Actually, that’s not strictly true–   with only a 4Gb SSD drive, the Eee PC 701 won’t be much use once there’s a 3.8Gb patched Windows XP installation sitting on it. It's a less of a squeeze on the Eee PC 900 , but even its 16Gb drive will be better off without the Windows components you'll never use. 

Unfortunately, even if you opt not to install any of Windows XP’s extraneous components, you won’t make much of a dent in its disk footprint – much of the bloat is installed whether you want it or not. The solution is to create a customised Windows XP installation CD that just installs the files you need. All you need is a free download, a Windows XP CD and a little know how…

The free download is called nLite and it lets you create a custom Windows XP install CD that only includes the components you need. You’ll need to install and run it on a Windows PC to create the CD in the first place, so if all you have is the Eee PC, you’re out of luck.

You also need a Windows XP install CD – a restore disc won’t work – and an external CD drive for installing Windows on the Eee PC.

Incidentally, you can use nLite to create a Windows Vista slipstreamed install disc, but the Eee PC really isn’t up to running Vista in all its glory (*ahem*), so it’s advisable to stick with Windows XP. 

Step 1
Create a new folder on your Windows PC called Eee PC and copy the entire contents of your Windows XP install CD into it. Unless it’s already part of your Windows XP install CD, you’ll also need the full Windows XP Service Pack 2 download. Put this in the Eee PC folder too.

Update: Microsoft released Windows XP Service Pack 3 through Windows Update on 7 May, but you'll need to download the entire update (316.4Mb) separately to use it with nLite. Simply copy the downloaded file it into your Eee PC folder instead of SP2 (it doesn't matter if you're using a Windows XP SP2 install CD).

Step 2
Download nLite (v1.4.1 is the latest version – 2.42Mb) and unless you already have it installed, download .NET version 2 from the same page too (22Mb). Install .NET first, then nLite. 

Step 3
Start nLite, click the Next button on the first screen and then click the Browse button to direct it to the folder that contains your Windows XP files. nLite will automatically detect which version of XP the files are for and show Service Pack is included, if any (we’ll be adding SP2 or Service Pack 3 later, if it’s not part of your install CD). Click Next, then Next again to skip the Presets screen. 

Step 4
If you need to add Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3 to the install CD, click the Service Pack button. Also click the Components, Unattended, Options, Tweaks and Bootable ISO buttons. Click Next. 

Step 5
If you chose to add a Service Pack, browse to the location of the SP2 or SP3 file you downloaded in step 1 and click Next when you’re done. Don’t select any options on the Compatibility dialog box that pops up – just click OK to close it. 

Step 6
The Components screen lets you select the Windows components you want to remove from the Windows installation, in 10 different categories. Rather than try to explain which components to remove, we’ll just show screenshots showing the selections for each category. Don’t be tempted to remove options other than the ones we show – these are already the bare minimum of components you need for the Eee PC.

Applications We’re not installing any of Windows' built-in applications, but feel free to add any you think may be useful to you – just remember that they all take up disk space...	Drivers Asus supplies a Windows XP driver CD with the Eee PC, so we don’t need any of Windows’ built-in drivers just need the webcam driver from Cameras and Camcorders (thanks TW!).
Hardware support You shouldn’t need to make any additional changes here, unless you plan to connect an Iomega Zip drive.	Keyboards Remove everything but the language you use – this will be everything but United Kingdom for most people.
Languages As with Keyboards – remove everything expect Western Europe and United States > English (United Kingdom)	Multimedia It’s up to you whether you install the Luna theme and Windows Sounds – we can do without them.
Network You may want to keep Windows Messenger here, but there are better downloadable chat clients that will work with MSN.	Operating System Options
Services	Directories