[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile ROM Development] daxy:
Part 2: Adding / Removing programs

Right now we know that the kitchen works. We have rebuiled the official version and it boots up fine. Make sure to test your extracted ROM works otherwise you will loose a lot of time. Now it's time to make changes. Keep in mind that the following is what I've teached myself and that there might be better methods in adding/removing packages.

The easiest is removing packages. Just double-click on the package and it won't be included. If you want it back, just double-click again and it's back in. Easy as that.

Keep in mind that you can't remove OEM packages and that if you're removing packages from the SYS you have to be carefull as you might run the risk you remove a core application and that Windows won't boot anymore. You can however safely remove packages like LiveSearch, MSTag, OneNote, etc without any problems.

The EXT directory is where all packages reside. This directory is devided in 2 sub-directories. One for Rhodium specific packages and one for Shared platforms. By default all applications are in the Rhodium directory but you might want to change this manually to Shared if you're planning on building for multiple platforms. For now we'll keep them in the Rhodium directory.

You need to either find EXT packages online, or you need to convert CAB files to EXT packages. That is basically it.

I've found a lot of new EXT files here: http://www.everythingdiamond.info/showthread.php?t=94. You can download new EXT folders and copy them into the VK\EXT\Rhodium\<built>\Rhodium_External_Packages directory. Now load VK and Load your previous saved config. Scroll down the list and you will see your new package. This package is not yet included in the Kitchen. This is useful if you're upgrading packages so you'll know which one is new and which one is old.

If you're upgrading packages, keep in mind that some do depend on each other. For example Manila heavily depends on all kinds of other packages. When you're upgrading one, upgrade the others as well unless you're certain there are no dependances. You'll find out when your upgrading. Make sure to safe your work very often so you can always revert back to your previous situation.

As I mentioned you can also convert CAB's to EXT. This can be done using the package-creator from Ervius. TotalFire Package Converter does the job as well, but I haven't used it yet.

Download your application as cab file. Open the package converter, open the cab file and it converts to an EXT directory. This EXT directory can be copied into the kitchen again.

Adding your own EXT is more complicated. For example if you want to create a package which holds all your registry tweaks.

You can either download this file and change the .reg file, or you can take the hard way and learn by using this tutorial: http://www.mediafire.com/file/j15nqfzkwz5/CreatingOEM.zip

Both are written by user kwbr. See here for more info: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=480714.

I believe this concludes this section. You should be able to add and remove packages right now. Next stop, installing a different Windows build.

Please sent me feedback on how to improve my posts.