Just bought a ASUS M50Vm-A1!!!!! :)

Well I finally made my decision and bought a ASUS M50Vm-A1 Notebook today!









I have a question though...

What should be the first thing I do to the laptop?
What I mean is, should I install Vista 64bit OS? (Currently has Vista Home 32bit OS)
Should I install XP 64bit OS?
Should I stay with Vista or even switch to XP? Lose Direct x10 and play games with x9 XP?
or any other options?

Reason why I say this is.... When I bought my HP, the first thing I did was installed XP because Vista is not my favorite LOL but maybe with this ASUS its better to keep it installed and get use to it? or gaming and programs better with XP?

I have read the reviews of those 50+ pages or 25+ pages but just get lots with all the drivers and comments LOL

So if someone can help me out, I would really appreciate it!

I also HATE all the trial sh*t that is installed with it already! LOL What would be the best way to remove that stuff? Just add/remove?

THANKS!:wink:

 

Congrats on the purchase. I'm sure you won't be disappointed, the M50 is quite powerful for the price. My personal recommendation would be to do a complete clean reinstall of Vista (32-bit), using the recovery CDs. It will give you a chance to leave out any bloatware and gain an extra ~10GB of hard disk space if you decide to remove the recovery partition.

 

Thanks!:smile:

Im sure I wont be disappointed too LOL Considering im not a hardcore gamer as I would rather use a Desktop PC if I was but anywayz, its a really nice system for me.

So do I take the backup disc that came with the notebook, insert and just re-install Vista 32bit? (Only over the C: drive right?, leaving the D: empty for DATA?)
I was thinking installing XP 64bit on the d: drive, u think thats a good idea? or just combine the 2 hard drives? Sorry Im kinda a noob at this, although I did partitioned my harddrive lots on my other laptops and desktops. Its just its a new notebook and I dont wanna screw anything up lol

Thanks!

+Rep

 

If you boot to the recovery disc, it will give you three choices concerning partitions. When I got my M50, I chose the option that would delete all of the existing partitions and create two new ones (one for the OS and another for data). Having the second partition is a decent way to protect your personal files, should the OS installation become corrupt in the future, and it makes the backup process (to an external HD) a little bit easier.

As for 64-bit... I wouldn't recommend it unless you're comfortable with the potential compatibility problems and/or need it for a specific purpose. Having access to all 4GB of RAM isn't going to give you much of a noticeable performance gain, if any.

 

Thank you for that information.

Well I think I might just pop the recovery disc in and see if I can get those steps and just choose the option that u did "delete all of the existing partitions and create two new ones (one for the OS and another for data)" That way I can start fresh without all that trial crap haha

I will think about the 64-bit OS a little ways down the road Need to get use to Vista since im always running XP

Thanks

 

Update: Well I used the recovery disc and everything was the same of course LOL (Thats why its called a backup) So I just removed some programs that had the trial versions and etc.

Update 2: I tried again and this time it ask for my drivers disc, i inserted that and it did its thing. Now it did its re-install and setup and has no other crap installed, I think this was suppose to happen this way the first time lol

Question now...
What would u guys recommend installing Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate? (Both are 32-bit OS)

Here are a few good links I found helpful....

Code:

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_02.asp

Code:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/default.aspx

I can see what the difference of programs it has installed but what im wondering is, is it worth installing it? Does it help improve anything? or is it still a hog just like any Vista version with a larger (GB) install because of more programs...?

Thx again

 

I'd recommend installing Vista 64, all the drivers are included on the Asus CD and it recognizes and allocates all 4 gigs of ram. Haven't had a problem since, just make sure to turn off UAC after you get it installed

 

Well thanks for the tip but doesn't the 64-bit have more problems with applications when installing? Will some games not work when installing? or does this even become a problem with 64-bit OS? LOL

I was looking at a copy of Vista Ultimate 64-bit OS

 

Well I just said screw it and im gonna give Vista Ultimate 64-bit OS a try lol
Its all trial and error and im use to always trying new partitions, operating systems, linux and so on.... I can also go back and try something else.
I will comment back after its done
Google.ca has been my best friend today lol

But if someone can still help answer my question in my previous comment, that would be awesome!

Thx

EDIT: Here are some helpful links for anyone thinking or looking into a 64-bit OS...

Code:

http://64-bit-computers.com/windows-vista-32-bit-vs-64-bit-benchmark.html

Code:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/64-bit.aspx

Code:

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_ff_x64.asp

Code:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/default.aspx

 

congrats on the system it looks great and you WONT be dissapointed

 

Hi everyone, so is there a difference if I use the hard disk partition vs the recovery CD to reformat? I do not want any of the ASUS webcam bloatware and trial software....

thanks

 

Well what I did was installed Vista Ultimate 64-Bit OS and then installed the driver disc. Once u insert the driver disc, u can choose all drivers and applications u want to install. I actually isntalled almost everything again LOL except the trail stuff. I installed the camera crap but I wanted to see how it works and try it out, I can always add/remove it later on.
Now if u use the recovery disc and re-installed Vista Home premiuim, once it boots up it will ask u for the driver disc and I believe u can choose the stuff u want like I did when installing them onto Vista Ultimate.
Im thinking the partitioned HD will have all the trial stuff on it if u were to re-install it....

 

Congratulations! Mine showed up late yesterday afternoon....

The first thing I did was put a command prompt shortcut on the desktop.

Then got rid of Norton, and trial office, loaded a bunch of software (migrating Thunderbird malbox was... interesting), realized I didn't like the face recognition for logon, but fell in love with the fingerprint scanner for logon, realized a custom developed work application wouldn't work, so gotta get with developer...

Now, I've backed all that up and shrunk the Vista partition by 50G... Next step: Gonna try installing Arch Linux on that 50G partition. Wish me luck... :GEEK:

 

Thanks man, I hope ur enjoying urs!

I installed Vista Ultimate 64-Bit OS and everything is working great! Games, programs, u name it, runs sweet.
Did u install Linux? How did that go? lol
I was thinking of partitioning the HD and installing XP and test it out for gaming to see if it runs better then Vista the hog lol Well see in a couple days, right now I wanna use it and not be fixing it LOL

Cheers, Lilskata

 

Hey guys, I just got this laptop as well and I'm pretty excited about it.
Some of my friends told me that I should get rid of the Vista os that was preinstalled and install XP. They're saying it will work better.
What I want to know is where do I get all the drivers for the XP?
I would really appreciate yout input.
Also, does it make sense to reinstall Vista or just go ahead and remove the trial software. Would really appreciate some advice. Thanks.

 

My advice... Don't listen to your friends. Make your own decision about Vista after trying it.

As for reinstallation, it's usually better to do a fresh reinstall and include only the software you'll actually use. By doing this, you can also remove the recovery parition if you'd like to gain some extra HD space. Either that, or uninstall anything you won't use and clean out any useless registry entries.

 

Vista isn't all that bad. Like any operating system, it does have it's pros and cons. eg. Vista will have better power management vs XP. Like will said, try it out first and see if you like it.
As for XP drivers, most of the drivers in your drivers disk will install on XP despite it saying "Vista only". For those drivers that are not, Ken from gentechpc has posted those drivers on his M50 review.

 

@rohustler
I would have to agree with the other comments, Vista actually runs nice on this machine.
I had a topic where I just purchased the A1 and I was like I hate Vista, Xp is gonna be installed ASAP and etc. Funny thing is, I have been using Vista since I bought the laptop! LOL Its really good for power management like said above and its overall a decent OS once u get use to it. I currently running Vista Ultimate 64-Bit and its great! I may someday partition the HDD and installed XP 64-Bit OS, but for now im too busy to try and everything works great.
Enjoy the new laptop!

 

Hey lilskaterpunk,

I also just got myself the M50VM-A1, and am thinking about reformatting it, for 64bit compatibility (one specific reason is the RAM).

If you could maybe drop me a line, I'd like to ask a couple questions relating to all this.

Hopefully you see this, thanks.

 

Why not ask the questions in public? Like that, more of us can think about them, and you may also get your answers faster.

BTW, are you sure you want to post your email address like this? It will end up on google...

 

If you want to post it, you should put brackets on it, so at least it wont get spam mailed, or something like that.

You should just post the question here. It might help fellow users wanting to install 64 bit Vista on their laptop

 

I was just wondering about how lilskaterpunk got his copy of 64-bit Vista...

 

He probably .. bought it? lol