Question about clean install

I know in one of the stickies it goes over this, but I remember in a topic someone went over a clean vista install with really good detail, talking about which programs were good to keep and get rid of. I think it was in regards to the M50VM laptops. If someone could point me in the direction of the topic it would be much appreciated. Another question about clean installing; does the Recovery DVD that came with my laptop have every program that came with my laptop? So if I was to do the clean install but put everything on my laptop it would be identical to when I got it?

 

Follow this tutorial.
http://vistahomepremium.windowsreinstall.com/installnewhdd/installnewhdd.htm

After you install Vista please install the drivers located on your Drivers and Utilities disk that was included with your computer as well as any other disks.

Hope that helps.

 

Shotzie, you can use the searchbox in the top-right corner to find that topic, if you remember some keywords. Is it perhaps the M50VM review thread, or maybe the owner's lounge?

As to recovery and clean install questions, you can check the Info Booth_FAQ, question #14. As to what software from ASUS you do not need, and other optimization steps that you can take to tweak Vista, you can check my Vista optimization guide.

(Links to Info Booth and Vista guide in my signature).

 

Thanks for the quick responses guys, and yes, it was the Vista optimization guide that I was looking for!

 

So after reading through those guides, I'm left with with a question. Is optimizing vista the same as doing a clean vista install if I haven't added any programs to my laptop yet?

 

Not really. The part about removing ASUS programs will of course not have to be done on a clean install. But the rest of the tweaks still help (like, battery saving tweaks, speed tweaks, etc.)

 

That guide that TravisA posted is really good, but I tried to find my serial key and couldn't. It's not with the Vista disk that I got, where could I find it?

 

The S/N of the Vista OEM Install that you got is on the bottom of the notebook, on a sticker.

 

Awesome I found it, thanks!

 

So after reading through all of these guides I think I am nearly ready to start. My final question is,

When I boot off of my Vista DVD, when do I select which bloatware ends up on my laptop? And I still need to do the thing where if it prompts me for the Drivers DVD I reboot and then install the drivers from there correct?

 

2nd question, yes you still need to do that.

1st question, as long as you don't insert the driver and utils CD, no bloatware will get installed.

 

Ohhh! So the bloatware is on the drivers and utilities DVD. It finally makes sense to me.

 

So now I am at the step where I've clean installed. I have to install the drivers now, but what do I run to install the drivers and a few programs that I want to keep. Autorun? Setup? Will these allow me to choose the programs I install?

 

Autorun should be fine. Yes they should allow customization. As far as i understand Vista driver CDs have an easy interface where you just click checkboxes for drivers and apps that you want to install, and then let it do its thing.

 

Thanks for all the help, I'm going to try that out when I get home later.