w3j Clean Install

Never reformatted laptops so wondering how that would work out. I have my own copy of windows XP pro (away from all the laptop's cds for 2 weeks), but I am getting startled by lack of space and incredible amount of junk asus provided me with. I honestly only need nero, power4gear, and windows itself, everything else I lived without unbothered now. Plus the 34 gb backup partition is bothering me.

The question is, if I were to take my XP disk, and reformat the computer fresh (backing up my data on external), would I have any problems getting necessary drivers from this computer from internet, or do I absolutely need the CDs that came with it for installation?

 

I don't think you will have problems doing so, as windows XP will have the drivers required for the hardware. If you need to update or have other drivers, all you need to do so is to remove the the windows drivers and install yours, for example the graphics drivers.

 

Whoa... let's see if I can help you a bit here first by clearing some stuff up. The recovery partition is only a gigabyte or so at most. If you're talking about the second partition, that is for documents and things like that to keep separately from the OS in case something (virus) should happen which requires a clean reinstall. Secondly, you almost need the W3J driver CD in order to get the computer working properly. There are Asus specific patches and drivers and things like the sound drivers, CPU hotfix, Asus programs, etc. are on this disc and you'll lose some basic functionality by not using it. Most will be on the internet but I think a few might only be on the disc. Maybe if you described what exactly is bothering you and the breakdown of your partitions and installed programs, I could give you some ways to clean things up without a reinstall which is rarely necessary.

~ Brett

 

Actually hm the second partition is free ... oops lol, i made a quick assumption its what my gateway did (they wasted 27 gigs on backup, and even gave me no access to the second partition)

Otherwise - i have 56 processes running out of the box. Why? Last time I installed windows xp myself I had 29, and I don't see why there are so many, and I really want to minimize that number...(could be placebo thinking but yar xD). I do not need an antivirus or anything, so I removed that pretty fast. I actually dled the crucial drivers from the site, will get the others later.


Also - after a lil bit of time a strange freezing up problem developed, and I did go through patching things with wtv Asus Live and Windows told me to do.

All the drivers needed are available online - graphics,touchpad,lan/wireless,bluetooth, modem... wtv (although I don't need the last one).

Although if there is a simpler approach to all this, I'd do it.

edit: out of the asus provided programs I only enjoyed power4gear and splendid video tech.

 

i just formatted a week and a half ago, the only device that didn't have a download on the asus site was the TPM, which i don't use anyway. Of course, it might be better to use the drivers off the cd anyways, the asus download site sucks, i got like 13KB/s, when i can get up to 700 or so on faster servers. i'm a big fan of a clean install, i didn't install asus splendid. power4gear i did though, since i didn't feel like trying out NHC just yet.

 

Clean install, are overatted, if only there was choice to NOT install symantec (or something like that, I don't use it, only jetico firewall)...

I always optimize windows afterwards, disable bunch of services etc.
About drivers only for graphic card needs some precautions, but you have driver cleaner...

For example, did you know that it's possible to compress registry....

 

I just got my W3j a couple weeks ago and did a clean install right away. All of the drivers, including the TPM and others are included on Asus's webpage. You do not need the drivers CD so long as you can access the internet.

The only one you will need to get started is your LAN or Wireless drivers. Without it you will be dead in the water.

 

Very much true! The reasoning is such, that once you have the internet working flawless, you will be able to get everything else working easily since, you can download or use forums to find everything else you need.

I format my desktops every 6-8 months, and I have a CD that i created with all the programs I need to install plus a notepad document containing valuable information on what sites to go to, and instructions for things you would do once a year or so.

So yes it is kind of like creating your own personalized recovery/backup CD, with all the files and installation files, drivers, and instructions to help getting things moving smoothly each time you format your computers or laptops.