Should I Reformat my new XPS M1530

I just got notified by DHL that my Doorman signed for my computer, so when I get home I'm wondering if I should reformat the computer or just delete what I don't want. I don't have that much time to screw around with it these few days but I also don't want to start installing all my stuff then decide I actually wanted to do it.

Can anyone weigh the pros and cons of deleting vs reformatting in terms of performance on the system I have (See specs)?

 

Always Reformat.

 

I reformatted. In the end you just get paranoid, whether or not you managed to clear your harddisk up of all the poo that is already installed on your system.

 

reformatting will take less (of your) time than trying to clean off all the junk.

also, it will produce the perfect result, whereas you won't be sure if you just delete stuff.

 

Its just that I've run into huge pain in the ass issues trying to find proprietary stuff in the past so I was wondering if I should even bother. Also do they actually send you everything you need for a fresh install or am I going to have to download a bunch of stuff to a flash drive in advance. Theres also the issue that I've had install discs from companies throw some of the bs addons back on when you use them to reformat, and I don't have a clean copy of Vista or XP available to me.

 

Fresh operating system is the best idea.

I'd get all the drivers needed first onto a flash drive or CD. The most important ones I think are chipset and WLAN/LAN drivers. The rest, once you have internet access, you can always search and download the other drivers.

 

I didnt reformat mine.. i guess im screwed.. :S

 

Don't dells come with OS CD's and driver CD's?

 

Not sure guess i find out when I get home!

 

They give you what you need to reformat and reinstall, but its always nice to have the latest drivers. Particularly sound and video. Make sure the bios is updated to the latest, there were issues with previous versions

 

yeah id reformat mine first thing. dell outs sooo much propretary crap on theyre laptops. go for a clean install of your choice of os's. they fill theyre laptops with"bloatware"

 

This is just like asking

"Should I eat Breakfast in the morning?" Ofcourse you should reformat, if you want to remove all the crap dell sends you. Performence wont degrade, if anything the system will respond much quicker to your actions.

Just like Eating breakfast in the morning is good for your body.

 

A no-brainer! REFORMAT!!!

 

Or buy a Latitude or Precision model and not have to worry about it.

 

I am at a loss as to why you think reformatting is necessary. Do you suspect the doorman of planting virii or trojans on it?
Reformatting will just put it where it was to start with along with everything Dell put on in the first place unless you go buy a Vista at a store somewhere. I screwed my 1530 up in 3 days and reformatted/restored it using what is builtin and started all over again. Now click on notepad is turned off and end of trouble. It just returns it to what it started with.

 

I've heard people have problems with finding certain drivers, internet disconnecting, taking longer to boot up, among other things. Any of you get this kind of experience?

 

I did, I followed Les's guide and everything went smoothly for me

It removed all the *the little extra gifts that Dell sent me that I didn't want nor need*

 

It sounds like you did a recover, and not a clean install, that will restore it to the factory system, which is bloated, we are talking about completely wiping it.

 

You REALLY don't know what your talking about. Obviously with only one post here, you haven't read enough on WHY to reformat.

 

totally agree with jack, like I said, he doesnt seem to know anything about reformatting.

 

Reformatting really isn't a big issue, everyone here makes it seem necessary, it's not. Uninstall the stuff you don't want and that is really all you need to do. I am an UBER Geek and I did not bother formatting.

DO make sure you defrag right away, a defrag should be done after any OS reload, even after a format. Dell does not defrag after loading the OS so do so.

 

Yes i agree, my system is VERY fragmented when i got it, and i had to defrag it and it took about 2-3 hours.. Everything is All Good now