Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide

I lost the nice Dell XPS Black Wallpaper

When I reinstalled, I did not get the nice Black XPS wallpaper, if you have it, can you upload it here? Or tell me what util has it in the drivers and util disk.

 

OK, here is the BlueTooth Fix that worked for me. The XPS had lost all sight of the Bluetooth after reinstall. Was not even coming up in the list in the Drivers - My System list. Thanks Apocnarok.

Still getting an error message / unable to install Windows Vista Update KB929777

 

OK, Final hang-up/Snag in the Vista Reinstall on my XPS m1530. Windows Update Keeps trying to download and install Update for Windows Vista (KB929777), but once downloaded, it fails at install.

Searching the Windows Help revealed an odd solution. The problem (they say) is due to 32 bit systems running over 3g of memory. I have 4g. There solution is even more odd .... PULL 2 GIG OF MEMEORY, INSTALL THE UPDATE AND THEN RE-INSTALL THE MEMORY. :EEK:

Check it our for your self. Microsoft help and support

Surely there is a better fix than that? No one else in this reinstall has never run into this?

 

I've had a problem with that patch before, too.

I don't remember the exact solution but I first had to uninstall the previous install attempts. It shoes in the Add/Remove Programs, if I recall correctly.

There is a workaround instead of uninstalling the physical RAM.
http://www.petri.co.il/forums/archive/index.php/t-14939.html

It took a few attempts but I got it working. That was on my last M1530. My new one I got earlier this week had no issues after I did a clean install, ala this thread. Go figure.

 

OK. That was just Stupid . WORKED LIKE A CHARM.

Who came up with idea to make a patch that will not work with certain memory loads. Anyway, I just used cut and past from the linked forum with the CMD command line commands. After it said complete I typed Exit to get out and then rebooted.

First reboot. 1.25g system memory (down from 3.5g)

Installed patch ... worked without a hitch.

Follow the next commmand line

Second boot. 3.5g system memory. All is well.

Thanks for that link

 

Sounds like you don't have Vista SP1 yet. I can figure that out becaue SP1 displays all your installed RAM. After SP1, your system displays 4GB RAM.

Of course, it still doesn't use all 4 GB, but that's a 32-bit Windows thing.

 

ive followed the instructions n for some reason my vista disk doesnt boot. at the media direct stage i partioned it and then it says insert os cd and press any key, then it reeboots n the vista disk just doesnt boot, just stays on a flashing cursor. any1 got any ideas?

just figured out what it is, the disk has a little chink in it. which is a p*** take because ive only opened it today. just got off th ephone to dell n i reckon there will b a charge for a new one. so does anyone know if i can get another one from somewhere?

 

Hi, I saved the link to all the XPS backgrounds, from an earlier post, sorry I can't remember who from, but here it is.

http://support.dell.com/support/top...6B92DC5A4186E040A68F5B287CA1&doclang=en&cs=#4

 

BA, are there other significant improvements in SP1 ... ones that jump out at you? I will probalby get it in a few days if things go well and i have time. I just do not want to get into more bloat and problems.

 

Vista SP1 is mainly about speed improvements, particularly with file transfers, and stability. Here's a good benchmark article
http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-364-1.htm

After installing SP1, you can remove all the backup files it leaves behind and reclaim about 1.5GB,
http://sysadmin.adnanwasim.com/2008/02/vsp1clnexe-vista-sp1-file-removal-tool.html

(although once you vsp1cln.exe it, you cannot uninstall SP1)

 

Well i thought I had this licked. But What had happened when I reduced my memory down to 2g is that the Update Did not install because it said I did not need it. When I set things back to 4g (showing 3.5g) I needed it agian.

If I install anything over 3g it says I need it but fails to install. Go under 3g (even a little) and it will not install.

What is the point of Windows Vista Update KB929777? What a pain.

 

OK, Excellent thread, sure wish I found it before I attempted my re-installation. I had a Vista file corruption apparently, can find the MS # if you want to know more, anyway, in my feeble moments, I made an installation to DISK 1 - thinking that logically with 2 disks they would be 1 & 2, not 0 & 1, so now I have 78 MB partition which is labelled EISA, and the other 149 GB partition, with nothing there presently.

Questions, is there anyway to delete whatever data is there and just have as 1 drive partition? I cannot do it from the Advanced Options, I know that so far. Is it worth it, just leave it and move on?

Drive 'C' has the proper EISA partition at 37 MB, the MD 3 GB, plus the 146 GB as the above poster, just thought I could clean up Drive 'D'

Thanks, John

Nearly forgot - F12 doesn't seem to work on my laptop, at least it does not give me the option to boot from DVD drive, I only get that if I go to F2 and change the boot order, what am I missing here?

PS - Inspiron 1720, 2 HDD @ 160 GB

 

Snowman,

I am not sure no the F12 problem why its not showing up in the boot order. I at first thought it might have to do with the drive being assigned a number in the boot order but testing showed that not to be the case on my system.

I see that the EISA partition does not show up with the Vista install. You will just have to use an alternative method to wiping the drive prior to installing. You could delete the MD3 and OS partition and then just install on that. You won't miss the 47MB

 

Wow I did it, and everything is working great, thanks Les, this an excellent guide, worked exactly as it says, I was very nervous about doing it, never done it before, but I finally plucked up the courage.

I actually did it twice because I forgot to install the driver at the beginning, everything seem to work ok, but I decided that it would be better to do it right, so I did it again, it is even easier the second time probable because you have nothing to lose.

I did have one problem not with the guide, but I didn't have a drivers disk, I thought I did, I thought it was part of the webcam disk since it said drivers and utilities at the top of the disk.

I'd like to thank Darthsat for putting up a list of the drivers, you can find your drivers on your dell account, but there are so many and not all are needed.

I just downloaded Darthsat list of drivers to my external hard disk, and then after I had installed vista and mediadirect I just went through the drivers and installed them. and everything went fine, it all seems to be working fine, no problems.

I would definitely say that just about anybody can do this, if your prepared and take it slowly, normally I would just have left it as it was, and if I needed to just reinstalled from the recovery.

I just love this machine even more now.

I am sending reps to you both Les and Darthsat.

Thanks

 

Well I redid mine last night. The last time I must have left the external Bluetooth/Wifi card off because I had a hard time getting it to recognize. This time I made sure the card was on and everything worked great. Then windows started it's downloads and updates .... no problems at all .... UNTIL.

Yep, I get to the Update for Windows Vista (KB929777) and it fails. This update appears to only be needed for systems with over 3g of system ram. I have tried several times to bypass and reset the visible ram to under 3g and then it tells me I do not need the Update.

Windows fix suggest physically pulling 2g out, doing the update, then replacing the 2g. But how will that help if when under 3g it says I do not need it. (at least when I set it to under 3g from the command prompt).

This has me stumped. It is an irritation because the update icon is continuously lurking at the in the system tray. If I uncheck it from the list, it rechecks itself.

 

MrM1,

Have you tried downloading that update yourself using the KB# as a search parameter than pulling the ram and running it manually?

 

I looked for it using the KB #, but all i get are white papers about why i need it or the problems of installation. Let me look again more closely. but the number only pulls up 3 hits.

 

MrM1,

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=240AC3F3-2B60-4B70-B709-06B2BC5B1336&displaylang=en

 

Thanks for the link.

Failed to install. No reason given. Guess I will physically pull the second 2G module and see if that works when I get home. I have no screw drivers here.

 

Sparky,
Reading the White papers, It looks like I may not need it. It says you get an error message at Vista Install. I get no such error messages.

For Windows Vista Update KB KB929777

 

Gailg, glad everything went smoothly for you. Enjoy your notebook.

 

MrM1,

That certainly does seem to be the case reading the description of what that patch is for. I wonder why Auto Update thinks you need it?

 

Maybe it is just some standard "you got 4g of ram ... oh you need this" update. But I got it unchecked and had to uncheck for recommended updates to keep it from clogging up my system tray.

I will still pull the 2 g ram module when I get home and try it again .... but I have limited hopes it will actually install ... and it appears I do not need it.

 

Other than the hang up with the Windows Vista Update KB929777 (which it appears I probably do not need) ....

... the Bloatware removal and reformate has gone without a hitch.

Just installed Office XP and loaded up Word .... OMG, This thing is fast

 

Yes...nobody ever seems to believe what difference there actually is, until they do it.

 

I have done this bloatware removal on my new Inspiron 1525. Now, after installing the Sigmatel HD audio driver and the Intel graphic driver (which comes with the audio driver for the HDMI port), I don't see the HDMI audio option in the Audio control panel. I only see two options there, one is for the Sigmatel SPDIF, one is the regular analog audio. How to get back the HDMI audio option?

Also, can I use the Dell Travel Remote without MediaDirect installed? Does this remote require any driver/software in order to work?

Thanks

 

I received my M1330 Product Red last week and the first thing I did was blow everything away with a clean install. I had no idea what the Media Direct was for at the time so I did it again as per the instructions on this thread and all went well.

One thing I didn't do when I got my M1330 Product Red was actually take a look at what Dell added for Visuals for this special edition XPS notebook. I noticed a few Wallpapers for the RED theme, does anyone know if there was anything else like Sidebar Gadgets etc? Anyone know where I can get these wallpapers and if there is extra stuff?

Thanks!

EDIT:

Answered my own question here, I found the whole Product Red Customizations as a download on Dells website, if anyone needs it it's available at this link:

http://support.us.dell.com/support/...eid=R179715&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=244776

You get Wallpaper, 2 Gadgets, a Theme, a Dreamscene and a Screensaver.

 

Much props to Les, Darthsat, and the others for their help with this great guide. Bloatware bye,bye, and I'm lovin' the difference in speed!

 

Thanks Houston!!!

 

Why is it that it takes 2 minutes for my wireless network to connect after EVERYTHING is already booted up? I open firefox and it shows nothing. After 2 minutes of refreshing it'll go to google. I tried this on two connections already (two houses) AND reinstalled vista 2 times (using Les's way). I've also updated my intel wireless adapter driver.

Why does my network booting take so SLOW?

EDIT: I just found my answer in Les's thread about vista tips and tweaks! Thanks yo

 

I just now did the New Dell Reformat to get rid of all the bloatware on it through Les' guide here in the Dell section, but I encountered a very unpleasent problem while installing the drivers (step 11)
I have finished installing Vista and MediaDirect, but when I am going to install the drivers from the drivers and utilities CD and install the Dell resource application... unfortunately, when clicking on extract any of the checked drivers it says:

an the DOS executable shuts down... this way I cannot install ANY of the drivers... it is very very annoying..

 

I just shrunk C, then deleted the Healthy Primary partition. It merged with the unallocated space. Then I created new partition. and it work perfect.

 

OK, here is what I get when I select F12 (I do see F2 and F12 flash up on the top right of screen when boot up), either tap it or hold it, I hear some beeps, then get this message, white on black screen -
"Use Up & Down arrow keys to move pointer to desired boot device. Press enter to attempt the boot or esc to cancel -
Internal HDD
2nd Internal HDD
On Board NIC

BIOS Setup
Diagnostics"

The only way I can do a boot from disk is to use F2 setup option, then change the boot order, save and exit, then it starts from the DVD drive. The only thing probably different with my 1720 than most is that I have the Blu-ray drive........

As for the EISA partition, I guess I probably didn't explain it the best - it is on Drive D or the 2nd drive, because I choose that option on one of my re-installation attempts. I do have the proper EISA partition on drive C, along with the usual MediaDirect partition.

Anyway, I found a free program - Google for "Cute Partition Manager" and used it to delete the EISA partition, then delete the main partition, then create a new partition, using the maximum size allowed, was 152,000+, then when I went back into Windows, I had to do a Quick Format before I could see that Drive 'D' is now all one space at 149+ GB, sorry, don't remember exact numbers but you get the idea.

All solved for now, thanks, John

 

I have a 1530 on order and plan to immediately blow it clean when I receive it. However, I have no intention of using the version of Vista that will ship with the system. I have a copy of 64-bit Vista Ultimate and a Linux distro that I plan on installing.

Other than the ACHI driver which can be obtained easily enough, is there any major loss or harm from absolutely and totally blanking (i.e. deleting any and all partitions) the hard drive and installing whatever I want?

 

No...The drive will only contain a backup if you want to restore to original condition. In this case, a simple backup through Acronis will fix the problem.

I highly suggest the total blanking of the hard drive for a clean install. Like me, you will probably discover the advantages of CompletePCRestore on Ultimate as it is a great tool to use when building a new system from the ground up and experimenting.

 

Good news:received my xPS 1530 a few hours ago, I have been reading and appreciate the info.

Now to Begin:
I downloaded the AHCI driver and expanded to a USB key.

Bad news:
I followed steps 1-4 no problem(just like the pictures)

Replaced with Vista Disk - PROBLEM - machine appears stuck - I must have done something wrong - am I not pressing the key quick enough.........

Started over ----now after step 1 --- the screens say Press a key to start from the CD/DVD

after all I went through to get this I am not giving up so easy, but after making a mistake so early on .....it's a real bummer....I assume it is a mistake as the machine booted up fine before I began this process

Please, help, thank you in advance

Pick

 

Welcome to the forums Pick. Exactly what happens when you press a key on your keyboard when it tells you to press a key to start from the cd/dvd?

 

Unfortunately, nothing......seems to be "stuck"

 

Not sure about this, but have you tried to just hold the power button down until it shuts off. Then restart the whole process from step one?

Worth a shot, eh?

 

I try to do that but after selecting the select CD/DVD -cd/rw option it goes to "Press a key too start form the Cd/DVD

 

Well, yeah, that's correct. You hit a key and it should start, no?

 

attempting to do this right now..and alittle scared but ill let you know if all goes well or if i have any questions..

 

On the 1720, using Vista Ultimate with all the functions I need, I am down to the following:

35 Processes running
692MB used

That's after logon, once eveything is up and running.

I am pretty happy!

 

Pick,
I found that it would stick at that point if you did not hit a key pretty quickly with the windows Vista CD in the drive. I rebooted and started again with the vista cd in and hit the "any" key pretty quickly after that message appeared and had no problem.

 

Microsoft Bootable install CD/DVD's ask that question if their is a recognizable OS installed on the machine. If the disk is clean then it just boots right up.

So... Press the Key

 

Hello all, I'm new to this site and thus, this is me first posting. I just recieved my new xps m1530 and I am thinking for reinstalling vista Home Premium 32-bit. I want 64-bit but do not want to pay $100+ for it at the present. I have read every post on this thread (yes, it took awhile). My question is (and you have to consider, I know nothing about computers): is it possible to do a clean install with four partitions (1 media direct, 1 OS, 2?), then do a clean install of 64-bit at a later time and still have the other partition information safe? Secondly, is there any way to upgrade the Dell vista home premium to 64-bit without paying that much. In addition, my school has 32-bit ultimate for $20 but you only get one copy (which I bought for my roomate) so does anyone know if microsoft will eknowledge this as a "retail" copy so I can use the serial to get a cheap copy of 64 bit (have someone else buy it)? Lastly, concerning the tweaks post, is it the same for Home and in Ulitimate?

Any help would be greatly appriciated

Thanks

Steve

System:
intel dual core t9300
320 gb 5400 sata
Blue ray read/write drive
Nvidia 8600m gt

 

On my new XPS 1530, I have tried to remove Mcafee and all the crap associated with it. When it first loaded up I refused to install it and it said it would uninstall itself, I also used Add/remove programs to remove it.

But, when I check Windows Security Center, and click on "Firewalls" it says that "Windows Firewall and McAfee Personal Firewall both report that they are turned on", under Virus Protection & Spyware it says that McAfee VirusScan is turned on.
Can anyone help me remove it completely? Can't find any files with McAfee in the name. I really don't want to have to reformat (I've already added 30gigs of media to the hard drive).

The laptop runs flawlessly otherwise!

 

check your program files folder in windows explorer remove the Mcafee folder then open up doc and settling, go into your name and application data remove the Mcafee folder if its there then check each of the other user names and do the same. You could also do a search for Mcafee find each location and remove it. download cc cleaner or any other reg cleaner. run the reg cleaner, reboot and run it again. hopefully that will do it.

 

Need some help started the steps with mediadirect 3.5 cd chose option 1 in partitioning and the following happens

Mounting Utility Partion as J:\...

Copying OS Files to utility partition

I/O error reading drive A Abort, Retry, Fail?

Tried it a few times same thing happens I'm worried I messed up laptop forever now any suggestions/advice?

Edit:
When I pressed abort the following came up:
C:\stage1\doit.bat @ line 173 called from C:\autoexec.Bat line 70
Halt Batch Process (Y/n)?

Edit:
Ok so when I pressed Y above (was that right) I got into the vista instillation bit but it just sticks on the expanding files bit nad stoped i restarted everything but its stuck on 0% still I can here the cd/Hard drive moving though

Edit: After a few times it worked could there be a problem with my disc drive or CD?

Anyway I'm now installing drivers from CD is it better to do the tweaks before installing office or after? By the way thanks for everyone who contributes to the thread and especially Les never tried anything like this before and apart from the above went smooth enough.

 

HELP!!

I was in the beginning process of this guide, and i got to the part where it prompted me to eject the media direct cd and insert the OS cd, then press any key to continue. However, I accidentally pressed a key on the keyboard without replacing the Media Direct CD with the OS Cd. Now, my media direct keys won't work, so i can't eject the cd out, and I'm stuck on the booting part with the big DELL logo. is there anyway to solve this problem?

This is on an XPS M1530 by the way.