Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide

Control Panel -> Programs and Features and uninstall whatever you don't like. Honestly there was very little I had to remove when I got my laptop.

 

After much frustration, I tried re-installing the AHCI driver and this did the trick and I could finally reboot. The Dell Tech support had zero help. They kept wanting me to retry tests I had already performed.

It took a while but I did learn a lot.

 

Great thread, almost ready to give it a go, but I am confused on one thing. I am stuck on finding the proper AHCI driver for my Inspiron 1535. Does anyone know what category it would under? The only intel driver I see is listed under Chip set, but it only refers to windows inf files. My disk drive is currently backing up my data, so I have not been able to check the driver cd. Any help in narrowing down the drivers location would be appreciated!!

 

Need some help guys, fresh install got comp down to 49 processes, tweaked it to be lightning fast, while at work...comp automatically updated vista to svc pk 1. Failed to fully install for whatever reason, upon reboot, sys said svc pack 1 didnt install no operating sys found. Cant get into vista through safe mode, how can i get my system back from restore, or am i SOL and gotta fresh install again???? HELP

 

in dell support/drivers..go under SATA drivers and look for Matrix Storage Manager - Notebooks

for the 1525 its
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=41&fileid=224400

 

I mistyped. I think after reading over 1500 threads and seeing 1535 so much I typed that. I actually have a e1505. I looked at the drivers on the dell site and found the AHCI right away. I am thinking that the e1505 does not use that driver. Is that possible? If I do install, can I still receive it's benefits?

 

hope this helps

I'd recommend running CPU-Z ( www.cpuid.com) or Intel's Chipset Identification Utility to determine the actual chipset used in the E1505...

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6400/en/om/specs.htm#wp1054574

This Dell page says the E1505 is using the ICH7 for its express card and Intel says the ICH7 does not have AHCI support (but ones like the ICH7M do...).

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Well I was half way through the install when I saw your response. Everything is running good so far, so I guess I did not need it. Thank you for help anyway!!!

 

I am assuming if I made it through the whole process including loading the drivers then I did not need the AHCI driver?

 

correct, E1505 doesnt need intel matrix - nor is it fully compatible

 

Well everything is working, but I can not seem to locate the drivers for the Base System Device which I believe is the memory card reader on the driver disk or dell website. Anyone have any idea where they might be located?

 

try this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=58822

 

Thankyou for saving me from my laziness!! You are the man!

 

Can I just ask, what's the difference between reformatting the computer using this method and using the method in the media direct reinstallation booklet that comes with your dell laptop? I looked at it and it looks the same?

Also, why do you have to install the AHCI driver when it doesn't mention doing so in the booklet from dell?

Edit: Ok I reformatted and didn't need to install AHCI driver. However when I put in my driver resource cd, it's meant to detect my hardware and it should have a tick next to all the drivers i need to extract and install right? The thing is....it only shows 2 drivers that are ticked..both network drivers. What's the deal? Now how do I know what needs to be installed...?

 

What steps do I omit/skip, and are there any other steps to take if I don't want to install MediaDirect when I do the clean install? Forgive me if this has been covered before as I don't really have the time to read through 162 pages of thread.

 

Hi bboy1. The drivers cd won't detect everything you need. You need to go through the list and pick out the drivers for all the laptop components that your machine has. You should install the AHCI driver(intel turbo matrix storage driver) from the disc as well.

If you do not want to install mediadirect when you do this procedure, just omit steps 1-4. Begin the procedure by inserting your vista installation disc and rebooting your computer and pressing F12 at boot screen. Additionally, when you enter the vista installation, you will be shown a screen that allows you to set partitions. Highlight the 3GB Mediadirect partition and click delete. This will create 3 GB of unallocated space. So this additional step takes place during step 7 of the procedure.

 

Thanks dartsat. Before I reformatted, I saved the 'drivers' folder which had the drivers that were installed so that I'd know what to install. But I don't think they're all of them. Some of them are the same ones on the resource disc while some aren't on the resource disc. So I don't know what actually should be installed. For example, the multi memory card reader needs like 6 drivers for each type of memory card, These don't apper to be on the resource disc but they were in the driver folder i had saved. Makes me wonder how people are meant to know that they need these if they're not on the disc. Roughly how many drivers usually have to be installed?

 

Ok so ive been putting it off ive had my new m1530 for about 3 weeks and i really want to do it i haven't put that much stuff on it yet, so i was just wondering is it really worth the trouble? will i still be able to install McAfee & get my Dell Red backgrounds?

thanks for any help

 

Well I just did mine. I haven't done any of the tweaks yet with vista...only the reformat and even with some heavy background programs like spyware doctor my m1530 shuts down much faster than before. Startup isn't as quick (just me cause of spyware doctor) but with the vista tweaks I'm sure I'll be able to get it faster.

I didn't even bother activating my norton but if you have the cd can't you just reinstall mcafee after? The only things I noticed gone from reformatting was the dell wallpapers (just back them up though and put them in the wallpaper folder after...that's what I did), the dell internet explorer (its just normal IE now..not that there was any difference) and I don't have dell solution centre now....anyone know how to get that back?

 

Nice to hear that you were able to complete it bboy. The Dell solution center software should be in the drivers cd.

scottbenntt, you can download all the special product red stuff in the .zip file in this site: http://www.askvg.com/windows-vista-p...amscene-video/

 

Les or Darthsat, need some help over here. Before my format, had acronis home 11 working fine on sys, did full format tried several times to reinstall acronis home 11, but keeps saying it cannot extract files and installation failes everytime. Put the disk in my desktop, which runs vista home pre as well but never been reformatted, and took it just fine. What would casue this, or do you have any suggestions for this..sorry to ask in this thread, but i've been all over the net and cant find anything out??? thx

 

Just to clarify, if we don't want to mess with different size partitions, what is the best way to go about doing a clean install of Vista while keeping the system restore partition that Dell provides?

 

^ I'm wondering the same thing. All these "partition" options are the only thing making me lean toward just using a program like Your Uninstaller with CCleaner as opposed to a full reformat...

 

You're a Star Les

The above worked absolutely fine not a single issue. And although I didnt refer to the visuals by Bamaster.. appreciate his efforts .

Cheers All !

 

omg, this is a long thread took me agggessss to read through it all. now I can finally reply. lol first great thanks to les & darthsat for their responses. they are NBR gods!!! this is just what I need to wipe all the dell crap from my 1720 which I'm getting tomorrow

I've never used acronis myself so i'm just guessing here but maybe there's a compability issue with some program. compare the 2 systems and see if there's any extra programs on your laptop?

I wouldn't worry about keeping the dell partitions too much since, you can't break your laptop when re-formatting and I'm pretty sure you'll be able to get everything running ok. and if you are nervous about wiping everything you could just back up your system with acronis as suggested by les in the begining or use completePCback-up if you've got a Vista which has it. I think anything above and including Ultimate does.

and on a completely random note, this thread reminds of the time when I was trying to dual-boot win98 and xp. gd old times eh where you couldn't install 98 after xp since it was older. lol

 

Well, I finally gave in and did the reformat with the m1530 I received today, and it worked perfectly.

One thing. When I go to the drivers and downloads part of the Dell support site, how do I know which drivers I need to install? There's zillions of firmware this, application that, can anyone list some necessary ones that I need?

 

awesome, im doing mine 2morrow

u need to get the intel matrix storage manager, that's the actual application not the driver. and then basiclly all you need are the drivers for the hardware you've ordered. if you run device manager by typing: devmgmt.msc in the run option in the start menu. and any hardware which isnt installed properly will have a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark next to the piece of hardware. these are all the hardware which you need to download the drivers for.

 

^ Ok, will do. Also, what about windows update? I have it set to automatic and it just installed 21 updates...does that take care of any of the needed software drivers?

 

It probably has some hardware drivers but I would imagine most of them would have to be downloaded from Dell's website or from the drivers CD. also here's some websites where you can download updated versions for your graphics card etc

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/

http://www.x-drivers.com/

 

Crap, I thought I had registered my McAfee virus protection when I created an account, but I guess not. Did the reformat, reinstalled the virus software, and it said I only have a 30-day trial when my laptop came with a 2-year subscription.

How do I get it back?

 

Can't you just re-register it with the cd key you got at the back of the mcafee disc? Then you should get it back shouldn't you?

And to those that want to keep their recovery partition. Not sure cause when I tried with my 320GB hdd, it would only let me set a max of 266GB to main partition, leaving 30GB to the recovery partition which is a waste, so I just reformatted and scrapped the recovery partition. It's kind of pointless really. All it does is allow you to reformat your comp to factory defaults...it won't recover any of your personal stuff (vids, docs, pics etc) so if you have to reformat, why reformat to a bloatware filled copy instead of a fresh, clean copy?

 

if you can't find the code to register just ring dell up and explain what's happened and they'll sort it out.

and bboy you are totally right, that's the whole point of this to get rid of all bloatware completely an easy way to back up after you've set up everything tweaks, data atc just image your whole system to a couple of DVDs with acronis. so anytime something goes wrong you can get your whole system back in literally 10 mins.

 

i've just got my inspiron and now gonna reformat it. been waiting for this for ages

 

just reformatted and everything went amazing. easy as toast now typing from my fresh Vista cheers to every1

 

Guys,

I have a replacement M1730 that I just recieved today (my current one that i got 2 weeks ago was covered in scratches/dents NEW )

I wanted to take the opportunity to install Vista Home Premium X64 bit. I will NOT be using the dell supplied cd, rather, a MSDN cut of Vista X64 SP1.

Do I need to slipstream the Intel Storage Matrix drivers into the X64 disc in order for it to install properly or can i just load up x64 and install the drivers after?

Thanks

(M1730, RAID config)

 

you don't need to slipstream. if you download the driver and expand it to a USB drive or a CD. then you can install it before you install Vista. when you are selecting the partition you want to install on, they'll be a button near the bottom saying: 'load driver' click on that then browse to the media and it'll recognise the driver and you're done

I think there are some drivers for x64 Vista here:

www.x-drivers.com

 

So an external USB hard disk can do the trick?

 

yep, that should be fine

 

hey. i've done a clean install but I get a lot of processes running at the start 59 also there's this huge pause when it's just a black screen when booting up. it's between the green loading bar and account screen. any ideas? thnx

 

This is Les's tweak guide for vista, has tons of info to stop processes, and also another step about the black screen boot-up. Enjoy, but be careful with some of these


http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166532

 

Sone of a BIT.....
Formatted and Tweaked, finally got all conflicts resolved, comp down to 49 processes, 5.6 on windows exp, forgot to turn off auto updates, damn thing installs SP1...entire sys crashes on reboot. All that time down the toilet.

 

oh man, I am sorry. Cant imagine how frustrated you must be. but look on the bright side at least you can get yours that good. if you've done it once you can do it again. i can't seem to get my processes down cos i'll just shut off my wireless or sound lol

 

When installing my drivers how do i know what to install??? When i put the cd in there are only 3 things with check marks so i extract those but there are still alot of drivers missing and im not to sure how to check if they are and where to get them from?

 

I think the photos help people are a little scared about the process. It shows the screens and how straightforward it is. If you're a risk taker, shooo, just go for it!

 

I second that. The visuals are a huge part of the thread and I am sure many are very happy they could refer to them during the installation process. Tx BA.

Second thread tonight Ive read such great compliments. Tx alot!

 

you can download drivers from the dell website, but most of them are on the CD. the website is below:

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=uk&cs=&l=en&s=gen

I think the best way to do is, if you try to match the hardware you've ordered with the drivers. For example if you have ordered bluetooth you will need the bluetooth driver etc. Afterwards you can always go into Device Manager via Control Panel, and any hardware which isnt installed properly or is missing drivers will have a yellow triangle next to it. You need drivers for those as well. Also I would advise that you install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager (the application) if you are running AHCI.

I've got a question of my own. lol I'm still getting the flickering of the screen between the loading bar and Vista logo. I've disabled the TTM as instructed in the tweaks guide. I'm suspecting it might be something to do with the graphics card? It's costing 10 secs from boot-up. any ideas?

 

Excellent reinstall guide! I am typing on my brand new M1530 now! I just need to get an updated GPU driver now. The only trouble I ran into is that I went to McAfee's site to register my 3 year subscription before doing clean install. However...not sure how to get it back now after the install. I installed McAfee again and it says I only have 30 day trial...

 

get AVG way better. lol

 

Or Avira Antivir. Even better

 

Haha this is EXACTLY what happened to me. Good to know i'm not alone. I need to find out who to call to get this resolved. Even though I can get a freeware program like AVG, I thought hell, the laptop came with 2 years of Mcafee so I might as well use them.