Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide

Hello guys,

I'm about to clean install Vista Home Premium (32 bit), but I can't find the AHCI driver... I have an Inspiron E1405 and I have looked for the AHCI driver in Dell Support but there isn't a "SATA Drives" category for this model. Why?

I checked the Device Manager and the only similar thing I have is:

Intel(R) 82801 GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C4

Do you need more info?

 

Are the drivers supposed to remain checked even after I install them? (Maybe I'm confused, what do the check marks REALLY mean/represent?)

And it seems that my touchpads vertical and horizontal scrolling "bars" don't function after the clean install. Any ideas, thanks.

EDIT: And it seems as if the Resource App will only come up if I have the disc in the drive. Otherwise, I get no response...

 

Redsmith, try looking for the AHCI driver on the Intel website I know there are AHCI drivers on there.

Dynamo, the checks are just what hardware the CD has detected on your system. But they don't mean a lot since the CD only detects one or two devices. and for the touchpad you need to download the touchpad driver from the Dell website. It's under Input Device Drivers, Touchpad/Pointing Stick and I've put the link below. As for the Resource Application is just the program that you use for the drivers and the check signs. I don't see why you would need it any other time. I deleted it from my laptop as soon I got all the drivers I need.

http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...ystemID=XPS_M1530&os=WLH&osl=en&catid=&impid=

 

Okay, thanks stoy. I guess that's where my confusion was. So, do I need to install all the remaining drivers listed by the Resource Application? I guess my confusion comes from where Les says "Look at the unchecked drivers carefully. NOTE: There are a few that may be unchecked on your system. For example, my fingerprint reader doesn't come up as checked as well as Quikset but they are there."

How do I figure out which drivers are there for me? For example, my touchpad driver wasn't there and it was unchecked, but I had no way of knowing that it wasn't on my system until I saw that something didn't work. Thanks.

 

Hi,

1. A couple more questions - I have a Windows Vista Home Premium OEM disk, would I be able to use that to install Windows with and use the serial key that is provided with the dell?

Basically is Dell's serial key just a generic Microsoft Windows Vista OEM one or is it a special one that won't work with my OEM Disk?

2. After I have installed the fresh copy of Windows Vista, how could I access the dell recovery partition, does Dell have a custom mbr (Master Boot Record) which would get wiped by installing the fresh copy of Windows?

Thanks.

 

dynamo, you just need the drivers for the hardware you have on your laptop. So if you look at your order confirmation and on there it lists all the hardware you have on your laptop. Just intall the drivers for the hardware on there. Then as I've said before I think, you can just go through Device Manager and it'll tell you if everything is working properly.

ChrisUK, yes the key should work and it's sort of built-in on your laptop so usually you don't need to enter it manually.

As for the Recovery Partition, you should be fine accessing it after a fresh Windows Install.

 

All right, thanks stoy (sorry for asking over and over again).

 

hey, let me ask you guru's a question about dreamscape. Do you know how many process it takes to run it. If I'Ve done a full sys fresh install, tuned the sys down from most processes, and done a fair amout of the tweaks, would it be a waste to put dreamscape of my desktop? In your exp, how much does it slow down Vista. Thx.

 

no worries, dynamo. we're here to help

I dont know I've never used it before, but it's up to you if you want it. I think the tweaks are more about turning off stuff/services you don't use. You could always try and see if it makes any difference.

 

Is the System Software driver/utility of great importance?

 

Hello again,

Thanks for your reply, Dynamo. I looked for the AHCI driver download on intel.com but it refused to install, stating that I don't meet the system requirements. As far as I know, I've got them covered. The only funny thing is that among those requirements, it states that the installation needs either a Core 2 Duo, a Pentium, a Xeon, or a Core 2 Extreme. I have a Core Duo, but it seems that a driver for my processor does not exist. Does this mean that I don't need an AHCI driver?

I would really like to enjoy a bloatware-free notebook, but I'm afraid that if I start the process I'll get BSODed if for some reason I need the AHCI. If any of you guys can assure me that I don't need it, I'll start the process, which takes me to another question: has any of you guys ever done the decrapization on an Inspiron? From what I've read it seems that most of you own the XPS models.

Thanks in advance.

 

Sorry guys, I meant to say "Thanks for your reply, Stoy."

 

lol Yeah, I did mine on an Inspiron 1720 and it went fine. But you need the driver otherwise it's a world of trouble. Where are you downloading the driver to? the hard-drive or removable media, try to downloading to either and try extracting it again, because you just need the files which would be extracted it from the file.

 

I've tried downloading the driver both to the hard disk and a USB. It refuses to install no matter where I move it.

Regarding your 1720, I found on Dell Support that your model has an Intel AHCI Driver available to download, whereas the older generation (e1405, e1505, e1705) does not include it. Also, I found an older post in this thread about some guy who had an e1505 and did not need to install the driver... and since the e1505 and e1405 are pretty much the same system, I guess I'm giving this a try. I'll let you know what happens next. Thanks!

 

Actually I just remembered, that if you download the latest Intel Matrix Storage Manager it includes lots of different versions for different systems. So what I would do is download it from the link below extract it to a removable media. Then follow the instructions for installing it as in the guide above. When selecting the driver there'll be a little check-box near the bottom saying: 'Only show compatible drivers' tick this to see if the driver you need is included. So if something does show up when the box is checked just select and install it, if nothing comes up after ticking don't worry about it.

http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...eid=R173412&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=235720

good luck

 

I did it! Everything's running fine so far and I did not need to use the AHCI driver. I did as you told me, stoy, I extracted the driver from the page you posted in a USB, along with other drivers I had found here and there. When the time came I clicked on "Hide incompatible drivers" and all of them disappeared. I knew I was clear to go then. Right now my PC is working really fine and all the drivers (except for the ethernet one) are on the disk. I'll check Dell Support for the ones I'm missing. Thanks a lot, man! Rep+1 for you.

 

It's alright, I'm glad everything worked out Enjoy your system!!!

 

So far, my new clean install (did another one today, had to get it perfect) is working great! Thanks for helping me out along the way stoy (deserving of rep). Thanks to Les as well for a great guide.

I do have one more question (which I might as well ask here): Currently my nVidia driver is 156.69. I've seen Les' steps to how to change/update the driver, but should I uninstall the old one first? Will it just be sitting somewhere in memory if I don't? Thanks!

 

Cheers guys, I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference. I think all the files get replaced anyway. So it's up to you.

 

this may have been answered but im certainly not going to look through 173 pages to find it..


so i want to follow this guide but what if something goes wrong, how do i restore the computer to its original factory settings, along with the original hard driver status and all that? or lets say one day after a successful clean install i want to revert it to what it was..how do i do that??

thanks

 

in order to be able to access your factory setting, you would have to do a fresh install of vista over the current version of vista, without repartitioning the whole computer...ie dont do the media direct steps. Just insert vista disk and reinstall over exsisting vista. This will leave media direct ok, dell factor recover partition ok, and a new version of vista bloatware free. However if you ever reverted back to your recovery drive (factory settings) you would have bloatware again. You might want to try this (its what i did), I took an image of the recovery drive with Acronis 11, stored that to an external HD, then did les's step to a fresh intall with the recovery drive, and if I ever need it again, I can ghost it back into a new partition, or run it directly from my external, either way..i gained back my 10 or so gigs that damn thing took up. I'll walk you through it, if thats what you intend on doing, if not ask any ques here, someone can answer it. Good luck!

 

Quick question. I plan to do the Reformat when my XPS m1530 comes in. The steps listed includes re-partition of the system and will go through that the first time. Later down the road if I need to reformat the system, what is the best way to do so without "touching" the partitions created during the first Reformat (basically format and install on the C: only without 'repartitioning')?

 

You just wack in the Vista disk, and do a clean install on C: as normal

 

Thanks Stoy !

Even with the delay, I'm hoping to get my laptop by the time I go on vacation. It's after the "delay" and within Dell's usual build time.

 

No worries, I hope you get your laptop soon. Dell can be quite iffy with deliveries, but you just gotta wait and see.

 

That's what I'm doing now...


I don't want to get my hopes up for nothing...

 

Ok, about the AHCI driver. I've seen a lot of threads saying that you don't need to add it during the install like this thread says because it is included in vista, is this right?

I tried adding the AHCI driver the way the original post explained but, the install got hung up on 'expanding files' at 0%, but when I didn't add the AHCI driver the install worked fine. Am I missing something?

 

Hmm, did you remember to extract/expand the ACHI files on your external media? And are you sure you're pointing to the actual ACHI driver? Those are two things I nearly made mistakes with my first time through...

 

Good Day Stoy, just wanna ask if you know sum1 who got screenshots of proper installing of the AHCI driver .. for us about to start the reinstalling process. Or maybe a step by step procedure.. pls, it would be great for us. Thank u, expert.

 

hey. there's screenshots of doing the whole re-formatting including loading the driver before the Vista install, I've put the link below.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3314842&postcount=1291

and if you let me know what machine you've got I can get the link for your driver, then all you do is download it. Afterwards you just extract it to your removable media and follow the steps above.

 

when installing the AHCI driver, can you use a cd? or do you have to put it on a usb drive? because if you were using one of the provided cds, wouldn't you have to pull out the vista install cd?

 

I think a CD would fine, as long as you replace the Vista disk after you've finished loading the driver. However I'm not completely sure but it should work with a disk.

 

Hi guys,
I did the reformat and bloatware removal process on my 1530, but didn't do the download of the AHCI driver, mostly because I wasn't 100% sure if it was needed, and I didn't know where to get it from...

Doing the reformat freed up a lot of space on my laptop, and it seems to be working correctly, but I'm just wondering what not installing the AHCI driver would do to the computer? And is it worth it to reformat again, this time doing the AHCI install steps? Also, if it is necessary to install it, where do I actually get the driver from??

Sorry if this has been asked already.

Thankyou!

 

i'm about to do this but is there anything i need to activate before i do the reformat and reinstall?

 

Dude thanks for the info. I own an XPS M1530. I've read somewhere here that the AHCI driver is important bcoz it speeds up the machine's performance quite a bit, so I won't miss that for the world. stoy, thanks buDDy.

 

can i put the ahci drivers on from a micro sd card?

 

Okay, so I guess I have decided to try the reformat again, but this time I will do the AHCI install...but where do I get the AHCI driver that's correct for my computer? My specs are in my signature. Thanks guys.

 

I got the same XPS as Met, so any1 who knew which latest driver would be the one for us, kindly post the link. There are so many versions of these, so we cud never be sure what driver would our machine need. Thank you!

 

The reason why you guys cant find the ACHI drivers is b/c they call it the Intel Matrix Storage Manager, and its under the driver menu call SATA. The link below will take you there for the XPS1530. I've done this many times already on my XPS, hit me up if you need help. Enjoy

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

 

swift reply. thank you. wish I cud rep yOu.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Since that driver is actually on the disc of drivers and utilities that comes with the XPS laptop, is it possible to just insert the disc and install the AHCI driver from there when reformatting? or do you have to transfer it to something else (ie. a USB drive)?

Thanks...

 

Depends if you are going to use it after the install. So if you're planning to use the software, you need to register it before the formatting to make thing easier. For example if you've ordered LoJack it's important to register it, same as Norton. Although I would recommend AVG 8.0 rather than Norton since it doesn't affect your system's performance as much and a lot easier to use. Plus it's absolutely free.

Met, if the driver isn't installed but AHCI is enabled in BIOS it can lead to system instability and BSOD (blue screen of death) so it's important to install the driver. AHCI increases hard-drive performance by 15%. The link for m1530 AHCI driver is below

http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...plash?c=uk&l=en&s=gen&~mode=popup&file=224400

You just download the file, and run it and select a folder or something on your removable media as the destination.

I don't think that would because before the Vista installation the card reader on your laptop won't be working because it hasn't got the drivers for it installed. USB drive works perfectly.

EDIT: Oh I didn't see Monk's reply. lol You could use the CD to install the driver after the Vista installation not before because on the CD the driver is stored as an .exe whereas you need extracted version with all the .inf files etc in a folder.

 

Would this be the same steps as reformatting my desktop?

I am unsure of the media direct steps as i dont think i got the cd with my computer. (i have an inspiron 531 desktop) And is the AHCI driver just for notebooks too?

 

The steps would be the same. If you do want MediaDirect you can just call up Dell and order a CD. As for the AHCI driver, you can get the correct version from the Dell website if you just put in your version system. I've put the link below.

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

 

Is the media direct necessary?

 

It's not necessary for your PC to work, it's just a program which lets you play DVDs, listen to your music and or view pcitures without loading up your main OS.

 

Very helpful, thank you... now to find the ahci driver...

 

Im actually having problems finding the driver...

I have a dell inspiron 531 desktop

vista 32bit

english...

Possibly could you get me a touch closer to the driver?

 

Usually for laptops the AHCI driver is under the category SATA drives and it's called Intel Matrix Storage Manager. But on the website there's only nVidia drivers. So I'm not sure if it's the right one. Have you tried looking on the Intel website?

 

thanks for the run-through, although ive encountered a problem.
i installed MD3, then vista, then updated MD3 to MD3.5 but I had 4 partitions.

1. 47mb EISA config
2. 2gb Media direct
3. 266gb Vista main
4. 30gb un-allocated

so, i used a 3rd party program to allocate the unused 30gb to the main drive.

but now for some reason the 2gb media direct partition has been renamed (i think its blank but I am not sure) and I cannot boot MD3 with the Media Direct button when the pc is off. and when i press the MediaDirect button in Vista it does nothing. although I can manually run media direct if i find the .exe

any thoughts? will i need to reformat and start again if I want Media Direct to work?
is there a way of starting afresh whilst still keeping a partition with data on it?