Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide

The main reason to use acronis to back up the orriginal configuration (the whole partition) is you can eventually put that back on the comp and have access to the restore drive. If you only back up the actual data, when you do a fresh install the paths and folder executions will be lost and eventhough you may still have the recovery info there, it will be nonexecutible.

I disagree with you using Vista Disk, primarilty b/c i dont like using it. When you install the MD disk, one of the options is to create another partiton the size you want. I used that option and have 10 gigs for MD 150 gigs for Vista and the rest for my various files. It will ask you to set out how much you want for vista and the rest for that folder, it requires a second of thought, but i'm not a fan of shrinking with vista disk.

The intell chipset is if you have the intel wireless cards or intel adapters in your comp. My XPS has the intel wirless -N card, and there for needs the Intel Chip Set. If you use the dell card, there is a seperate driver on the dell driver disk for that as well.

There is no order in which to install the drivers, and it also depends on what you want your comp to operate with. I installed my Figerprint reader and suite, dell laptop camera, touchpad drivers, intel chip set, the quick chipset, audio, etc. Only the things I thought i needed.
Hope that helps.

 

Monk
So as i understand You:

1. I should make backup of all partitions “whole system” with Acronics
2. Use the MD disc for creating: ex.3GB MD, 30GB Vista and the rest will be unallocated – than after installation process I can put put this unallocated space into new partition ?? Should it be primary or Extended if I want to use it for data and divide into 3 smallero partitions??
3. Yes I have Wireless N by Intel so the chipset would be necessary
4. That’s great tat there is no specific order – in mu actual laptop (Asus) I had to install first some chipset and MB drivers so I could install Sound Card after it.

 

make a backup of the whole system, including folders, subfolders, and paths, if your ever going to use the recovery partion again. If your not intending to use it again, the quite frankly i say dont even back up the system with acronis...your call. When you use MD to create the third partition, it gives you very easy instructions to follow, i think its like 2 questions, and its done. After you install vista, click on my comp, and it will show you your two drives, but MD will be invisible. Right click on the unallocated partition, and hit format. Once its formatted, that unalloctated space becomes a sperate alloctaed drive. Much easier than most programs, and also you can then go back into the vista mangager, and seperate that partions into smaller sub-partitions if you choose.

i would also be careful about how much room you leave to vista as primary, b/c as you add programs later down the future, is 30 gigs gonna be enough, i allocated someting like 150g to vista. I know its a bit excessive, but i dont wanna go through this later again if i dont allocate enough for aditional programs later down the road.

 

Monk
You wrote :
"After you install vista, click on my comp, and it will show you your two drives, but MD will be invisible"

so after i installing tis way Vista i can receive

1.MD - ~3GB (invisible, space allcaded automatically)
2.System - ~45GB (visible , space allocated by me)
3.Rest - ~ unallocated (visible, space which i need to reformat and separate as i wish)

Is that correct ?

 

Sorry for asking again, but i want to be as sure as possible

When i choose option 1 from the MD disc, it will automatically create 2 partitions, one C: partition for Vista + my other files (visible) and one 3 GB MD Partition (invisble) for the MD files... Is that correct?

 

yes champ that is correct

 

If Placek's XPS is "on it's way" , than why would he be making a backup of his new (no personal data - never used) system??? Wouldn't he be backing up all the junk he's trying to remove?

Placek may have a language barrier and be confused with an earlier post about back-ups with Acronics......Or maybe I am confused with his/her confusion.

I ask with intrigue because my S17 is "on it's way" as well, and I plan to remove the bloat before I use it for anything....other than to download latest drivers and expand to a thumb or CD.



Buzz

 

Correct...I cant remember though, when you do the option to designate the drive space in the MD option, does it ask for the size you want for the vista (main) partition, or if it asks for what size you would like to be left over for everything else...so please read the questions, and if you do that you'll be fine.

When you see the second drive (unallocated space), you can click on it, but Vista will tell you that it needs to be formatted before it can be used. Thats when you right-click on the drive, go to "format", and follow the directs for a formatt of the drive. I suggerst a FULL formate versus just a quick format.

 

Yes buzz you are absoutely correct. The Recovery drive restores the comp back to Dell's orriginal state, which contains all the bloatware on it. I'm not really sure myself why people want to make a copy of that, I even say that in one of my posts a few pages ago, but to each his own. If you trying to get rid bloatware and recover disk space, i say forget about the recovery partition all together and start fresh and clean.

 

Thanks to Les and all others for sharing this "How To". I just did a fresh install after waiting 12 months. My Dell was nearly unusable yesterday as I was too afraid to try this earlier. I know f/all about computers and my 1520 is now running great. Thanks again.
Regards Mick.

 

Glad to here everything worked out Mick!

And welcome to the forums.

 

Monk Buzz
The only argument for backing up the whole system is to keep it for the future - when i sell the laptop. Than someone may ask for orginal configuration (ex. because ho wants to have everyting as in the beggining).
The other reason is that after celaning system i want to install my own Vista in Polish language which i've already cleaned with vlite.
Going this way i have one system extra (this delivered with Dell which is on my backup).

 

hey brother, to each his own. I'm not here to pursuade one way or the other, i'm only here to help people get to where they want to, and to help answer questions. Obviously you know what you want to do, so i say do it, and i'll help you any way i can. Good luck, we are all here for you if you run into any problems.

 

Thanks
Without this forum and all helpfull posts i wouldn't manage to have so much fun from my XPS !

 

I want to remove bloatware on my Inspiron Desktop 530. Do I follow these same instructions???

If not, what do i do different?

Thanks!

Buzz

 

if your reformatting your 530, and it uses Vista, then yes all steps are the same except that i dont think the 530 uses MD, so skip that, insert Vista and follow directions.

If you use XP or anything else with your 530, let me know, i'll give you those steps. Its been a while sense i did an XP reformatt, but hey...its like riding a bike

 

Les,

I know this might be in here somewhere in this thread but it's a total monster now

What is the procedure for reinstalling Dell datasafe? Do you do anything before you reformat?

Thanks

 

Removed bloat successful on new Inspiron 530 Desktop.

Notes:
1. ILO AHCI, I Changed single HDD to RAID in Setup before re-install of Vista. I did this because I could not find info/drivers for AHCI. Not sure if HDD is faster but all is working. I read this tip on Dell Forum.

2. Vista Home Premium had partition, format, and delete tools at install. This was nice.

Question: I have an older 250gb/7200rpm/8M/PATA 3 1/2" internal from my Dimension 4600. I thought I could install on the new 530, but no-go because connections are not the same. What is the best way for me to get the data off the old drive?

Working on vista tweaks.

Thanks.

 

What I personally do with my old drives is search online and find a 2.5 external case, with power supply. Slap that internal HD into an external HD case, retrieve the wanted info off it, and you now have a 250gig external HD to store info on take with you...or maybe even just back-up (with acronis) your new Studio to it. Enjoy

 

You have to first activate datsafe. Once you activate it, they will give you a name and password, just use that after the reinstall when it asks you for that info. The key here is ACTIVATE everything before the reformat, or it will be hell trying to get dell to give you the keys again. This includes McAfee, Lowjack for laptops, etc.

 

Thanks Monk!

 

Thanks Monk.

Any recomendations on where to buy the case?

Buzz

 

I was trying to carry out this process for my Dell Inspiron 1521 which runs Vista but I was unable to find the correct AHCI drivers. I am not sure what these really are and even less sure where to find them. Also, during the process of reinstalling the OS I have gotten the error dialogue box reading "Windows cannot instal required files. Makes sure all files required for installation are available, and restart the installation. Error cod: 0x8007045D".

The Dell Support people had me run Memory and Hard Drive diagnostics and at the end of both I get a black screen which simply reads "BootMGR is missing. Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart". They weren't able to tell me how to fix it and are sending me a replacement harddrive. I was just wanting to see if anyone knew another way to fix the problem; I suppose I'm asking for a second opinion. Thanks for any responses; I'm not really tech savvy and I am just kind of at a loss as to what to do.

 

As far a cases...I think most are the same, so dont be too bothered with spening a lot of money on it. I use MadDog, and have really been happy with it.

everlastinggeek..More info. Are you installing the new OS from a DVD you have personally burned, or is it an actual Microsoft Disk? There have been reports of people installing windows getting the same errors that you have gotten, when they burn the disk at too high of a speep. Appartenly there has been a loss of data at higher speed, which results in the exact error msg across the board. So if you are indeed using a burned copy, try burning another copy of it at the slowest possible speed, with the most clearity that your burned will allow.

 

No, I am using the Microsoft disc that was issued to me with my computer.

 

Maybe someone can help me, I feel pretty dumb atm, but I'm kinda clueless as to what to do... I have a studio 15 and I put in the media direct cd, hit f12, tell it to boot from the cd/dvd drive, and it just starts windows normally...

 

hello i am reformating right now and i got up to the part i need to add the AHCI driver, i instert my usb and i click rescan and no drivers come up, i put the usb in another computer and i see the R166200 driver on the usb whats wrong here?

ok well i skipped installing the AHCI drivers and installed everything (will go back and try again when i figure it out), but now i am just trying out the driver installation, and am a little confused, how do i know what drivers to install from the disc, i see a few drivers that have a check next to them, when does this mean? should i install all the drivers on this list (that pertain to my system)?

thank you

hmm do i need to unzip the file AHCI driver file? I just did that and now i have a bunch of files on my usb, should i try and reformat again, will it work this time?

 

OneHit...If your going to use a Flash or USB drive to install the AHCi drivers, you must extract, or unzip the files or the windows installer wont reconginze it. I would say the easiest thing to do, is instead of loading it onto the usb drive, install the AHCI drivers directly from the Dell "drivers" disk. Same process, click on the add drives, insert the drivers disk, it searches automatically and installs the AHCI, swap the disk for the vista disk again, and continue.

When your done, those check marks your asking about are drives that pertain to software on your comp. However, there are also drivers that you will need that wont have a checkmark next to it...like touchpad, touchstrip reader, dell webcam, quickset, etc, so review them all and see what you need.

TAGospo...here is the issue you may be having. IF you have MD 3.3 or 3.5, then yes you need to dir boot to it and install as the steps say. However, and dell wont tell you this, is that Media Direct 4.0 is not a standalone program but a program that runs inside of Vista. IF you have 4.0, then just install vista and when its completed, intall MD 4.0 as though it is anyother program. Hope this all helps. Enjoy.

 

thank you monk.. i didnt try it yet, but it makes sense, dont know why i didnt see people doing that more, i always saw everyone saying use a usb drive. About the check marks, thats what i thought first, but then a saw a few checks next to items i know that where not in my computer like a 8400M driver, and some wireless card drivers that where not for the 1505 dell card. Should i install all the checked drivers anyways?

would i be fine if i only install the drivers from this list?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3106106&postcount=866

 

Yes, if you have 1530, you can just download all the drivers from those links and install them one-by-one. I've updated the links so that they are up-to-date versions.

 

I'm getting a XPS M1530 next week, how big of a difference will this make in my performance?
The specs are:
2.0 ghz processor
4GB ram
320GB HD

 

It'll improve your performance significantly. It frees up disk space and gets rid of unnecessary programs and registries. You get to be more in control of what goes on your system.

 

thanks again, and i have 1 more question, ok well i went through the reformat again and when i put in the driver disc (dell drivers disc for the AHCI driver) i had 2 options that where exactly the same except one was R154200 and the other was the R166200 (this was the one that i had on my usb drive and also the one i saw in the picture guide) so i picked this one, whats the difference between the 2 and did i pick the right one? i have a M1530.

 

As far as I know, the 154200 is for the M1330 and the M1530 uses the 166200. Looks as though you used the correct one, but my guess is that they both really function and do the same thing, but the difference in the numbers may primarily be due to new releases for similar software. Your fine, glad to hear it went well.

Also, Darthsat and Les have gone through this question pretty extensively and should get the reps for their efforts. Check page 117 for the answer if your still searching for it.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=157838&page=117

On a side note...I'll try and get back to this thread and answer any more ques i can, but unfortunately hurricane Fay is about to hit my home and I may loose power for a while. I'll see you all back here when i can. Later!

 

This is not good I am attempting the removal guide and when I insert the media direct 4.0 disc and hit F12 i get the boot menu and then i select cd/rw/dvd drive and hit enter but it keeps on loading vista. What am i doing wrong?

 

Media Direct 4.0 runs within Vista. You should be able to do a clean install with the vista disk and install Media Direct after the OS.

 

Hello everyone. Im new to this forum. I came across it when doin a search on the xps m1530. I recieved mine about 2 weeks ago. Once I got it I son wanted it so I gave it to him and I ordered another. Its in the in production stage right now. Expected delievery is Sept 1. I never reformatted the first one. It seems super fast. I am thinking of doing it to the new one I will recieve. Anyways the reason Im posting is to tell you a friend order 2 of the xps m1530. He just recieved them and the keyboards on both are in french. He never ask for french. Has anyone had this problem. Hes calling them today to get 2 more sent to him.

My specs:
2 Duo Processor T8100
Tuxedo Black
4GB SDRAM
320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
LCD(1440x900)

 

Has anyone had the pleasure of removing bloatware from the new Studios 15/17 yet?

I just got my 1535 and was wondering if anyone had a list of the drivers I'd need to install. I've never done this with a computer before, and I'd really love all the help I can get

 

Ok so I got past the boot problem with media direct last night and successfully re-installed Vista and all the drivers. But now i have another problem my C: is only 10G and it is completley full now with OS and drivers and some other programs. My D: partition is 284G free but i cant install items on it without designated all installs on D: What is my best solution?

 

I hate to tell youu this, but its almost easier to reformat the entire system again, but pay attention to which partition you put vista on, and really read the questions to see if its asking you for the size of the HD partition or other....or you can go through vista tools, and resize your C: drive, but i really dont like doing that personally.


Hey Les, just a suggestion...but MD 4.0 has been changed to a program that runs in Vista instead of being a stand-alone program, and its confusing a ton of people in the first step or two of this post, may want to update to include the current dir for 3.3 and 3.5, but show new direction for 4.0.

 

Yes, Vista does in fact have a built-in partition HDD space manager. But I myself would not use this because theoretically it is not good to re-shuffle disk space between partitions while running the OS. I agree that another reformat is the best way to shift the space you want to the partition.

 

So, if I am planning to actually install a bigger HD as soon as I get my notebook, I assume I can just start from the formatting and installing? Right?

Thanks

 

Clean install - hooray!
Losing licensed software (mcafee, ms office pro, etc.) - boo! (big boo!!!)

solution???

or am i missing something?

 

I hate to tell you this, but from here its going to be an uphill battle for you. B/C these programs require a key, which was preactivated from Dell, you have to fight with Dell to get them back. Many times in this thread we have talked about preactivating or getting the codes, so that when you do the reformt, you have them already. Also, if you call Dell, and they give you a hard time about getting the disks and keys...REMEMBER...you paid for those programs and are entitled to the disks and keys no matter how many times you reformatt your comp. Good luck

Exactly correct, when your done with the HD install, you can start your comp and it will say no operating system detected, install MD first if you have media direct 3.3 or 3.5, and follow steps. If you have MD 4.0 (which gets installed in vista after format), just instert Vista Disk, and install. If you get lost, hit us up here.
And a side note. Take that HD you are replacing, slap it into an external case with a power suply, and now you have a fully operational laptop with fresh install and HD, and an external HD to take around with you. Good luck.

 

Hi m1530 family i got my m1530 this past Mon and is about to open it up this evening (working and have two days off) I would like to reformat and upgrade to Vista 64 but before i do that i would like to know is what i should do to prepare my laptop for reformatting once i power on for the first time. Is there a step by step procedure section here in the forum or can somebody help me along the way.I will not have a isp until next week(Time Warner Cable,broadband)
Will i have to activate lojack,10Gb data backup online and etc and will i neeed a isp to do that. What can i do with and without a isp to ready the laptop for reformatting.Thanks in advance.Carlos
XPS m1530|T9500 2.6ghz|4GB DDR2-667|1900x1200|256MB GeForce 8600GT|
320GB 5400rpm SATA|2xBlu-Ray Drive|Intel4965 wireless N-minicard|85 WHR 9 cell Battery|
Express Sound Blaster XFi|1yr Lojack|1yr 10GB Data Backup|1yr waranty|and etc.The T9500 and the 9 cell Battery was a free upgrade $1599.00 (they extended the July 4th sale to July 16 for me)Mind you this was the price before add ons blu-ray drive,Intel 4965N,1 yr lojack,1yr accidental and expresscard blaster Xfi=$694.00
Total $2293.00

 

Ok guys, read the thread. Please confirm if I am going to do it in right order..

1. Insert MediaDirect CD.
2. Insert Vista
3. Install AHCI driver from USB
4. Complete Installation of Vista
5. Insert MD cd again, complete installation.
6. Install all drivers/utilities.. from cd/website.

Also, is it okay if I have only 2 partitions? 1 for Vista and 1 for MD? MD=3gb. OR do you suggest I go with a "data" partition? If so how big should be the OS partition?

I only have 120gb to work with.

Thanks.

 

Hi sacredevil. Those steps are correct. And yes, 2 partitions are fine. That is how I have my own m1330 setup in fact.

 

Thanks darthsat for the reply.

One last question about the partitions, is there any advantage of having a separate "data" partition?

 

Thanks for the great postings here

Sorry I am a newbee here
I read this thread and I wasnt sure how I should configure my partition.
So there are 1 for back up, 1 for MD, 1 for Vista and 1 for Data ie D:

Did you guys keep all 4 partitions? or did you gusy get rid of the back up partition? I wasnt sure if I needed to keep that backup partition

I would really appreciate if someone can share their partition setup wiht 250gb HD

I thank you for your help.

 

Hi, what I just did today was get 1 partition for Vista, 1 for Data and 1 for MD. All working fine.