Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide

very well said...i think everyone should go through this process just to learn a little more than they knew before about comps. Its not too scarey, then you move onto tweaking and playing with processes and registry. Your always going to make a few mistakes, but all of them are mistakes that you can recover from and wont hurt your comp. Make your mind grow and your abilitly to solve your own comp problems..glad to see you had such a good exp out of all this. Enjoy

 

Yes, that is a nice perspective on this process.

Enjoy your new 1530.

 

I'm alredy doing it

 

This was great help thanks Monk. I was able to run through the removal process and ended up with C: D: and E: partitions, which will meet my needs. Also uninstalled Dell Media Direct which freed up that partition.

Personally I had no need for DMD. I don't watch dvd's on the machine. If i'm watching video it is usually a digital file so the computer needs to running. Plus I found out that the remote control works with the media software i use so it's still useful.

I can provide more info for anyone who is interested just ask!

 

I just rebooted with the MediaDirect 3.5 CD and hit F12, but it took me to the Vista login screen. I thought this problem was only for MD 4.0? Can anyone advise? Thanks!

Edit: Nvm, it seemed I hit F12 too soon.

 

After hitting F12 in Step 5, my screen goes black with a blinking cursor/line and I'm not prompted to "press any key when ready". I'm silently freaking out right now because I think I just killed my laptop and my PC also died a few days ago. D:

Edit: 5th time was the charm!

 

Um, I just tried extracting the Upek sensor drivers, but it didn't go to an auto install window after extraction. Instead, it opened C:\Dell\drivers\R173506. What is confusing me is that there are 4 folders (x64.vista, x64.xp, x86.vista, x.86.xp), none of which seem right to me, since I'm running Vista 32-bit. Any thoughts?

 

HA...no worries, never freak out..the best part to all of this is that there is an easy solution. You'll almost never do anything during this that is detremential to your system..unless you get mad and lauch the thing out the window. Any other issues sense the 5th charm that may have you nervous?

 

Very easy...X86 refers to 32-bit versions, where as x64 is simply 64-bit. The innitials next to it says the windows version. For you...open the file that says x86 vista.

 

Thanks for clarifying this! Actually, I noticed that there was another UPEK driver and installed that one (it was under Security Applications, but it wasn't checked). Now, I'm not sure if I installed the right one, since the one I was having problems with WAS checked. Any idea which one I should install? Should I install both? The (unchecked) one I installed is called "UPEK TouchStrip Reader Rev: A00" and the checked driver is called "UPEK TouchStrip Reader Rev: A02)".

Also, I installed something called "Dell Touchpad / Pointing Stick Reve: A01", but it isn't checked, so I've no idea if it's a necessary install. I assumed that it had something to do with my touchpad?

And, uh, is there a way to check what drivers I've installed so far? I've been doing them randomly, so have sort of lost track.

Really looking forward to finishing this! Will be nice to have a working computer again. I've been at this public terminal for 3 hours trying to finish this.

Edit: Oh, one last thing! I also installed the "Thomson Dell Premium Remote Control Rev: A04", but again, I'm not sure if this is required? I have a remote that came with my M1330, but I don't know if that driver is located somewhere else, or if it's bundled with another driver.

 

Sounds like your doing well so far. As far as the Upek driver is concerned, it sounds as though it is the same drives but one is a revised "newer" version, which is labeled A02.

Correct, Dell touchpad is the driver for the touchpad. The Upek reader strip and touchpad are two different drivers, and you should install both if you plan to use both.

Best way to see what you'v done so far is to go into your device manager and look at devices. Right click on "my computer", click on manage, once in there click on 4th down item that sams device manager. Everything that has a yellow triangle next to it is a device that isnt working b/c it doesnt have a driver.

Lastly...the thompson remote driver is the driver for your dell remote, def need to have installed if you want to use your remote. Also keep in mind that after your install everything, run the windows update mangaer, and it should download just about every newer version of your drivers that you need. No worries, dont get so stressed out...your almost done brother.

Sorry I didnt think of this before, but Darthsat has gone and done most of the driver work and compiled this list. This should be just about everything you need to install...click on the link and install.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3106106&postcount=866

 

hi guys, after reinstalling vista i notice my screen looked a bit grainy. I increased the resolution to the highest i.e. 1024*768 and 32bit colour setting. It still doesn't look as sharp as when I got it. What can I do to get a sharper screen?

 

Thanks for the detailed response, Monk! I just checked my device manager and didn't see any warning signs, so I guess I'm all set. Now I have to figure out how to get MS Office 97 to install properly on Vista.

 

Did you install your video driver and reboot?

 

As far as i have seen and read....vista only supports back to office XP. Its also another way for MS to get you to upgrade or flat out buy another version of MS. I'll search a little for you, but i'm not sure there is an answer

 

ye that was it. I forgot to install the intel accerelator thing. Thanks.

 

The latest Intel driver messed up my quickset and I had to change the brightness setting in BIOS in order to get maximum brightness. Otherwise, my laptop would be stuck at 50% brightness on battery.

Also I'm not sure if I'm missing a driver or not. Sound playback quality using earphones is not as good as it is used to be before the reinstall.

 

I managed to install 97. Though I got a parse error message at the end of the install, Word (which is really all I need) seems to be working with no problems. Thank you for taking the time to go above and beyond, it's really appreciated!

 

Glad that helped!

 

Yea I had the same problem, but got it fixed.

 

Hey I got a question, Before I do a full format can I make a copy of my dell recovery partition before I delete? and how do I reinstall the recovery partition back?

 

you gotta do an image of the enitire system not just the recovery partition. When you reformatt the drive you lose many extensions that are necessary for the partition to activate and then install properly. If you only image the recovery partition, you wont be able to actually use it again. Using Acronis, image the entire system and subfolders and that will allow you to use every aspect of the recovery partiton. To reinstall it back, you run acronis, hit recover, and select the location of where you copied your entire sys image (i use external HDD). It takes about 25-45 min to fully recovery an image that size.

 

Is it odd that after a reformat/reinstall of the o/s I never have to key in the Product Key? I've reformatted the laptop three times now. Once when I first got it to clean it (following the guide here) and then twice after to install 64-bit (I wasn't happy with the partitions the first time). Every time the activation status says Windows is indeed activated with an 'OEM' key. Is it hardcoded in the BIOS or something?

 

Oh man, I've just forgot install AHCI driver at the start >.< Is there anyway I can install AHCI driver after I've finish install windows and everything... I just took a day off to install everything back and now I don't want to do it again just for the AHCI driver. Is it really a big performance boost when you install AHCI driver? Thax

 

Hi, I need help here. Just bought vista ultimate x64. tried to install but got halted with "required CD/DVD drive device driver missing". I'm using dell studio 1535 with vista home x86. It's so frustating.. Anyone ...anybody..help me please. I did follow the guide over here but my Media Direct 4.0 just does not boot.

 

Media Direct 4.0 installs right into Vista as anyother program does, MD 3.3 and 3.5 need to be install first. Either reformatt with just using Vista disk first and install Media Direct after, or just pop the MD disk in now, while your in Vista..the drivers and suited should install and that "required...." should just go away.

You need to reinstall AHCI...without it, the system can become very unstable and be the cause for several different sightings of BSOD. Also, with AHCI installed, you can estimate at 15% increase in alsomst all aspects, so it is def worth the extra work, also the more you reformatt the better and quicker you will get at it. I can now do a full sys reformatt and program install in around 3 hrs..WELL WORTH THE TIME!!

Edit: followed up further with the AHCI installation, the only way to install the AHCI is during the windows installation, not after. If you want AHCI, redo everything..AND I WOULD HIGHLY ADVISE DOING THAT

Correct...the Key is stored in a sys file that was coded into the bios that tells it which version on vista you have and that it was supplied to the manufactor. OEM disk formatt can be done infinante times w/o using a diff key, and they still activate everytime.

 

Thanks for the answer Monk. But I'm not sure now if windows vista automaticaly installed the AHCI driver yet cause when i go to my BIOS and look at the hardriver setting its still on AHCI not ATA ,does that mean I've already installed the driver without knowing ^^!

 

So this is what I've found out.. If you are installing a windows vista sp1 disk then the AHCI driver is already supported by vista and there is no need to install it during the windows installation. To make sure you'r running on AHCI go to device manager and check for IDE ATA/ATAPI controller if there are already something called SATA AHCI controller that mean the driver is already installed by windows

 

hi. i'm just about to attempt this. can i ask for advice concerning the recovery partition that the laptop arrives with? do i need it? why would i want it? if, when i reinstall mediadirect, i only create one drive (C , can i still set restore points?

 

what is the most secure way to save your windows "situation" in the event of a minor/medium problem? i will be backing up files and program setups on an external drive.

 

okay, i just downloaded this AHCI driver for my m1330:
http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=41&fileid=205611

i think that's the right thing.

when i save the .exe to a USB stick, the vista setup can't seem to find it. thoughts?

 

ah, excellent

 

after extracting some of these drivers, in particular, the matrix storage manager, there doesn't seem to be any installation. it extracts, then shows me the folder. do i have to manually install them?

 

further to my above question, how come vista never asked me for some kind of key? could i install this on any machine?

 

No...your comp's BIOS is embeded with a code that has an OEM registered Key..it tells Vista that its installed from Dell and also the key tells it which version on Vista to install..your disk actually has all versions of Vista on it..its the key that denotes which one to install.

All files will ask for a location to extract to, or you can make your own. I make a new file on the desktop and extract all there so i can just delete the file when everything is extraced and installed. After each program extracts it will automatically install the program.

When installing Vista and AHCI, slide in the Dell drivers disk and search for it there, its much easier to install from a disk.

ACRONIS...back up the whole entire system using ACRONIS home 11. BEST **** PROGRAM FOR WINDOWS.

The age old Dell ques....the partition is only usefull if you run into an issue and want to restore the comp back to the way it came from the factory. Sense you want to reformatt and get rid of the bloatware...i would suggest getting rid of the recovery partition and reclaim all the space. If you want the partition then backup using ACRONIS..the whole entire sys b/f the reformatt, then you can always go back to orriginal Dell setup..if you want, not sure why you would though.


AND FINALLY...when you post once, go back to that post and hit the edit button so you dont have to post 7 different posts...takes toooooo much space up, we'll answer all your questions even if there are 10 in one edited post. Hope this helps...good luck and let me know if you need more help. Enjoy!

 

cheers monk! great response! it's just a lot better to know what's going on, not just "how to do it". i'll look into Acronis.

 

A question guys.
I've tried to make a backup image using Acronis true image home 11. It tells me one of the partitions has errors and it can only do it in point to point method.
I've run checkdisk for my OS drive and the restore drive and they seem to be fine. Does that mean there's an error on the media direct or the diagnostics partition? If that is the case how can i deal with it since vista doesn't let me anything with those two partitions except see them in computer management. The other thing is that Acronis only sees 3 partitions OS, recovery and I think media direct but could be the diagnostic partition. What do i do to get all 4 in an image?

Actually I found the solution myself. I used Active disk image and it did recognize all 4 partitions so I made an image with all of them included. It includes cd/usb boot software to restore but I haven't tried it yet.

 

I've run into this a few times...if you have disabled services in msconf or services.msc, acronis has a service that if disabled wont allow it to work or image. U have to enable it at startup then preform the image with acronis, and it should work just fine.

Also, if you use Media Direcr 3.3 or 3.5 you wont see the partition..its hidden. If your using Media Direcrt 4.0, then of course you wont see it..they changed it in 4.0 to run as a program within Vista, so no partition is needed. Enjoy

 

so i'm running this again because after just 2 days, there is already a problem with WMP11.

just wondering, what would be the first things you do right after a complete reinstall? i'm thinking, disable UAC as the absolute first thing, then install the drivers, then get acronis?

edit: another question, with the UPEK driver (and some others), the installation does not start automatically, but rather takes me to the folders where the setups lie, and i have to pick between x64 and x86, vista and XP. well i have 32-bit - so do i choose x86?

 

There is no exact science as to how to reinstall. I do all my drivers, but my question for you is why would you ever want to disable UAC. search this website to read up about it...i would strongly suggest you keep it on, it does more in the backgroup of vista that what you think.

if you havent read through this thread, please do
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166532
there is a ton of fighting abour UAC, and it may just open your eyes on how impt it is to keep b/c of the Layer Effect

if you have vista 32- bit then open up x86, 64-bit is x64.

 

168 pages is a lot to look through but the topic of UAC was just brought up again so maybe it'll spark a little "dicsussion".

 

ha..def, i tried to find the argument that covered 3 or so pages about UAC, but i didnt have the patience to sift through all the pages, if i run across then, i'll def post em..unitl then, sorry its the best i gots

 

I should be receiving my shiny new laptop in the next week.
First up - definitely "mid level" techie! I've read parts of this thread & it seems like it's a good idea to reformat...but my question is - is it really as easy as it sounds? And how long should I expect it to take? And are the benefits noticable to the average punter?

Never done it before, so slightly noob nervousness!

 

i did it because it was easy and also a learning experience. as for the benefits, it just feels good to know that what is on your laptop, it's because you put it there. i haven't noticed any increase in performance.

 

sorry if this is covered, i'm reformatting now and had a question: what do i lose if i delete the 3GB media direct partition? Just wanted to know before i deleted something that was useful.

 

Nothing.. you just won't be able to boot into media direct directly (without booting into the OS) to watch movies or listen to music..

 

ah, so it's a mini OS for music, etc? i actually didn't even know what this was, thanks for the info

 

thanks for the guide my friend was having this problem..

 

This is really an incredible thread. I really appreciate the time and effort put into helping us fellow dell owners to get the most out of our purchase. I am anxiously awaiting my new laptop and the first thing I do upon arrival will be to re install OS minus the bloat. So once again, thank you so much, I wish I had done this when I got my pc. I am going to be giving the PC to my wife to use so maybe I can get everything off of it that I want to save and put it on a external HD and then re format so she has a oc that performs up to it's full potential.

 

Good luck kaien. Feel free to ask any questions about the process that you may have.