Newbie q: Should I reinstall XP?

Hi all. Because of the advice and unrelated posts of the kind folks on the notebookreview board, I'm about to purchase an i9300 to enter the wonderful world of laptop gaming (WoW here I come). I've noticed that pretty much all the pros around here do some immediate work to their new laptops, with a complete reinstall of windows being the minimum. Here's my question. Is it worth it for me to do this? I am an admitted computer neophyte. I've made it through installing RAM on a desktop (yeah, I know, whoopity-do). But that's about it. Are the gains I'm going to get worth the risks of having someone who knows fairly little about computers messing around with something that works to begin with? Opinions welcome. If anyone knows a good guide of things that people should do with their new laptops, preferably written so even an idiot can understand it, please let me know. Gracias.


Danny

 

I always do a fresh install. I think getting rid of all the stuff you don't need is a plus. Every program that runs in the background takes a little bit of memory and CPU, and has the potential to be a problem. Dell gives you a recovery CD. That will make your notebook like the day you bought it. The recovery CD will reinstall all of the garbage that was on their in the first place. If you can get a XP CD, you should be able to install it and get the drivers from the recovery CD. Micrsoft will activate XP as long as you have a valid liscence. If you are buying from Dell, you will. If you don't feel comfortable installing XP, another option would be to go into the control panel and remove anything you don't want. Good Luck.





I know things, things that could get me killed


Thinkpad T41:
* 1.6Ghz Pentium M * 768Mb Memory * 40Gb Hitachi 7200RPM * Panasonic UJ-845-B DVD+RW *

 

>> Dell gives you a recovery CD. That will make your notebook like the day you bought it. The recovery CD will reinstall all of the garbage that was on their in the first place.

I got two copies of PowerDVD, WordPerfect, and Windows XP Home Edition. I didn't get the recovery CD. (But I didn't need it. I got all of the required drivers/apps from Dell's website.)

 

Email Dell and tell them you need a driver disk and application disk.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by matta2k

 

I contacted Dell. This is what they said:

Media Reduction Initiative

Dimension 11/17/04 - Inspiron 11/22/04

To enhance customer experience and eliminate waste, Dell is reducing the amount of printed documents and CDs (Application CD, Drivers and
Utilities CD, hard-copy Owner?s Manual) that are shipped with customer
systems.

What is being removed?
? Resource CD, Tools CD, and the hard-copy of the Owners Manual
? On Dimension & Inspiron systems, the Operating System CD WILL CONTINUE TO SHIP.
? On Optiplex, Precision, & Lattitude systems, the following items will be optional for customers: OS CD, Resource CD, and the Quick Reference Guide.
? Customers will receive back-up media for software purchased through
Dell and all productivity applications (e.g. Microsoft Office).

Items no longer shipped with Dimension & Inspiron systems are still
accessible to the customers via the following resources on their system:

? Hard-copy Owner?s Manual ? replaced by an electronic version installed on the hard drive. Owner?s Manuals will also continue to be available online at support.dell.com or can be shipped at the customer?s request by calling Customer Care.
? Drivers and Utilities CD ? Corrupted drivers can be restored using the Driver Reset utility. Drivers will also continue to be available online at support.dell.com. (Except XPS - these customers will continue to receive this CD)
? Application CD ? Free trial versions of applications can be downloaded directly from vendor websites at no charge. (examples: AOL, Paint Shop Pro, MusicMatch)

Blah blah blah, and...

However, we can send you the operating system CD, Resource CD, Tools CD, or Owners Manual. So please provide the information requested below so I can setup the service:

·Contact Name:
·Address: (from your original order/ invoice)
·Current Shipping Address: (Address, City, State, and Zip) No PO Boxes
please:
·Daytime Phone Number:
·Alternate Contact/ Phone:
·Service Tag Number:

So I sent them this information and requested all the manuals and CDs associated with the Inspiron 6000.

 

If you decide to contact Dell to get the CDs they did not include, meantion to them that they should just put the CDs on the hard drive. Then when you get your machine you can just burn them to disc. It think it is absolutely stupid not to include those CDs. A lot of users wipe their system and install a non oem version of XP.

 

To the original poster, you don't really need to reinstall Windows. That's just too time-consuming. Just do the following:

* Find all the programs running in the background (they are usually in system tray and startup folder).

* For those you don't need, like AOL, etc., uninstall them from Control Panel --> Add/Remove Programs.

* For those you MAY need, like Real Player, MSN Messenger, etc., go into their options and disable "autostart" so they don't run during Windows startup.

* Take a peek at the Windows startup folder and see what other programs run during startup. Remove them from the startup folder if you don't need them.

* Run Ad-Aware (www.adaware.com) to remove all spywares. This cleans out additional programs that MAY run and take up resources.

You should end up with a pretty clean & lean system.

Of course, you're going to need firewall and antivirus. Make sure they start up every time you start Windows.

 

pentium m's don't run in that temperature range. i think your software or sensor is incorrect.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by heartofgold

 

time consuming? it's at most a 100gig hard drive. He's a gamer so i'm sure he got the 60 gig 7200... format and reinstall is extremely quick. Drivers are fairly easy, it's a couple of the function software that might be a problem. Reinstalling 2kpro is a little more difficult but not that bad. Caluduran my aim is Trices8 if you have any problems let me know. BTW I use mine for WoW as well and if you opted for the 6800 you will not be disapointed. It is really pretty on here.

Trices

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by trices

 

It's great, weight is a little high for some, but it's not bad for me. Glare on the screen is a little much, i'm reordering and I might end up going with the non UXGA screen for the anti glare coating. 7200 drive and 6800 are a monster combo... Other than mentioned in previous post it's fantastic, i'd say jump on it while the 800 off 2k coupon is still around.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by trices

 

I'd say REFORMAT that sucka with a FREASH new copie of XP Pro!!! On the good side you lose all the hunk a junk Dell install on the HD =P

 

Is it 're-format' or just 'format'?? Isn't re-formatting doing a format once and then doing it again..?

Anyway - I consider myself technically saavy - (I manage a computer help desk; I better be!) - and it takes me ~2 hours from start to finish to do a complete format/re-install. My HD crashed on my main PC (Dimension 4550) tonight and I'm actually going through the rebuild as I type this (on another PC)... Last night I did the same to my mother-in-law's PC after it got insanely infested with SpyWare.

I don't consider 2 hours alot of time considering (Like people mentioned above) you get to really make the PC the way you want it.. Clean registry, no backround apps, etc...I also don't use driver CD's from the vendors - the only thing I do before a format the drive is I'll download the latest network card drivers to ensure that after XP has been installed I can get out the internet. I'll then run the Windows Update and then head over the the PC vendors site and make sure I get the latest drivers.

I have a Dell 700m on order and should have it in a week.. I'll probaly boot it up, see what neat and fancy stuff Dell puts on that that I might like and then completely wipe out the drive and go through this process again.

Anyway - to answer calurduran's question - yes I'd suggest formatting and re-installing Windows - if you've never installed WinXP before its very simple and straightforward - if you run into issues you can always post a question on here (assuming you have another PC to get on the 'net with) - or just stick with the default options - that will set XP up correctly in order to get you internet connectivity.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by hls811

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by hls811

 

hey mods...

maybe we can get a sticky on partition and format info for persons getting new notebooks. there's a lot of dissenting opinion on why or what to do, but maybe a sticky on how to do it would be helpful?

anyways, to sum up (i'll speak for dell since i don't know about other notebook manufacturers)...

(NOTE!! before you do anything, make sure you have a copy of the driver disc from dell or download the drivers from dell's website (http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/) onto a USB drive, external HD, CD/DVD-R, or some other external storage)

notebooks come from the (dell) factory with (a) lots of bloatware and (b) an image partition that takes up a lot of HD space (i had a 3 GB partition)

many users like to start with a clean slate since the (a) bloatware hogs valuable resources (RAM and HD space) and (b) the image partition is really useless since it restores to a factory image that, once again, has all that bloatware on it. note that uninstalling bloatware really doesn't help because you have left over folders, registry entries, and possibly startup files still residing on your computer. some bloatware is stored as compressed executables on your HD so when you click on the icon, it actually installs the app. if your decision is to go the uninstall route, then the rest of this post won't really matter to you.

you can get a clean slate by booting to your windows xp CD. if you didn't get one, you can contact dell and they will send you one, free of charge. you can also get your driver CD as well or download all necessary drivers from dell's website (http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/) before you re-partition / format your HD.



if you want to start fresh, here's what you do...

1. boot your computer with the windows xp CD in your CD-ROM drive

2. when it says "press any key to boot from CD", do it

3. follow the prompts; initially, you'll be asked to read a license agreement, etc. just follow the instructions as they are given (i believe you'll be wanting to hit F8)

4. after getting through the license agreement, the next part where you will be asked what to do will be dealing with partitions on the HD. if you wish to simply install a fresh copy of windows xp in the existing partition, you can elect to do so... there should be an option to do just that.

5. if you want to get rid of your image partition and create one partition taking advantage of your entire HD, choose the delete partition option. lather, rinse, repeat until all partitions are deleted (there may be an appx 8 MB partition that you can't delete). when you are done deleting partitions, choose to create a partition in the unpartitioned space. it should default to the max allowed space. follow the prompts.

6. the installation process will ask you to format the partition and install xp. go for it. i would just do the quick format, but if you are hardcore and want to do the regular one, by all means, be my guest.

7. once you get past this hurdle, you are free and clear. the next time you will be asked what you want to do should be after windows xp has installed. i believe it will have something to do with keyboard layout and time zone choice. other questions will follow, but..

8. ...if you've gotten this far, you should be good to go.

9. if you've downloaded all your drivers prior to doing this, you should have no need to connect to the internet for any extra files.

good luck

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by drumfu

 

heartofgold,

To Simply things the partitions are essentially how you want your drive split up.. SOme people prefer to have everyone on just a C: Drive and keep all information there using the full capacity of the drive. Other people prefer to break the drive into smaller partitions and have a C: Drive, D: drive, etc... (Which is what I prefer). The simplest way would be to keep everyone on one partition - especially for someone uncomfortable with messing around with a PC.. Personally, I split mine up.. the 700m I have on order has an 80GB drive (it'll actually be about 76GB of usable space) - I'm going to create a partion thats 35GB as my C: Drive - I'll load my operating system and applications there; I'll then take the rest of the space (41GB or so) and load all of my MP3's and videos on there.

too much info, I know.. but essentiall the partition is the differnt drive letters you want to make out of a single drive... Drumfu really did break it down; although you may not know the terminology of what he was describing he did make it step-by-step so if you were walking through you'd be able to do it.

Hope this helps!

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by hls811

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by hls811

 

Heartofgold;

Excuse me for trying to help - although my previous posts were directed towards you its also beneficial knowledge to share in case anyone else has a question and decides to do a search. You specifically put in your previous post that "I'm on the forums to get help, basic knowledge and to help others with what I do know" - so am I.. Excuse me for trying to help you. In response to Drumfu's post you wrote "I've no clue as to what you are talking about, then I do again!" - My apologies for trying to break it down and make it simplier.

"I see all these posts making it seem like you're all computer geeks and do what you say because it's a "priority" right off the bat!" - You are completely mis-reading what people on here are saying - I NEVER said it was a priority. (You said it yourself that you think its beneficial!) Calurduran asked if it was worth doing and people seem to think that in one way or another clearing off the unnecessary apps that dell puts on is beneficial - but no one says it MUST happen or is a priority. If you don't understand how to do it theres nothing wrong with it - at some point none of us did either; like you we read up on it, tried it and learned it.

I know you never came out and ASKED for help but from yoru posts you seem to want to know more - and maybe you don't have the abilty to do it now - doesn't matter to me one bit but it doesn't change the fact that on a forum I'm going to post my opinion and experience.. Maybe its my mistake for starting off each thread with your name (although in my first post I didn't and you still assumed it was directed to you).. there are other people here who want to know things.

I'm not a 'high-tech geek' as you like to put it; I like to think I'm educated on some aspects of computers and know the hassles I go through whenever I need to find out information - I regularly visit forums for assistance and love that the information and help from others is so readily available. I apologize again if you've taken offence to me or anyone providing you with help you aren't asking for.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by hls811

 

This is my last post on this thread.. I can't win... All I'm trying to do is be helpful - offer some advice and guidance - You can't tell my tone through letters on the screen and I think my sincerity is getting lost in translation. All I was looking to do was help and post some advice/experience on a forum. (I was even going to reach out to you and see if you would have liked me to send you a much older laptop that you could expirement with, without having to use your current laptop).

I'm sorry if my words offended you - that wasn't my intention; each time I apologized it seem to be taken more out of context and backfire on me. I meant NO disrespect whatsoever and was simply trying to help.

Like I said, this is my last post on here.. I'll be a silent observer from now on...

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by hls811

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by drumfu

 

First off - I'm probably going mostly against popular opinion here when I say this - I WOULD NOT reformat the drive. It really is easy enough to remove the programs you don't want, defragment the drive and it's fine. I consider myself pretty tech-savvy, although I've never gotten into overclocking or high-end mods, and I would prefer not to have to do it. Especially on a notebook when you're not really sure if you have all of the right drivers. I'm the same as everyone else in wanting to have a fresh, clean drive, but I can tell you from my own experience, you will probably get tripped up somewhere along the line and it will take a lot longer tha you had hoped. Those of you who have done it a million times would disagree, but I know what it's like when you run into a roadblock and aren't really sure what to do. Today's hard drives are large enough that you can afford to leave the hidden partition that has the restore program on it. If you really need the extra few gigs, get a bigger drive or an external.

I've formatted and reformatted tons of desk tops, but I still have problems now and then, so unless you're certain you want to dive in and risk screwing something up, just LEAVE IT ALONE. I certainly wouldn't advise anyone to reflash the BIOS! Isn't that just asking for trouble? Maybe I don't even know as much as I think I do, but there would be nothing worse than someone trying that for the first time and ending up with a new $1500 doorstop.

I screwed something up within a few hours of getting my new 9300, and it was such a relief to just hit the restore function and have it all back where it started within about 15 minutes. I deleted what I didn't want and reinstalled what I did, then I did some testing and it passed with flying colors. I might change my mind in a few months and reformat, but I will make sure I have a restore CD along with a driver CD for everything I need.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by flyrooster