Q: After reformat ... "system restore"?

Hi:

Sometime in the next week, I'll be taking delivery of a Dell XPS M1710.

In the interim, I've been debating about whether or not I should reformat; especially after seeing some posts about BSODs. So for the time being, I'll be keeping the DELL PC Restore partition.

HOWEVER ... assuming that all goes well with the reformat, I was wondering something. Since Dell has billed its "PC Restore" feature as a Symantec product, IS there a Symantec utility which is the SAME as the Dell PC Restore utility?

REASON: IF there is, I'd love to be able to create a restore image of the CLEAN, reformatted XP MCE as well as my own installed apps and current drivers.

Thanks for any input you folks could give!

 

Reformat if there are problems with it. Otherwise don't.

I don't know exactly how Dell's utility works, but you're probably thinking of Symantec Ghost (Or is it Norton Ghost? Made by Symantec, anyway)
And yes, with that you can create an image of your clean partition.

 

I reformat as soon as I get every computer from Dell. You can choose which drivers and what software to install. You don't have to delete the restore partition if you don't want to, that won't matter.

 

I use Acronis True Image to do just that on all my machines. It can be used in multiple ways, but the way I use it is to create the "Acronis Secure Zone" (a hidden partiton) and create my restore image(s) there. This area is accessible by pressing F11 during the boot process, and then you can restore your image. You can create whatever size secure zone you want, and have multiple images...say one just with the OS, and another with apps installed, or whatever. Works great.

 

Thanks to all ... and thanks to Fountainhead for the Acronis tip, will check that out!

While I like the idea of Dell's PC Restore, I'm not sure of exactly WHAT software they use. Symantec has Ghost and "Save and Restore" packages.

 

well i hope u got a big HD cuz i thought i would be fine with a 60gig(i already store most of my stuff on my 100gb external HD) but i soon realized that dell had partitioned my HD into almost nothing....after i installed all the programs i wanted i found that my C drive only had 18gigs left! Dell gives u Norton Ghost that will use the D drive that dell partitioned to save Ghost's images...thing is Ghost only is a 90 day trial so i got rid of it. I suggest reformat and get rid of the bloatware and partition to ur liking then find another program to create ur image.

 

nLite might be useful too.

 

Fitz:

18 Gb on a 60Gb drive??? Ewww!!! You just pushed me about TEN steps closer to the reformat!

Actually I got an 80Gb drive. However, unlike most M1710 users, I don't plan to do any gaming. The primary (actually, SOLE) purpose is to record and uplink 1080p HD video. Since I won't need to actually "save" the video on the M1710 itself, I think (or hope) I'll be fine!

 

Partyboy:

Thanks for the link!

FYI I have an XPS desktop with PC restore, a feature I find useful. IF I have that same ability AFTER a reformat, it'll save me HOURS by doing the same thing. Especially with the apps and, of course, the OS patches!