Why do people format the laptop as soon as they get it?

Why do people format the laptop as soon as they get it?

Whynot use the same windows provided with softwares?

 

Because most laptops are preinstalled with "bloatware" (unneeded and unwanted programs and services that reduce your machine's performance). Using the provided or made recovery discs will also install all of this bloatware, so many choose to do a clean install for the best performance.

 

i like to install it all myself so i know exactly what is on my computer. i dont trust anyone

 

just so you get the true feeling of a NEW laptop, rather than a laptop filled with trials that end in 30 days

 

Yes, so that you don't get all that bloatware. I was impressed with how "clean" the Vostro 1500 was with XP though. However, I did a fresh install myself, and wow, it still made a world of difference. It seems so much more zippy, and saved about 2GB in HDD space!!!

 

Some trial softwares and manufacturer's utilities takes up hard disk space and makes some people feel unneccessary "bloated". Furthermore those "bloatwares" effective duplicates Windows utilities and takes up more resources in the computer at a bid to be more user friendly. I am using my Asus notebook now without any of their Asus utilities .

 

Many laptops can see as much as a 35-40% visible performance increase through a clean install which reduces all the bloatware along with proper tweaking and config of settings.

 

isnt there some risk involved with not being able to get some programs back and also if some files arent installed properly? how easy is it to do

 

There are many beginners in the threads I have been active in (below) doing their own install and installing all the programs themselves.

There is absolutely no risk involved unless you throw the laptop out of a window as a result of frustration.

Rely on the instructions and people here...You will be glad you did.

You may be interested in a number of the below articles.

 

Define risk. Which programs would you want back? You can always resort to:

• Backing up the drive before formatting, just in case.
  
• Waiting for someone to post (for example) a "Format + XP Guide" on the forum to confirm all drivers and devices will work if you follow in their footsteps.

I formatted straight away:

• To change from Vista to XP
• To dictate exactly what is installed on the laptop, instead of having to hunt down and uninstall programs manually in the pre-installed image, possibly leaving behind a trail of destruction, driver-wise.
• To get rid of MediaDirect and the Recovery Partition and other stuff I found useless and wasteful in terms of hard-drive space, and to rearrange the partitions.
• To dual-boot Linux, and that meant freeing up primary partitions.

 

Some people like me like to have Linux as well and do not actually want to waste disk space having partitions like DELL Restore, Diagnostics, etc. on their hard drive.... So they repartition and freshly format the drives and do a clean install.... Also it gives you the YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR LAPTOP feel

 

after doing an original format how often do you guys suggest reformatting the laptop?

and as far as losing programs i meant mainly like roxio and mcafee which would come with the laptop and risk as in forgetting to install something or something along those lines. I dunno i guess i'm just paranoid that i would mess something up badly and not be able to fix it

i've just read some people in the xps m1330 format thread that have had some little glitches and stuff while formatting and i'm worried i'd get that too.

 

I always reformat because I just don't trust that what comes from the manufacturer is as good as a clean install. It's pretty easy, doesn't take that long and you can have the peace of mind that there is nothing installed that you don't know about.

While the Vostros come with no bloatware, I am still not 100% sure Dell doesn't include some useless services or programs of some sort, but after my own clean install I am 100% sure.

On machines that come with blatent bloatware it's a no brainer and I have personally tried to uninstall all the bloatware on a laptop before, even after doing everything I could (and taking much longer than a clean install) the system never felt snappy. In some cases I will try to uninstall everything to see how it works out, then format and clean install and I have always found that the result is the clean install results in a faster better system.

Think of it this way, the new laptop is a car and the bloatware is dents in the body. Uninstalling them is like knocking them out with a rubber mallet, you can get them looking pretty good, but deep down it's never 100%.

Reformatting is like bolting on new body panels everywhere. They are all 100% and dent free and it probably takes longer than knocking all the dents out.

That really is pretty much how it works, reformatting takes less time and is more thorough than any other method.

As for how often to reformat, do it when you feel your system is suffering from issues that you can't repair otherwise.

 

OK now. I will respond to this best I can. I reinstall windows (on my main machine I use for music and gaming) roughly 3-9 months. In the past years that adds up to ALOT of fresh installs.

Usually since I don’t want to wait I do a "quick NTFS" format.

Why every 3-9 months? Most users over time install allot of crap, and that crap adds up eventually. Unless you’re seriously anal about this even those who do tweaks and keep the system free of virus and spy ware still eventually end up with a bogged down system.

Linux is known to be less of an issue, unless you install newer builds that are less likely to be stable (ever wonder why most apache servers are still 1.33?), but that’s another thread in regards to nix.

After many years of this process I have gotten the whole procedure to be as efficient and painless as possible. Short of developing CAB's (which I should do one day, which has a end result of being "pre-installed" software when windows installs) I usually build my windows disc using nlite to be tweaked and hands off install.

Then I package ISO's and all the files of installs I use the most in a "misc" folder on the disc (I use a DVD). Since a tweaked install of windows averages around 300MB there’s allot of space to add stuff.

Glitches and whatnot depends on several factors. First what OS? If its vista "glitches" are to be expected. IMO vista is not ready for prime time, I won’t move to vista until I have no other choice (just as I did with XP). By the time I get to vista it will be fully tweak able and considerably more stable than it is now.

XP is not a problem at all really, it’s been around and does what it needs to do with less problems.

The other aspect that will cause trouble is drivers. Once again to make this pain free, you will want to package newest and all of your drivers into the windows install. This is easily done with nlite. For vista users who insist, there is a vlite out there too. You can rebuild your vista the same and add all those pesky drivers in there as well.

Now instead of getting windows installed to find out you can’t use your nic card to download the driver to make it run.... it’s installed with windows and stuff "just works".

It sounds complicated but a few trials and errors (you can always rebuild a new disc and reinstall again if you mess up) you will have it down and have a nice install disc that does most the work for you.

I can get my OS installed, and have "most" of my most used programs up and running in 1-2 hours, easily.

As an example since my CPU has 4 gigs of ram, I got windows xp 64 bit ready with all drivers available from dell installed, and as soon as the thing turns on its first job in life is formatting and installing xp 64. I have no worries at all that anything will go wrong. Although you never know... LOL

O yeah also remember to burn your install disc at low speeds, or else it might say its missing files during install.

The web sites for nlite and vlite have plenty of documentation, just take your time and read it all before diving in and making your first disc. You just rebuild it from any install disc you have laying around.

http://www.nliteos.com/
http://www.vlite.net/

Any problem short of a hardware malfunction is fixable/workaround able 90% of the time.

As for roxio and all that, there are free equivalent versions of almost everything if you look hard enough, but dell should have also included install discs anyhow (I know they used to have those blue and white discs).

There is nothing you can mess up that inst fixable, unless you smash the thing with a hammer and physically destroy it! LOL

Worst possible case have a friend who knows a bit more available in case you end up formatting it and cant get windows installed for whatever reason, or you get instant BSOD's and are unable to troubleshoot it yourself.

However this is VERY unlikely to occur, especially if you’re using the install disc that came with the system.

MD

 

You can stretch that to 12 months if you have a relatively static list of programs that you use and don't install packages that come with heaps of drivers (for example, CAD programs that install USB dongle drivers which you might not need for your license, etc).

That advice becomes less and less true with more modern drives. Generally it's best to burn at the rated speed unless you want to play back the data on another non-PC device that's picky (DVD player, PS2, Wii, etc).

But other than that, yes, nLite is an extremely useful program that gets you going with less effort.

 

There's nothing like the clean feel of a fresh install to make your computer feel new

That being say, I do a clean installation upon receiving a new laptop because the factory installation doesn't have that feeling. Conceivably it's part psychological but reinstallation isn't that much trouble after you've done it a few times.

I'll usually do subsequent re-formats and re-installations every 12 months for pretty much the reasons mentioned in MDizzle's rather lengthy post. Not only does it give me a fresh start, it makes me clean up my files such that I can fit all my data on a few 1GB memory sticks XD

Programs are usually reinstalled as I need them rather than on the spot.

 

Why not just remove the bloatware in the control panel in the add and remove programs?

 

Read the rest of the thread to find out. It's been answered at least twice.

Three reasons I can come up with:

• You have to manually hunt down and uninstall stuff you don't want on there. Many will be in the Add/Remove Programs menu, some won't and can be harder to uninstall.

• Uninstalling a program and its drivers doesn't guarantee that all its files are removed and that all traces are gone, especially if the program installs drivers and other system files, or changes your system settings (registry changes, toolbars, explorer menus, etc).

• Overall, not installing a program in the first place results in a cleaner system than one that has had stuff installed, then uninstalled.

If you have doubts, go to a PC that is running pretty slow from not having a format in a couple years and uninstall everything. I'll bet you it will still run like crap

 

I like Devedander's analogy here:

 

Should n't it say "less time" than longer?

 

Re: Ash Hi Fi Zone:

Absolutely correct...more than anything else there is a feeling knowing you have taken a system and and personalized it to the point that there is a sense of accompishment associated with it.

I am getting so many responses to my tweak article and Clean Install article by people just like the author saying "Can I do this?"

I try to convince them that the wealth of knowledge here makes this the best place to do it. Something goes wrong...pm or throw in a quick thread and its fixed.

My system right now start just over 20 seconds (press button until internet confirms and no activity) Before it was just under a minute and well over a minute before that. Its wonderful.

I was terrified of installing 64Bit then came here. Now I wouldnt get rid of it. I have found no problems or incompatibility issues at all that affect me.

People, especially new people, need to understand most that you cannot hurt the hardware by reinstalling. Its like a puzzle where you just need to take the time and put the pieces back in.

In the end you will be proud as heck at what you accomplished and others will be calling you a weiner as you try to explain it to them.

You have now graduated to 'Newby Geek"

 

After seeing a lot of problems posted here associated with re-installs I have to admit failed to do one and used another guide and add/remove. At first everything was fine and I could restart in about 45 seconds, now it takes a bit longer. Maybe I'll do a re-stall this fall.

What ever happen to Southern Girl or Gal? She was always on top of these questions with my generation laptop.

 

I format every twelve monthes. In so doing I can clean up any long forgotten apps that no longer prove useful and remove the remnants left behind by driver and software updates over that time period. It also encourages an active back-up routine if after every 12 monthes I am to nuke my internal HDD. Additionally, once formatted I can load up all of the most recent drivers and softwares and effectively have a brand new machine again, faster and more efficient than it was the year before.

I would format a Dell because of all the 'curtains and blinds' that too many manufacturers like to tack on to Windows to 'enhance' my experience. Which in actuality they usually do the operating system stability and operation absolutely no favours whatsoever.

 

Flamenko is that Dell clean install guide in your sig also going to work for the Vostro 1400?

 

Another question:
So given that uninstalling oppose to reformatting isn't as "clean", what about if you were to uninstall as well as use disc defragment?

 

Defragmenting doesn't take care of the issue that the uninstalled programs may leave files and or settings littered around. All deframgenting does is try to reorganize the contents of the drive, but does not change the contents.

 

I'm with most of the people here. Reinstalling leaves you with a leaner, cleaner system, and you learn a heck of a lot about your machine in the process. It leaves you without question about what is, and what is not installed on your computer.

Regards,
Paolo

 

Yeah, just doing an add/remove and defragging is still going to leave some small files. I used a guide for the E1505 by MarkMcK and PC Pitstop to clean up the registry and residuals. I wouldn't doubt it if there's still some stuff left behind.

 

im still undecided whether to return my 1500, which i got from the outlet. If i format and reinstall vista will i still be able to get a refund within the 14 day policy?

 

I would hope so, since I would hope that they'd be re-imaging the drive upon receiving it anyway to clear out any personal info you may have had on it.