First time laptop owner q's re: p-7811

Greetings.. I finally went out an bought myself a laptop, the P-7811FX which I am really liking so far.

I have always built my desktop systems from carefully selected parts bought online, clean XP installs with no bloatware, etc. So, I was a bit leery of buying a laptop with Vista and other unknown bloatware installed. Overall I am liking Vista much more than I anticipated.

I see many people saying they have either removed the bloatware (i.e. Norton 360, Napster, etc) by uninstalling or just reformatted and installed a clean OS. Unfortunately I've already been installing other software so I'd rather not reformat and start over from scratch.

If I remove the bloatware and decide later I want to re-install some, where do I find it? I only have an "Operating System Disc" that came with the system which doesn't seem to have any of the bloatware on it.

Also, do I need to create a recovery CD to save all the drivers, etc. that came pre-installed?

 

I have a 6860fx, but it should be pretty much the same for the 7811. There is a small partition that Gateway sets aside that includes the factory defaults (programs and drivers). Also, go through the start menu and somewhere in the folders there's something like a gateway recovery center. There's a program that lets you create (burn) a restore dvd (or multiple cd-r's). I think it only lets you burn one copy, though, so be careful with that.

I'm assuming that to do the restore process you install Vista with the included vista disc and then run the restore dvd to get it back to factory standard conditions.

 

Why only one recovery DVD?

 

Well I guess I should RTFM which might explain what I need to do but it sounds like I should make some recovery DVDs before I uninstall anything or reformat.

How can I see the recovery partition? All I have is C: (boot) and D: (empty).

 

YES! Don't make the same mistake I made, it's a huge hassle to find the drivers online.

 

is there a guide available that's 7811 oriented? I just got mine today...

 

Yes I think it's in your instruction manual. It starts at page 89.

 

yah, I saw that. I've never used Vista before, and I'm wondering if that's all there is to it.

I really want to do the fresh install to remove the bloatware, and I also want to add another partition or two to the hard drive (after reading this article).

Any other advice before I cross that point of no return?

 

That should be it, and if the back-up disc doesn't work, some googling shuld get the job done, or asking here for help.

 

Gateway doesnt really fill the machine up with hard to delete junkware. Just download a good installer, such as youruninstaller pro, or revo uninstaller and uninstall all the junk such as norton, wild tangent, etc. You can also choose to run cccleaner and a thorough defrag. Although If you are going to re-partition, I recommend waiting on the defrag until youre all set up with the new partitions.

 

OK, I do it the other way around. I defrag before partitioning (don't ask me why, it just seemed like the thing to do). What am I missing. Is this just time saving or is there some deeper, darker secret?

 

Once you do a live re-partition, some of the data is scattered all over again. Plus the layout.ini is no longer valid. Now, does it really make too much of a difference? Probably not. But I have noticed better drive access once defraged after a partition change.

 

Is it still important to follow orev's fresh vista install guide, concerning activation?

Concerning defrag'ing before partitioning -- to me that's like vacuuming the house before it's scheduled to be flattened. But I am not a very technical person.

 

LOL, I always viewed it as placing things in order so the repartitioning does not screw things up ... equally lacking in technical underpinnings. I'm feeling quite domestic ATM.

 

It's the "etc." that I'm not sure about, unfortunately -- and that's why I'm leaning towards the re-install.

 

Groovy. Either way works, but the clean install just takes more time. Make sure, if you havent done so yet, be sure to create the Gateway Drivers and Software disk. You'll be needing it on the reinstall.

 

If you are accustomed to installing OS fine. But why would you want to go to all that trouble simply to get rid of a few pieces of crapware? It frankly makes no sense. I can install an OS in my sleep and wouldn't bother.

But hey, knock yourself out.

 

I'd have to say the same thing. The few crapware/trialware titles were pretty simple to remove. Uninstall, then run through MSCONFIG's startup tab for anything you don't want popping up (for instance I stopped the webcam software from popping up, as I don't really want it up all the time). If there are still things loading you don't want after that, a trip to the registry should take care of it. I think it only took me an hour or so to uninstall all the programs I didn't want and then clean things up that I didn't want starting automagically. Just make sure you do your restore DVD first...

 

I've not found this software very effective but maybe they improved it.
http://pcdecrapifier.com/download

 

Part of it is teaching myself. Part of it is that I was thinking of adding an additional partition or two. Part of it is that so many other people seem to say that it's a good idea.

Finally, as this is the first time I've used Vista, I'm not really sure what things are needed and what things are extemporaneous. I figure with a fresh install, I'll be able to just keep what is needed for Vista to run.

 

even after doing a fresh install of vista there are many tweaks that can be applied for a faster experience overall. see here