Clean Install -> Wow!

Just wanted to testify and say a clean install is totally worth it.

I have a dv6500t (bought about a month ago now) and found the amount of worthless junk on it very disappointing.

I followed the guide on this site and now have a fresh Home Premium, the only driver I had to install was the graphics driver, everything else Vista or Windows Update took care of.

The startup time is much improved. There is no annoying HP popup bullcrap. It shuts down faster. And I have more HD space since I got rid of the recovery partition (after burning DVDs of course).

Just wanted to recommend this to everything that has it done it. I guess at least as long as you have an external HD, which makes the process very easy!

Thanks for the guide,
TGxSurf

 

Congrats. I also clean install and though it's sometimes a pain in the neck it's actually faster than XP's installation. I sometimes go back to HP's web site to make sure I have the latest drivers.

 

It's a shame that most people who buy HP laptops won't be doing a clean install. It would be nice if HP gave their consumers options to add ro remove loatware like some Dell laptops.

 

I always recommend a clean install it will inprove your laptop 100%

 

Meh. I used to do the clean install thing. Now I just uninstall everything I can from the Add/Remove list, install CCleaner and give it a good scrubbing, install jv16 Power Tools and clean up the registry, and all is good. Runs just as fast as a clean install, and takes a LOT less hassle/time.

 

How long did you spend manually removing all of that stuff, then running the registry cleaner? An hour or two is my guess. And you have to sit there the whole time clicking through prompts.

A clean install takes almost the same amount of time, and for most of it you can walk away and do something else. In the end, you wind up with a system you *know* is clean.

 

No, I want to say 30 minutes or so, tops. Most of the bloatware comes off pretty painlessly.

 

Even the best cleaning programs won't get rid of all of the traces left behind by uninstalled software in Windows.

It's really not that hard to reinstall Windows. Vista finally has a modern installer. All you need to do is download the drivers for your system from the HP website, burn those to a CD or throw them on a flash drive and pop in the Vista Anytime Upgrade DVD. Use the key on the bottom of your notebook to install, activatation takes 5 minutes tops, and driver installation is quick and painless too. In all the process will take maybe 45 minutes.

I know, I've had to do it countless times because of the bad motherboard in my dv6000t.

You'll get a much better install of Windows that way and it will be truly clean.

 

Or use my guide and skip dealing with the activation.

 

Hate to sound confrontational, but if you are talking about a HP DV95xx system (or anything similar), you are so wrong, and your statement only misleads other users.

Uninstall does not get rid of even half of the bloat (if you cannot see it does not mean it is not there). In fact, it cannot be done without a clean install (as one of the bloatware authors - I know).

I invite you to take a scientific aproach before making statements like this. For example, take two identical disks and do your remove on one, and a clean install on the other, then do a compare on both disks, then come back here and tell us what you found. Having done this on a DV9500T (and having gone to a much greater depth at removal), I can verify your results.

Again, I don't mean to sound harsh. I just speak from experience.

Joe

 

Let's slow down here. While I am (obviously) on the side of clean install, it's not hard to understand why some people don't want to go to the trouble. The system *is* usable out of the box.

My read of kev99sl's post is that he just doesn't care anymore. As I get older, I can certainly see how you can feel that way. Sometimes you just have more important things to worry about. I know that personally I have stopped doing some things, not because I don't think they are worthwhile, but just because I have better things to do.

That said, I think that making arguments for or against something should be done using well-reasoned points.

 

I'm usually of the fresh install camp.

I did a really deep cleaning this time though.

I didn't have a disk and didn't want to mess with it.

My campus has vista ultimate for 29 dollars though so I may go purchase that and 4 gigs of memory and some other stuff.

My system is very clean right now except for a botched uninstall of Home and student trial edition. (I cancelled it cause it locked up, now it wont' go away). It runs well and i have no annoying HP stuff happening.

 

Which drivers does Windows automatically install? Just wondering, as i am still trying to figure out which drivers are which on the SWsetup folder

Also is it neccessary to copy the SWsetup drivers (2gb's) back into the clean installed HD or can you just load the drivers straight from the dvd? For space saving purposes.

Im still due for a clean install

Thanks.

 

Wow, I was away for a while, and suddenly my post turns into a huge "thing." Look, I realize the "wipe it clean" school is alive and well. A few things to consider. First, I'm sorry, but reinstalling Windows *is* that much of a pain for some of us to go to some lengths to avoid it. Second, HP and other companies have gotten a little smarter in recent times in terms of what gets installed and how. For example, sensitivity to things like rootkits, and what actually constitutes adware/spyware/malware has changed quite a bit in the last 5 years, if you think about it. It has been in their best interests to avoid getting too heavy-handed with that, and hence are much less inclined than they used to be to put roots deep down into the heart of the system. (I've been playing with computers for a long time ... I've certainly noticed the difference.) Third, I beg to differ: the best of the cleaning programs *have* gotten much, much better in recent years. I'll match my jv16 PowerTools and CCleaner against almost any bloatware around. Fourth, I am no idiot. If I honestly thought I could squeeze one more ounce of reliability or speed out of my computer by wiping it down and starting from scratch, I'd do it, but honestly that isn't the case. No, I haven't lined up my computer alongside my two co-workers, my supervisor, and my three friends who all routinely wipe theirs and done a nanosecond-by-nanosecond comparison ... but I have seat-of-the-pantsed it, and I'm just fine, thank you very much. (Never mind that most of them have had to clean up and reinstall Windows at least one more time for one reason or another while I've sailed happily and crash-free along.) And finally, there are folks out there still saying that you need to install RAM sticks in descending order of capacity (or is it ascending?) in each of the available slots, and that you should uninstall and reinstall Windows at least once every 6 months just "to keep things clean," and any number of things that may have been true once, but may not be now. I'm not saying that you're not getting many benefits by starting out clean, I'm just saying I don't think that's necessarily as important or beneficial as it might have been five years ago.

 

I hope I did not set anyone off with my post. I did try to indicate that I was not trying to be confrontational. If my post offended anyone, I am certainly sorry, and appologise.

I think what I am trying to say is that in my experience of actually writing and implementing pre-installed system bloatware, I can say that there is no real way to get rid of all of it. I have seen installs, even slilent installs, buried deep into the system at multiple levels, and can get triggered months down the road. This stuff can collect data, phone home, use the BITS (background intelligent transfer servies - ie: what windows update uses) to phone home, and so forth, and there is not a "cleaner" in the world that can get rid of it, and some of this stuff can even bypass all sorts of detection. You can arm yourself with every process watcher, zone alarm like tool, and debugger in the world, and you wont find it all (in this century anyway).

I certainly understand that the system is usable out of the box, and that many people want to take an easy route (myself included).

My well reasoned point is that if you did not install it, then you really have no idea what is really there, and only a scientificly based evaluation can really determine whats left on the system after doing a removal and cleaning.

"Just as fast", "Just as good" sort of determinations cannot be really made without it.

Again, I hope I did not offend anyone.

Joe

 

Joe has pwned this thread so hard.

Thanks for your insight, I found what you had to say very helpful.