Clean Install questions

I got my new dm1z in last week, and I'm wanting to do a clean install of Windows to lose the bloatware. It came with Windows Home Premium 64, but I don't have an OS disc. How do I perform a clean install? Will I lose QuickWeb? And what do I need to do to insure that I can do clean installs as often as I like?

Thanks in advance!

 

run your recovery manager,
make back up discs
then if you want do your clean windows 7 install or
do a minimum image install which is pretty much a clean windows install but it keeps the important drivers that way you don't have to hunt them down individually.
i did this to my dv6tqe as soon as i got it and it got rid of all the bloatware norton and all that stuff

also if you do a clean windows install your Windows Home Premium key would probably be located on the bottom of your laptop in a sticker. but im not 100% sure since i dont have a dm1z someone else could probably answer that.

 

The Product Key on the DM1's are under the service panel. You can do a true clean install if you can get your hands on a copy of W7 Home Premium. You can find the .iso floating around out there. Set aside an afternoon for updating Windows and getting all the drivers installed like I did if you do a clean install.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...ing-bloatware-reinstall-win7.html#post7496405

 

Ok. So I tried to do a minimum image install, but there's something HP-ish going on.

When I go to: HP Recovery Manager > System Recovery, it says "please use Recovery Media to recover your system."

And when I use F11 out of startup, I get this (sorry, I don't know how to do screenshots [or embed videos, apparently]) :

YouTube - ‪Unable to minimum image install?‬‏

Thoughts?

 

Vader - I think you'll find this thread very useful for what you are trying to accomplish.

I recommend the ISO method versus the 3-file download. You can back up and restore your existing activation files or use the product key on your COA label. Be sure to select the exact same version during installation for a successful ending.

 

that's odd and dunno if its HPish... I chose minimal restore out of the F11 menu just a little while ago with my brand new just unpacked laptop and nothing of that sort of message came up...

 

Mr. Fox - thanks, that'll be perfect if I end up having to burn a disc. Hopefully I can avoid that since it'll mean I have to buy a optical drive.

Cassandra - Is yours a dm1z? F11 is acting up, and even when I go thru HP Recovery Manager, it says "disabled".

Could I be missing some initial step, maybe a partition I need to set up? Strange...

 

Looking at the video on YouTube, it appears your recovery partition is corrupted. The error message is basically telling you that your recovery partition is not bootable. I do not think you can repair this. If the partition is not hidden within Windows (would show up as D: drive most likely) then it is possible that changes were made or files inadvertently deleted. (I've had several HP computers and I don't know why they do not hide it to keep it safe.)

You mentioned having to burn a disc and purchase an optical drive. If you look deeper into the thread I linked earlier, I think there are instructions how you can install Win7 from a USB drive if you have one. At any rate, I think might have to resort to one or the other rather than trying to restore your OS.

As a last ditch effort, you can try reinstalling the BCD on the restore partition using this program LINK. I have used this program before, but never have tried it on a factory restore partition. It might work.

 

Burned recovery disks, but I got the same stuff @ F11. After contacting HP, I found out that the partition that I added makes HP Recovery Manager kinda go crazy. I had to go into BIOS, change the boot order, and do a complete reinstall from the disks. Then I did a MSI, and everything went fine. Lot of work, but it's rewarding to not see that stupid Snapfish icon on my desktop.

 

It's amazing some of the silly things HP does that screw things up. Anyhow, I'm extremely glad to hear you have figured it out. From what it sounds like you were told, HP has the recovery partition as the first boot location. That's not a very smart configuration. This also explains the error message you were seeing and fits the suspicions that I commented about in my last post. Congratulations on your hp-free installation.

 

I'm glad you got it sorted out.