Doing a clean install..what should I keep from HP?

I'm going to follow the advice of many people on this forum and do a vista clean install - I just received an Ultimate upgrade DVD from my school (20 bucks!) so I'll just do a clean install with that. I'm going to put the "SwSetup" and restore disks on DVDs. I want my computer to run well, without losing any of the useful programs that HP does include. I'm including a list of the folders included in SwSetup - if anyone who has done a clean install can advise me on what to keep, I would appreciate it!

Also, after the clean install, are there things I'll need to get off of the internet (I've heard I'll need to find drivers for the fingerprint scanner)?

Oh yeah..when I am given the chance to partition my hard drive, what benefits are there to doing so? I'm going to only want to boot with vista, but if I were to put all my pics/videos/etc on a second partition as a form of archiving, then would it help my computer run faster? I've heard that putting extra files on another partition helps the computer to boot faster, but I don't know if that is true.

Here's a list of things in the SwSetup - let me know what I'll need to include from this list and from internet downloads!


C:\Swsetup\Adobe\US\LI.cva
C:\Swsetup\Audio\1000724.CVA
C:\Swsetup\BTOOTH\SP34496.cva
C:\Swsetup\Chipset\chipset.cva
C:\Swsetup\ESUVT\SP35660.CVA
C:\Swsetup\HPASL\SP34642.CVA
C:\Swsetup\HPGame\HPWTWW.CVA
C:\Swsetup\HPUG\UG0060.CVA
C:\Swsetup\HPUpdate\HPSU.cva
C:\Swsetup\HSC\SP35562.CVA
C:\Swsetup\Inetsec\US\Sym.cva
C:\Swsetup\LSHSI\LI.cva
C:\Swsetup\Misc1\1000799.CVA
C:\Swsetup\MISC2\1000728.CVA
C:\Swsetup\MMFlash\SP34089.CVA
C:\Swsetup\modem\1000726.CVA
C:\Swsetup\MSCUVT\spxxxxx.cva
C:\Swsetup\MSWorks\US\US.cva
C:\Swsetup\MVEDV\MVEDV_6.0.20.6_A2.cva
C:\Swsetup\NETWORK\1000738.CVA
C:\Swsetup\QLB\SP34796.CVA
C:\Swsetup\QPW\QP4W.cva
C:\Swsetup\RealRhap\RRHAP_A3.4.0.0.911.CVA
C:\Swsetup\Robson\1001315.cva
C:\Swsetup\RoxioCB9\LI.cva
C:\Swsetup\SUNJAVA\SunJava.cva
C:\Swsetup\sw_ver\OCAMRK.CVA
C:\Swsetup\sw_ver\TPV3HB00.CVA
C:\Swsetup\TouchPad\1000736.CVA
C:\Swsetup\TVTnr\PVRDCRD_A1.10018.CVA
C:\Swsetup\VDFUpdate\vdef_update.cva
C:\Swsetup\Verisoft\Verisoft21288015_A5.cva
C:\Swsetup\video\1001049.CVA
C:\Swsetup\WHNS\WHNS.CVA
C:\Swsetup\WLAN\sp34189.cva
C:\Swsetup\WLAN2\sp32628.cva
C:\Swsetup\WLASST\SP35333.CVA

 

Basically all you need for the system to fully work are the drivers. The rest of the HP software is optional. I would just install the drivers through the device manager. The only HP software worth installing would be the Quickplay(QPW, you will also need to install QLB to enable the quicklaunch buttons.)

Keeping your personal files helps when you want to reinstall Windows other than that no real practical uses of having another partition if you want to use a single OS.

 

Okay, thanks for your help! Installing the drivers through the device manager is a good idea, and I'll have all the other files anyways.

 

I agree the QuickPlay and Quick Launch drivers are necessary, as well as your sound drivers (RealTek) and Gigabit Adapter/Wireless Adapter drivers. Then there are your video card drivers (Nvidia) and the card reader driver. All in all, there aren't many drivers you need to reinstall from the SwSetup folder.

 

I've installed the Ultimate Version. First do save the SWSetup directory since they are the programs that came with the laptop. Next download the latest softwares for your unit on the HP site just in case since it has the latest drivers.

Yes they say that a separate partition for Vista ONLY OS loads a bit faster than if it's all in one partition. In doing so it will also activate Vista Ultimates' hard drive protection (if your hard drive supports it).

After loading the OS it will update itself and does well in finding the appropriate drivers but if not then your previous downloaded drivers will come in handy. The only driver that I found that Vista didn't recognize at first was the multicard reader and sometimes the built-in bluetooth. Also once Vista is loaded it will index all the files and it will take a while to do ~30mins. You will notice a lot of hard drive activities (in the background) and the temp will slightly rise due to this activity. After that it will run faster. Have fun, btw some heads up programs.. don't use NHC for XP, will give you BSOD. Roxio will sometimes disable IE7 even after you close the program. I still can't use iTunes but some people claim it works find with it. Quicktime also has a problem so I used a clone. Maple Story works with it if you tweak the program to be compatable with XP SP2 mode.

 

Thanks to everyone for your help! I had some issues yesterday, but was able to take care of everything today. Now...I did check for device manager to help install my drivers. As long as there are no unknown devices, I'm doing well, correct?

Otherwise, how do I get HP Advisor back (that first screen that would show up)? Also, will I need new software for the webcam and the fingerprint scanner and stuff?