Formatting new Pavilion system?

Hi all,

I have just got a Pavilion dv2535ea, it is my first laptop and I am very impressed with it, the only problem is I am not to impressed by the performance. I have found it fairly slow to boot and also find that the hard drive seeks a lot once I first get into Windows.

I am under the impression that the performance issues may have been due to the huge amount of bloatware that came installed on the system, as I have my own copy of Vista Ultimate I was thinking of formatting the system and doing a clean install.

Would you recommend a clean install?

If so I am interested in the best way to go about it, I am computer literate but have not had a laptop before so it is slightly different.

I have downloaded all the drivers from the HP website and backed up all of my personal files. Would the best option be to restart the system with my Vista disc in and format the hard drive including the HP Recovery partition? Am I likely to encounter problems reinstalling all the HP drivers or is it a straightforward process?

Thanks for any help

 

Good idea.

Click the link in my sig for a guide. Your hardware may be slightly different, my guide is for a stock DV6500T. Use Killdisk and completely wipe the drive clean. Use Gparted to re-partition the drive. Then start over with a dual boot machine of XP/Vista.

Yes, the boot time will be much quicker.

 

Formatting your machine to get a fresh start is a good idea.
I've never used Vista but I assume that the formatting process isn't too different from XP. You can pretty much get any drivers from the Internet, so that's not a big issue. Just make sure you have all your personal stuff backed up. Restart the computer with yours Windows CD in it and you should have the option to format. The process is very simple and straight forward. Since you have your own copy of Vista I don't really think you need the HP partition. I would format it.

Once you formatted, just install the drivers and put your personal stuff back on it. If you forgot some drivers you can just download them later.

 

Also check out my guide for reinstalling Vista clean (see sig)

 

Reformatting is good and there are several guides on the forum but before you do so burn the recommended set of recovery discs just in case you need to put the system back to factory state.

 

I am not so computer literate. How would one go about making recovery disks of the system?

 

Your computer came with a bunch of papers in the box. It's a good idea to read them. (There is one explaining this process).

 

I'm not 100% sure, but if I recall correctly:
Click on the Start Menu -> All Programs -> Accessories and there should be an icon there somewhere to burn the recovery partition on a CD.

The process should be in the manual that came with your notebook.

 

Just a quick update on this, I have formatted the HDD and reinstalled Windows and all of the software I use, it is currently running much better than it did when I first got it. There are a couple of features not working yet but it should only be a matter of time.

I think it is a disgrace that I pay all of this money for a good quality laptop from HP (a respected brand) and it arrives in a state whereby it is a long way from optimal performance, it’s pretty poor really.

 

Hmmm still struggling to get a couple of features working, any help getting these issues sorted would be greatly appreciated.

1) Although I have run the AuthenTec driver installs I don’t appear to have any software for the finger print reader. Should this be provided as part of the drivers or is it separate software? If it is separate software is there any freeware available?

2) Certain elements of the hot keys and remote buttons are not functioning. The Play/Skip forward/ Skip backward/ Stop buttons appear to work both on the remote and the laptop itself. However the Quickplay and DVD buttons do not work on the laptop or remote. The Media Centre button on the remote does nothing either.

Thanks for any advice.

 

The fingerprint scanner software is located in the C:\swsetup\vsam folder that you backed up before you reinstalled Vista. Also, the hotkey buttons need the quickplay software, which is in the swsetup\qlb folder.

 

i think u need to install these 2 files
AuthenTec Fingerprint driver

Authentec Update


and for the remote and buttons on the media pane, it seems that the quick play is working fine for you, but you still need the Quick Launch Buttons support
i've uploaded this folder contains the QLB software.. you can download and install it
QLB Download

 

To be honest, the additional crap software that comes with a new PC helps in subsidising its cost to the consumer. I really don't mind it since it makes the notebooks cheaper. An equivalent Mac would cost atleast $200 more if not more. Plus we can always get rid of the software. Its not that we are forced to use it.