HD question and Bloatware removal guide?

Just got my new HP Dv1000t notebook (damn, the dv2000 is around the corner) and it is full of junk and bloatware. I ordered the 80 gb hd and the hp recovery partition is 7.82 gb. But my hd says it's total size is 65.6 gb, w/ 56.7 gb left free (I've already uninstalled netscape, and a couple of programs by the add/remove option in Control Panel). WTF? 65.6 +7.82 = 73.42. Where did 6.58 gb go?

Also, I did a search on how to remove bloatware and couldn't find a definitive answer or a guide. There are a lot of threads of people asking this, but not clear cut answers. Is there a list around that has what hp adds? How do I remove the stuff that can't be removed by Control Panel in Windows? Are there any freeware programs I can use? I would like to keep some of the hp software, but remove the free trials and such. I made the recovery discs, but I'm assuming that would just restore my computer to factory condition with all the trialware. Would a system recovery from the hd partition do the same thing? I'm not too knowledgeable with deleting programs and cleaning up on windows, I only know how to use Control Panel.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Does HP let you burn off an OEM CD of Windows? That would probably be the best route. I haven't worked on one of the dv1000ts yet. They used to give you an OEM CD. You could start by openning stuff up and seeing what is a trial and not. Then remove the trial versions. There is a good sticky in the Software Forum if you are looking for good free software to replace the trial versions. Stuff like OpenOffce, AVG, GIMP, ZoneAlarm, CDBurnerXP, etc. Good Luck.

 

They don't provide an OEM anymore. Now they create a partition (11gb in my case) on your hard drive that serves as a system restore archive. Then there's software loaded on the machine that allows you to restore the system to factory defaults (bloatware & all) from the partition. You can also create a set of backup CD's or DVD's, but it will only allow you to create 1 set. If you choose to make the backup, be prepared to invest some time and discs. My machine has Media Center so it might be a bit different, but mine required either 23 CD's, 4 DVD's or 2 dual-layer DVD's.

However, my DVD's that I created were faulty, so I called HP and received an OEM copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition the next day via FedEx... so where there's a will there's a way

 

Yeah I've already created the recovery discs. The stuff that is trial ware isn't removable under the control panel. I don't know how to remove them otherwise. Any help?

Anyone have an idea where my missing 6.58 gb went?

 

You might want to check the add remove programs and see all the file that are their. Also this is weird, but HP only offers the Hp OEM CD's now for Intel based laptops and not for the AMD based laptops. If you have a spare XP CD, I think you could be able to use that to make a fresh install too.

 

1.) Create the recovery CD/DVDs.
2.) Delete the recovery partition (there is an option in the recovery program, search for it).
3.) Use Add/Remove to uninstall anything you don't want.
4.) Use a program to remove any unwantted start-up items (I use EasyCleaner).
5.) Use a good registry cleaner (again, EasyCleaner).

That is as clean as you can get it, without an install from an actual XP install CD. And that option has been problematic for many people.

 

You 6.58gb arnt so much missing as misslabeled.
Manufacturers count 1gb as 1,000mb when labeling their HDs where as 1gb is actually 1,024mb, so your never getting a big as HD as you think you are.
My lappies 60gb drive is really only 55.90gb.