New Hp dv6500t...Best way to proceed out of box?

Hello all, I am a new member and this is my first post. I have been trying to answer my question by looking through all the information on this site but given the issues with bloatware, recovery disks, etc. I am at a loss.

I have ordered a couple of dv6500t notebooks: t7700, 2g ram, Vista Ultimate 64 bit., 160 gb hdd. recovery disks from HP. and would like some input as to what are the recommendations from users of this model when you get it out of the box. What are the best options for booting up available and why? Any help for a noob would be greatly appreciated.

 

Read the stickies, and the thread right below yours http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=167143.

 

Thanks, Lithus. I guess I could try Google too?

 

Google's not too good, but seach bloatware in the bar at the top right.

 

What about decrapifier? Anyone try that software package to get rid of the bloat or crap? Might be a good start?

 

OK, lets try this again, how about owners of dv 6500t notebooks. What did you do? how did it work out? What would you do different? is your machine working the way you would like? Thanks for your help.

 

well, once my anytime upgrade disc comes, I'm doing a clean install...

 

mark500, I have tried ccleaner on my other computers running windows xp and it seems very good, but although I was being careful it nuked some things I did not want to, perhaps it was me? Thanks

Spookoman, what exactly are the anytime upgrade CDs? Can I use a recovery cd instead? If I dont have a flash drive or external hard drive (other than another computer) what options are available? Thanks

 

avg anti virus and ccleaner

 

First thing you need to do is download Norton's uninstall tool.. don't use Nortons uninstaller in the control panel.. that did not work for me since it killed my wireless connection. I had to do a system restore to put it back and then use symantecs removal tool.

The other thing to worry about is Vongo.. this can only be removed by manually deleting in registry. I had a HP tech remotely do this on my dv6500t. Follow the above guides and lean out the services and msconfig/startups.

You can get into the msconfig or services by simply hitting start, and typing msconfig or services.msc in the search box. Follow the guides to get an idea of which services to stop.. Don't worry, you can alwasys go back and restore these sevices later. Just read the guides.. and many good ones on google on how to lean out vista. I wanted to give you a heads up on the Norton and Vongo.. those are the two bad boys that HP
puts on.

Also, I used cclearner's registry cleaner and it did not mess up anything on my notebook that I can see.. it removed some stray registry files left over from uinstalls.. just make sure you use the backup tool on ccleaners registry tool.. this can put back all the values in about one second by clicking on the reg file.. this works and I already tested it. So you really have nothing to loose.. Most things can be restored by going back to msconfig, services, or hitting the reg file.. Also if any apps are uininstalled that you want back they are in the root directory swsetup folder.. all right there. So unless you delete that folder, you can always install back applications HP sents out.. You can also find the drivers there.. but updated ones are on HP site.

Make sure you right click on the yahoo tool bar on the bottom right taskbar and in the preferences you can tell it not to load.. this is a serious bloat and keeps windows aero from working on the taskbar. I have done allot of tweaking and it still takes 1:45 seconds to fully boot. But it took 2:30 seconds when new. My system memory now uses around 30 percent when booted. When new it took about 43 percent.. quite a bit more.

I too ordered a anytime upgrade DVD which can be found on the vista clean install sticky.. It was shipped on the 11th and still have not got it.. compusa says another source sends them out and there is delayed shipping on this. I should get it any day now.. I think MS sends these out directly. They don't even charge for shipping.. I think MS is more then happy to provide this thinking that people will pay more for upgrades.. but the guide shows you how to use it to do a clean install on the same version of vista you have with the original key bypassing the whole validation process. This is probably the best way to get a clean install. But I do have my machine working pretty good now. Just wish I could get vista to boot faster. I hear even with clean installs, once you install apps like office, it starts to boot slow again.. Maybe the service patch due on in december will help.

 

plattnnum, avg antivirus and ccleaner are definately on my list!! Thank you.

HI DesertNM, I really appreciate your thorough response! I think that the clean Vista reinstall is probably the most effective method I have seen described but at this time I am not equipped to do it. I also saw a thread that described using MS Windows Defender as a way to dissable programs so they don't come on at start up, it is also antispy ware. I ran that last night on my machine with XP OS and it did not find anything and also said computer is running fine. I then ran spybot search and destroy and it also found nothing. That was the first time I ran spybot search and destroy and it found nothing. I think that wat is significant about this is that I ran ccleaner a few days before and it apparently did a great job!! Again, thanks for your response. I am glad to hear your dv6500t is running well. I had to return the two I ordered a month ago as they had major issues and attempting to resolve them with HP tech support was unfortunately unsuccessful. I didn't think I would order from HP again but I have been happy with other products I purchased from them so I ordered again and barely got in on the 30% off deal. I hope these machines work out allright.

 

Before making any changes, run it through the paces, and give it 48 to 72 hours of use to be sure the hardware is stable. MTF and all that.

 

yeap, both Dell and HP use cheap labor markets in Asia. Dell in Malaysia and HP in Shanghai China. Both manufacturers probably have too many build issues in the qwest to drive down costs. My dv6500t seems to be a good one. No problems to report and a brilliant LG screen. Its years better then the crap 1420 dells I briefly had. Good luck on your HP.

I should also mention that HP has just released a new bios.. that may have fixed some of the issues you had before.. My notebook came with f12 I believe.. The new one is F22 i think.. I installed it and I think it helped make it run a bit cooler and the fan does not run as loud now. At any rate, my system is running so good now I am not sure I want to do a clean install.. But I have a perfect acronis custom image of what I have now so I can always bring it back.

 

AKAJohnDoe, Thanks! That makes sense since it will be easier to identify wether any anomalies are Vista, Driver, x64 related or hardware infant mortality in the MTF curve.

HIDesertNM, Thanks for the info on the Bios F22 update!

Do you guys (or anybody) recommend installing the new Bios right away or just waiting a couple of days of use before I do so? Do I need to uninstall the old Bios first?

Also, does everybody do Windows updates, Norton uninstall right away etc.?