Preparing new laptop for a gift

I received my new dv5t today -

HP Pavilion dv5t Entertainment Notebook
- Onyx
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T5800 (2.0GHz)
- 15.4" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
- FREE Upgrade to 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
- HP Color Matching Keyboard
- Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
- Integrated 56K Modem
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

This will be a gift for my brother and I want to make it ready for him. This is what I want to do -

- get rid of bloatware
- update all drivers and software, since he doesn't have broadband
- install security software, tweaks, Office etc

I will create an HP recovery disc, wipe all the partitions, and use the existing license (either the pre activated one or the one on the sticker) to clean install Home Premium and update the drivers and have a few questions -

1. What software in SwSetup is useful for a non-techie user? Things like HP Advisor, TotalCare etc.

2. Is there any value to the HP recovery cd since it will put the bloatware back. Isn't it better to create a custom recovery cd using something like DriveImageXML?

3. Is there a way to install a bootmanager which can show an option on boot to restore the custom image (like it restores from the hp recovery partition)?

Thanks

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=38092


In this thread it will address SOME of the question you have asked about bloatware.

 

avira antivirus is free. You may want to try open office too

 

DON'T WIPE IT CLEAN OR DELETE ANY PARTITIONS!

The SWSETUP folder and the Recovery drive assist in making sure the computer runs well. The SWSETUP folder contain all of the drivers for the notebook. the Recovery partition includes a fill image of the OS. Keeping that partition allows for reformatting the notebook without the recovery discs.

The recovery discs that you made will restore it back to the factory condition, so it would reinstate all of the bloatware.

Download PC Decrapifier. It gets rid of all the bloatware.

 

Make the recovery discs and burn a copy of the SWTools folder to a disc or dump it onto an external drive, then you can wipe it. One persons junk is another persons treasure. You should probably go through it and see what you like.

I personally like True Image. If you have a Seagate drive, you can get a free download of DiscWizard from Seagate's website, which is essentially a limited version of true image. I like to do a clean install and then make an image, which you can restore at anytime, though it is not a boot option.

 

Maybe I didn't make it clear, I am copying the swsetup folder and burning the 3 recovery dvd's.

This is precisely what I meant. Looking at the swsetup, its not clear which folder has what - e.g. where is the fingerprint software, so I can install it again. I can already save some space by removing things like MS Works from it, but I wanted to know what in peoples opinion is worth keeping?

 

My point exactly. I can tell you what I'd keep, but that may differ from what may like. My own personal recollection is other than the drivers, if only so you don't have to download them again, most of the stuff in their is junk. There are better free alternatives for most of the software. Check the free software sticky in the Software forum.

When I got my R60 I had to do through the drivers and apps folders, and figure out what they were and rename each one because they like to give the folders names that were not very intuitive as well.