Setting up a new laptop...

So my laptop has finally shipped

Anyways, this will be the first time that I have ever set up any computer... Here is my basic attack plan; please let me know if I am missing anything:

1. Load up the computer for the first time
2. Make my recovery disks
3. Go to HP.com, have it search for my laptop, and then update all the drivers
4. Use the HP Update feature on the laptop just to double check I have everything
5. Use Windows Update to get all of the latest Vista updates including SP-2
6. Download Revo Uninstaller and start unistalling the bloatware
7. Download all of my anti-virus, anti-spyware, etc programs from online
8. Enjoy!

Does this sound good? Also, will I have any problems running Revo Uninstaller on a 64-bit system?

 

Check my Computer Optimization Guide in my sig for some help

And sadly, Revo Uninstaller is not supported on 64 bit systems.

 

As far as BIOS goes, it looks like I also update that from the HP website?

 

Congratulations on your new notebook. If you don’t have much experience with computers my recommendations for you are:

- Before you start uninstalling, installing, changing, and tweaking your new unit, slow down a bit and take the time (days) to get to know the notebook as is. Check the System Configuration and see what’s in start-up. Check device manager and look at all the drivers and familiarize yourself on what runs what device. Test everything to make sure it’s all working and get a feel how the buttons and remote function. This may seem a trivial step, but actually this is the only way you’ll have the confidence that you’ve done things correctly when you start…. tinkering.

- Next make a copy of the entire “Software Setup” folder and save it somewhere safe. A little encrypted at times, the folder includes all the original drivers and software needed should you decide to do a fresh Vista OS install. The only things the folder may not include are additional software like SIM games and so on.

- Download ABR (Activation Backup & Restore). Save it in a folder on a USB drive and run and save the results. This tiny program is very easy to use and is often recommended by NBR members when doing fresh OS installs. The program will copy the license keys installed with your current OEM Vista OS and will re-install it on a fresh install. This is a great little tool and will save the trouble of trying to reinstall the license key or having to call MS if you ever want to do a fresh install. I’ve used it many times and it works without issue.

ABR: http://directedge.us/content/abr-activation-backup-and-restore

Once you’re reasonably comfortable with your notebook and its software & drivers, do a fresh OS install. Uninstallers leave elements of the software in your file system and, more importantly, endless lines of junk in the registry that can cause problems. You can uninstall and fix until you’re blue in the face and be the most proficient tweaker on the planet but you’ll never have as clean of a unit as you will if you do it yourself from scratch.

 

First thing to check in my opinion is DPC latency. Download DPC Latency Checker, leave it running for a few minutes observing the graph. If there are no red bars i'd advise you to just leave everything as it is, maybe only update the video driver.

If the graph shows driver issues then it'll get really really entertaining, because they'll cause stutters in the audio and lags in the video. Then you will have to find out what driver is causing it... In my experience it'll probably be the wireless.

BIOS updates are a good idea. As for the bloatware, i found myself doing a clean install, but anyway... Besides norton & co, if you can live without the OSD (the screen display of volume, brightness etc) then please remove the "HP Quick Launch Buttons", as that OSD makes everything lag like crap when it appears, and it likes to stay displayed more than it's really needed. Windows handles the buttons by itself just fine, and for what it does not there's the little program in my sig.

 

yes. It's found on the drivers page.

 

Well, I have one last question... Does "HP Update" on the computer search for new drivers too?

I went to HP.com and had it search for my laptop... I was hoping that doing this would only show the drivers applicable to my laptop, but it still showed all of them... Some of them are obvious that I do not need (like the ATI graphics one as I have Intel graphics), but others not so much...

I did run HP Update yesterday and it only found one new piece of software, so I wanted to know if since it did not find any drivers if they were all up-to-date (I did not install any from HP.com though)...

 

I think I found an answer: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=376028&highlight=check+drivers

 

Things have been going good for me... The only driver that looked like it needed updating was for the Touchpad... Everything else including my BIOS was all up-to-date from the get-go...

I am still installing Windows Updates and I installed SP2 the other day... I have removed a lot of the junk programs including Norton which I replaced with the free version of Avast... I also figured out how to shrink the System Restore size, and I lowered it from 40GB (OMG! ) to 5GB...

Now I need to run CCleaner and defrag my hard drive... Then I will be able to optimize it and actually use it! LOL...

 

Just remember to check DPC latency, it'll help you find an answer to many nasty things that could show up.

 

Oh yea, I forgot about that... I will do it right after my hard drive is done defragging, which may be a week from now, LOL...

 

Well I just used the DPC Latency Checker and after observing it for a few minutes it was always in the green

 

That's cool. Congrats on your new purchase!

 

I am loving it... Finally typing this from my laptop instead of my desktop