What to do with new hp 8710p?

I have just ordered the HP 8710p (1 x HP 8710p GC10CT#ABD T9300 17''WSXGA 2GB 200GB-7200 WL BT FX320M hdmi XP-Prof 3J.Gar. (8710p-GC10CT)), and I expect it to arrive within a week from now.

What I am wondering about is what to do as the first thing after having received it, checked the exterior, and started it for the first time. In particular, should I reformat and partition the HD, and in that case how?

I am not sure whether I will receive any cd/dvd's along with the notebook, or if I will have to make them myself, and in the latter case I would not know how to. I also wonder whether the HP warranty would suffer if I do reformat and partition the hd, so I would also greatly appreciate any up to date comments on this topic.

I have already read various threads/guides relating to these issues on this forum such as these:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=93251
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=5787
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=149627
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=93251

But I am still in doubt exactly what to do when I start up my notebook for the first time.

I am quite a novice when it comes to computer configuration, setup and structure (I only know how to use fairly simple work related programs, internet browsers and a few multimedia applications), so what I need is some very precise, easy and secure to follow advice on which steps to take to make my new notebook function as good as it possibly can in relation to stability, heat generation, speed, power consumption, noise, and whatever other thing that is important but which I have forgotten to mention here.

Would anyone please be so kind as to provide me with this? Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

The very first thing you should do is a physical inspection of your laptop. Check for any damage. Next, turn on your laptop and see how it runs. Does it work fine? Are there problems? Is the screen in good shape (i.e. no dead pixels, right coloration, good uniform brightness)? Ask yourself these kinds of questions. Then, see if you have an OS CD and Driver recovery CD. If you don't have these, you shouldn't do a clean install. Making recovery disks from your laptop will restore it to factory settings, and NOT give you a clean install. If you haven't ordered these CDs ($10 total, but worth it) and you want to clean install, then have them change your order. As far as I know, doing a clean install will not void or alter your warranty. When I asked the rep they said it was fine (I still have the original HD untouched with factory settings anyway).

I suggest you do a clean install when you get your laptop since that is the easiest time to do so. It will help your system perform better and get rid of junk programs. The only HP software I suggest you keep is the 3d DriveGuard Monitor. I didn't find much use in the others, but they looked like they could be helpful to others. There's a clean install guide as a sticky if you decide to do a clean install. Note that when you go to install the video drivers, ONLY install the drivers and the .NET framework (possibly CCC if you want it). Installing the HDMI audio stuff creates conflicts and you'll lose sound.

 

Thank you for your reply, jin07.

What is the 3d DriveGuard Monitor, .Net framework, and CCC? I don't think I have ever heard of any of these before.

I assume I can and should choose a custom install of XP then, if I make the clean install?

What advantages is it actually exactly that the clean install offers over deleting/uninstalling unwanted applications, running defragmentation and similiar clean up programs?

 

Oh, and one more thing; would you recommend me to partition the HD, and in that case into how many partitions, and of which size? I know that it will largely depend on my needs, but I don't really know how to judge this. The HD is 200GB, and I will need a partition for XP, I guess, plus one for various programs such as Adobe Technical Communication Suite, Microsoft Office and similar, in addition to various multimedia files like movies and music. Is it possible to recommend me anything on the basis of this info?

 

First the software:

3d Driveguard monitor is a HP program that's protects the HD from sudden drops. It senses the if laptop is falling and it's orientation. When it thinks something bad is happening, it shuts down the HD to help prevent damage to it.

.NET framework: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Framework

CCC stands for Catalyst Control Center and is a program ATI uses for it's GPU card (HD 2600 in the 8510p).

However, I forgot that the 8710p uses an Nvidia 320M. You probably will not run into any problems doing a clean install, nor will you need to know about .NET and CCC for clean installing your laptop.

When you get it, to clean install I like to wipe the HD clean with something like Boot and Nuke. However, you don't have to do so. The easier way is to simply put the OS CD into your computer and restart your laptop. Then select the install XP option instead of the recover option. Once it finishes installing, stick in the Driver recovery CD and install all of the essential drivers (they should be labeled under a file tree called essential drivers). If you want the non-essential programs look under those trees and highlight which programs you want. This is much easier to understand once you get going and see it on the screen.

About partitions, you don't have to make partitions. On my laptop I just have one partition for XP Pro. Multiple partitions help you save your files from corruption should anything happen to the main partition with the OS. In other words, say XP Pro becomes unstable/unusable and you must clean install. Your files on the other partition are safe because you only need to fix the one partition. Partitioning is also used to dual boot, i.e. run two OSs on the same computer. Rather than partition my laptop to protect my files, I like to back them up on a external HD and/or USB flash drive.

Basically clean install involves putting in OS CD, selecting install option. Taking out OS CD when it prompts that it's okay. Putting in Driver CD, selecting essential drivers and whatever programs you want. Installing those files, taking out CD, and you're done.