New X220, how can I clean it without a fresh install?

I am getting a new x220 and I am really not used to cleaning up windows and I have never used windows 7 before.

What should I delete or install to help things run better?

Does the laptop automatically update its drivers or do I do it?

Just generally any advice would be nice.

But I cant do a fresh install.

I also have windows ultimate

 

I guess the two biggest things would be during setup, when it asks whether you want to install Norton/Symantec antivirus (I think it's junk and did not) and whether you want to install Office (again, I didn't because I had a separate license for Office 2007 I wanted to install, but installing would at least give you starter versions of Office, I believe, for free).

Pressing the blue ThinkVantage button will bring up some support options. After that, if you click on "Updates", you will be able to select Windows updates and Lenovo updates. Updating your drivers is pretty easy; if you need help, check back with us.

RapidBoot, a tweak from Lenovo, sped up my boot times quite a bit. You can download it here:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-77013

There's really not much, if any, bloatware to speak of.

How does the Windows Ultimate licensing work? I know you can upgrade Windows 7 in place, but can you do that with a full license key, or does it block you because it would be an "upgrade" requiring a different license?

 

I bought it from someone who had installed windows 7 and MS office so I dont know the details.

If he had done a clean install, how do I get back all the normal lenovo stuff the computer should come with?

 

I've recently done a clean installation using a USB drive. Here is a brief guide of how to do so:
1. Download a copy of Windows 7 iso:
- Home Premium (64 bit):
- Pro (64 bit)
2. Download this tool by Microsoft:
This is the information page of the tool.
3. Download all drivers you need from Lenovo (display + network card drivers are a bare minimum)
4. Run the Microsoft tool (it will copy and unzip the iso file into your USB drive, which has to be >4gb)
5. Access BIOS by pressing F1 during thinkpad boot screen, and change boot order of USB drive to No. 1 under the 'startup/ boot' menu - may not be necessary
6. Attach USB to laptop, restart, and follow instructions to install Windows
7. Install drivers. The network card driver is most important. After that, if you wish to obtain all other drivers/ software from Lenovo you can use 'System Update' (search google).

 

I would create recovery media first and modify the stock image before trying a clean install. I've modified the stock image on my T410s, and I would say it would be almost as fast as a clean install. It's also quite alot of ThinkVantage software to redownload and install. Also you will not be able to install Rescue and Recovery without an intact recovery partition.

 

OP said he doesn't want to perform a clean install. Agree that R&R might be a good option, but it's also not for the faint(est) of heart, besides not knowing whether the partition still exists.

OP, are you saying that the laptop came with MS Office already installed and activated on it? If so, that's a reason not to revert to the factory load or do a clean install as well.

 

It did come with MS office (pofessional plus), but I am not sure whether he freshly installed windows ultimate or just upgraded the version it shipped with - so I am not sure if there is missing lenovo stuff.

I am not planning on a fresh install but in general I was just wondering what I should do to a new laptop.

 

If the ThinkVantage Toolbox is still installed, use it to update itself and the Lenovo-specific drivers. If it's not installed, it looks like you can download it here:
Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox for Windows 7 (64-bit) and Vista (64-bit) - Desktops / Notebooks / WorkStations

Also, do a Windows update. Install an antivirus program (I use the free AVG and it works fine for me). Install TextPad, Nethack etc.

After you're done installing all your programs, make sure to take a backup and store it in a safe place.

 

Honestly the stock Windows 7 image doesn't have alot that really needs to be uninstalled. I uninstalled Corel and Adobe Reader X, and that was mainly it. Business laptops shouldn't have a load of junk installed on the stock image. Biggest thing is disabling start up stuff that you don't need/want.

 

What other programss apart from thinkvantage toolbox should be installed by lenovo - I want to check is anything is missing

 

Doing the system update should catch anything. The main nice-to-have that I know about, which doesn't seem to be handled by ThinkVantage toolbox, is that RapidBoot driver I linked above.