Bloatware and Recovery CDs

Just bought a Toshiba X505-Q870. I'll admit I've only taken a quick look through the online manual, but I don't see the answer to this one: In the past, my laptops came with an actual CD to restore the O/S if I clobbered it..... This one doesn't. How/what do I have to do to create a Cd/DVD that'll let me install Windows 7 from scratch if I need to?

I'll admit it's been several years since I had to buy a laptop, and the last two times I did the FIRST thing I did was format the drive, partition it the way I wanted, and reinstall the O/s - which was XP/Pro at that time... WHAT IS ALL THIS GARBAGE ON HERE? And which can I get rid of?

Toshiba Assist
Toshiba Bulletin Board
Toshiba ConfigFree
Toshiba Disc Creator
Toshiba DVD player
Toshiba eco Utility
Toshiba Extended Tiles for Windows Mobility Center
Toshiba Hardware Setup
Toshiba Media Controller
Toshiba Online Backup
Toshiba PC Health Monitor
Toshiba Quality Application
Toshiba Recovery Media Creator
Toshiba ReelTime
Toshiba Service Station
Toshiba Speech System Applications
Toshiba Speech System Sr Engine
Toshiba Speech System TTS Engine
Toshiba Supervisor Password
Toshiba USB Sleep and Charge Utility
Toshiba Value Added Package
ToshibaRegistration

I'm going to rummage around and see what some of these are, but at the moment, they all look like things I'd have dumped in the past... I looked at the bloatware note in this forum and some of this stuff was in there... SO,
what of all this can I safely get rid of?

 

Technically you don't need anything of above to use laptop normally.

Value Added Package needed to make some of the multimedia (sensory) buttons work - without it only volume, play and mute will be working.
Eco Utility needed to make eco button work.

 

As for your recovery thing, there should be a hidden restore partition, and you should be able to restore from that at boot, by pressing a hotkey or something.

Another option is if you obtain imaging software such as Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost, you can clone your current drive and configuration and use that as a backup, and install from a cloned disc.

 

RTFM. It tells you how to create your Recovery Disks using the Recovery Media Creator. Normally starts around page 60 or so. The manual can be found on your hard drive in adobe acrobat format.

 

Yeah, I found it....... Built the recovery disks - which is interesting considering it takes FIVE DVDs to build what comes from MS on 1........

Now I've just gotta run all the Toshiba stuff and see what's actually useful and what can be dumped.......

Unfortunately, repartitioning isn't going to work since there's apparently unmovable files halfway up the drive... So, the smallest I can shrink is something 250 GB, which is pointless.... It'd be a LOT easier if they still provided a regular O/S disk so I could just reformat and reinstall, but I'll manage.

There's also a 1.5 GB empty space before drive C, and a 10+GB unusable partition after.... So, it'd REALLY be nice to get all this junk cleaned up....

 

The Recovery Disks are NOT the same as a Windows install disk. They also contain all of the drivers, utilities, and applications that are installed. The first disks basically contain a disk image of the hard drive to restore it to it's factory out of box state. The last disk or 2 contain copies of all of the drivers, utilities, applications, etc in individual form so you restore just those specific items. MS couldn't put all of that on one disk if they tried.

And there isn't any way to create a stand alone Windows install disk from the Recovery Disks. Your only options are restore the system to it's out of box state then uninstall what you don't want, or buy an actual copy of Windows to perform a clean install of JUST Windows.

Some people have downloaded a disk image of Windows 7 to use to clean install Win 7 and used the product key from the bottom of the laptop, but that hasn't always worked for everyone. They have been using the disk images from http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/...links-ultimate-professional-and-home-premium/ I don't guarantee that this will work for you and I don't verify that it would be considered completely legal by everyone so do so at your own risk.

I still recommend making the recovery disks as anything you do now in the way of a clean install will remove that option altogether forcing you to pay Toshiba $25 or more for a pre-made set of them later. This will also wipe out the ability to use the hard drive based recovery system to restore the hard drive.

 

Personally I think whole Toshiba recovery disks and partition are a waste.
Instead of 5 strange ones made by Toshina, I use just one with original W7. It's perfectly legal to download images of it, since you have bought copy of W7 with your laptop already (and have legitimate key to prove it).
Also I always delete recovery partition - why waste several gigs of HDD space, when W7 DVD can be perfectly used for recovery purposes?

As for key, I have used ABR (activation backup and restore) utility to back up original product keys. Worked like a charm to clean install W7 Pro, even when I actually upgraded to W7 Ultimate since and have standalone key for it now.

 

While I do agree that the recovery partition is a huge waste, I do NOT agree about the Recovery Disks. 3 to 5 blank DVD's are a lot cheaper than what Toshiba will charge you have them sent to you so it's cheap insurance to make the set.

 

The question is - why will I want Toshiba to send them to me??
I have all recovery I need - original Windows 7 installation DVD + external HDD backup.

 

I spend a lot of time on the Toshiba Support Forums and several times a day someone with a similar intention to yours asks how to get the original Recovery Disks. Plus, if you ever decide to sell the laptop you can use them to restore the system to it's out of box state.

Do what you want, but I stand by my recommendation. In my opinion it's worth the time and blank disks to create the set. Other people have their own opinion and only you can decide what is best for you.

 

I never had problems selling my old Toshibas with clean OS install, in fact my buyers liked the fact that bloatware was already removed - and, when everything is working, who cares what was the install source?

People ask how to get Recovery Disks often just because of ignorance. Toshibas stock OS install was never the best choice, mostly due to unnecessary and badly optimized software they put on, and also sometimes they sneak in dubious "optimizations" in the registry.

I would say, Recovery Disks are needed only if the user is not feeling competent enough to perform the clean install.

 

Like I said, to each his own.

 

OK, I created the Toshiba disks... Now this creates two NEW questions:

1. How do I get the product key, activation, or whatever it is for the O/S on this laptop? There USED to be a sticker on them with the thing, but this one has NOTHING that I can find.... So, presuming I get an O/S disk, where's the key?

2. Is there a place where I can DOWNLOAD Windows 7 Home so I can use MY PERFECTLY LEGITIMATE KEY to install it?

I'm DEFINITELY, going to have to blow this whole mess away 'cause I can't shrink the O/S partition nearly enough, and I want an O/S partition and a couple others on the disk...

 

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

2. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=428068