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    Sony's "Fresh Start" vs. custom "Clean install"

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by midimaxi, May 12, 2010.

  1. midimaxi

    midimaxi Notebook Guru

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    I'm thinking about purchasing new z with "Fresh Start" option and wondering what's included with it.
    On my current TZ, I've used "Clean Install" and everything worked fine for me.

    So the question is what does "Fresh Start" include?

    Thanks
     
  2. TofuTurkey

    TofuTurkey Married a Champagne Mango

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    I thought Fresh Start has all the drivers as well as the Sony applications, but without trial-ware / bloatware that expire after X days.
     
  3. stupidolive

    stupidolive Notebook Consultant

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    Fresh start does not have all sony apps. They have the drivers, and Sony Control center, Power Management but no Picture viewer and stuff like that. I think it's quite clean.
     
  4. midimaxi

    midimaxi Notebook Guru

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    got it. tanks!
    ...reading "clean install" post makes me lean towards not spending additional $$ for "Fresh Start". (I already own Win7 ultimate)
     
  5. arth1

    arth1 a҉r҉t҉h

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    Depending on your definition of "quite".
    My "fresh start" Z came with a lot of things I don't want, some of which are buggy, some of which are security risks, and some of which are impossible to uninstall.

    Including the security hole and machine crasher known as Acrobat Reader, the oxymoronically named Microsoft Works, a crippled version of Roxio Easy Media Creator, and a crippled version of WinDVD which prevents the full version, should you ever buy and install it, from being updated due to leftover registry keys and files for the OEM version.

    Oh, and Sony utilities like "SmartWi", which purpose seems to be to prevent both true IPv6 and multiple simultaneous network connections from working, and other Sony "utilities" that (a) aren't needed and (b) won't work if you set the DPI correctly.

    When this is what a "Fresh start" came with, I wonder what a normal install includes.
     
  6. stupidolive

    stupidolive Notebook Consultant

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    Well, I never used those roxio stuff but I used in other compt before and i dont see it much of a problem. I didn't have Microsoft Works in my fresh start. And yes I have smartwi but i thought people do clean install have it too?
    either way, It's an easy thing for people who's lazy doing step by step for clean install like me. I do clean install for my thinkpad but I didn't have to do the exact sequence to get all the FN works.
    Anyway, my experience with vaio so far not so good... so i suppose this'll be my last vaio and clean install vs fresh install does not matter much anymore