After Getting A New Laptop, Do You Format?

Hi all,

I am very close to buying a new laptop. I haven't had one before. I have heard that the laptops generally come from the manufacture bloated with software that will never be used, etc. So my question is, do you guys format your laptop as soon as you get it, and re-install the OS, and only the software you need? And does that ruin some of the laptop features (i.e. one push buttons, other laptop specific software), or can you just download that? This is assuming that you have a copy of the OS you want to install. So, what do you guys do?

SuperG

 

I personally don't mess with this, certainly there is an advantage to doing this so you don't have to deal with the crap that's installed by the mfr. But you do risk having specifc hardware buttons not working if you don't have the right drivers or can't get them. You of course need a copy of an OS disk you want to install -- using the one supplied by the mfr. will just get you back to where you started. And if something goes wrong with the notebook and support finds out you mucked with reinstalling an OS, they have something to blame you for the problem even if its hardware related. So for the average user definitely avoid this, if you know what you're doing then proceed with caution.

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Yeah, I wouldn't mess with re-installing the OS. Mine has run nearly a year without needing a fix. Just use the Add/Remove programs wizard, followed by a good Registry cleaner to get rid of what you don't need.

First PC = Vic-20, 8" 128KB Home-Brew Floppy Drive ... Current Rig = eMachines m6805 ... Quantum Leap?

 

I feel exactly the opposite, I always want a CLEAN OS, I cannot stand all of the crap that the mfr, and I would prefer an individuall installed OS rather than for my computer to be one of 100 that get's an OS dump as it rolls off of the line.

It used to be difficult to ensure that everything would work properly with a standard OS installation and sometimes next to impossible to find all of the proper drivers, but not so much anymore.

You should get at least a system restore CD that will restore the OS to the factory dump with the laptop, so really all you have to lose attempting to do this is time, you can always pop the factory CD in and restore it to the crappy default.

I can't say that all will do it, but I have heard several cases where people called in to their vendor, and requested the an actual MICROSOFT CD since they paid for it, and were only charged shipping for the CD.

In my opinion you don't have anything to lose and you could gain a clean stable system installed and configured the way you want it the first time.

If you are having problems after re-installing the OS and they are bad enough that you need to deal with support, you can always reload the factory CD to see if this resolves the issue, re-load it before you RMA the laptop.

Support generally should not give you problems though because the bottom line is the Laptop should work properly no matter who installed the OS... there are very few things that can be done incorrectly during a windows XP installation.

 

Mine came with exactly what i wanted (norton, power dvd, nero etc.) so i left it on...

I really dont have much luck installing OS's like on my desktop [ ] so i just leave it alone, i just add the stuff i want on and im ready to rol [ ]

 

in regard to registry cleaners, does anyone know of a good one?

Compaq Presario R3000t
Pentium 4 -3.0Gh H/T
1 Gig DDR
15.4BrightVew (1280x800)
80 Gig 4200Rpm
128 Radeion 9000 IGP
4x DVD-+R/RW/CD-+RW/R
802.11b/g

 

I use CCleaner, RegClean (from M$oft) and Regcleaner, all freeware. Google should find them all.

First PC = Vic-20, 8" 128KB Home-Brew Floppy Drive ... Current Rig = eMachines m6805 ... Quantum Leap?

 

Thanks everyone for their replys.




<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by abaxter

 

I have never had a problem finding drivers for a laptop that windows XP did not already support.

What you might do is take your list of prospective laptops, and hit the manufacturer's websites in search of drivers for them. By doing this you can find out exactly what is avaliable for the laptops that you are looking for.

As I mentioned before it never hurts to put the manufacturer's disk back in and reload the factory OS.