Bloatware. Pros/Cons of re-formatting new laptop.

I'll be purchasing a new laptop shortly and I want it to be as "lean and clean" as possible. I was actually thinking about re-formatting the HD and installing a new copy of WinXP Pro to get rid of all the bloatware that the manufacturer (Dell) puts on. I've done this type of thing countless times on my desktops so loading drivers etc. is nothing new to me. Are there any potential problems to doing this? Are the device drivers resident on XP for most or all devices that would load on a laptop or will I have to go out on the net and download drivers for specific pieces of hardware (sound, video, NIC, etc..)

Does DELL ship a WinXP disc? or is it just a recovery disc type of thing??

Maybe the safe approach would just be to go into msconfig or services.msc and just disable any processes running on the desktop that I don't want to have there.

thoughts?

 

Dell does not even provide a recovery disc anymore, unless you call them up and ask for one. They just provide a hidden partition on your HD and ask you to burn the recovery discs yourself!!!

The best option in your case would be delete the programs you dont use, rather than just disabling them.

 

if you've done it before, there is no difference on a laptop.

1. minimum necessary download prior to reformat/reinstall would be the NIC and Wifi drivers. download and burn to CD or removable storage device. after reformat/reinstall, install them and browse to dell's site and download the rest.

2. boot to xp cd and do your thing (u should be able to burn an xp cd 1 time with a provided dell utility - it will burn an xp cd with sp2 on it... this means the drivers will have to come from dell's site and it will not contain any bloatware.

if you've done it before, i'd highly recommend reformat/reinstall; all the hanging folders, registry entries and compressed executables leftover from just uninstalling... why even bother with all that effort, might as well just leave it as is.

 

Get copies of any Dell-supplied software that you *do* want (if any), before proceeding. In my case it was PowerDVD which includes the dvd decoder, and the Sonic dvd burning utilities.

There was one cd I asked for which Dell never managed to send me - something called Sonic DigitalMedia LE - but after checking the related product on their web site I decided it was no big steal and went without it.

 

Dell doesn't send the cds anymore with the systems. There is two options...they have a burning utility on the laptop which will allow you to burn 1 copy of OS cd (gives you clean install) or you can pay 10 bucks when your order your system for a backup CD which gives a clean system also. All of the extras, depending on what hardware you order, like CyberLink, Sonic, and all of the Dell stuff is available by request like SAkp said.

Its better to go with reformatting. Dell puts a bunch of trial ware on there for Quickbooks, AOL...its horrible. There has been alot of hassle about the OS cd, so its probably just alot easier to pay the 10 bucks and get a copy. The recovery utility gave me errors, and some users did not even have it installed on their system.

SG

 

so, when i get it, somebody has got to help me get all the drivers burned to a cd, and the revovery thingy burned..........maybe explain it now so i know what i am doing next monday or tuesday when i get it......

 

There is two options on the drivers. You can burn a copy of the dell folder from your C: drive or you can go to this site http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

On the website, you just have to choose your laptop and operating system, and it will give you several categories with the drivers for your laptop. Go thru each category (some might not apply to your laptop) and choose your hardware, and download the driver.

I would go with the website method. If you choose to burn your dell folder, chances are that some of the drivers might be outdated. With the website method, you need to get either your ethernet or wireless card (both located under Network category) before you do the reformatting and burn them to a disk. This way you'll have access to the internet once you do the clean install. Some users have made a drivers disk with all of their drivers while they are waiting for the laptop to arrive.

The recovery utility is easy. Its listed under programs on your start menu. It might be in one of the dell folders, and its called Dell OS Recovery CD or something similar to that. Insert a blank cd and run that program, and it will do the rest. After you are finished and ready for a clean install, reboot and change your boot sequence. From there it is a normal windows installation.

SG

 

So the Dell folder has all the device drivers that are applicable for that particular system that the Dell folder resides on?

So after I'm done re-formatting and after I reload the OS I could then just restore the DEll folder and all drivers would be installed again?

Aren't there some .exe's that I would need to run to have everything loaded properly?

 

yes, if you burned the dell folder, then put it back on the clean system, it has all of the drivers. I can't remember if it will autodetect the drivers, or if you'll have to update each manually. Go to device manager, and verify that the drivers are installed. If you have a bunch of yellow question marks, then you'll have to make the hardware scan your c: drive for the drivers (very easy to do, but a little time consuming). You shouldn't have to run .exe files unless you are downloading from the web.

 

Great! Sounds easy enough! (famous last words)

I'm going to be ordering a Dell Inspiron 9300 for my Daughter to use as a (mainly) desktop with infrequent trips to friends houses/college for homework assignments, etc.

I'll have to re-partition to get rid of the second smaller partition Dell installs for recovery purposes. I want to have one nice clean partition with a fresh OS install so that she'll have as few un-necessary processes running in the background to slow her system up.

I see you have a 9300 also.

How do you like it?

 

Alot of people repartition it. I also got rid of my smaller partition, but now I'm wishing I had made 2 partitions. Since you've done installation before, you won't have any problems. It is the exact same thing as installing windows on a desktop.

I love my 9300. I had another laptop before this, and the 9300 is so much better. I'm not sure what screen you are going with, but I would go with truelife screen (glossy) instead of the nonglossy screen. I have the nonglossy, and something just doesn't seem right about it. Its almost like anything that should be white is an off-white shade. Besides that, it is a great system.

SG

 

i dont have any problems on mine with the whites and offwhites

 

No worries, it's exactly the same process as you would on a desktop. I have my 100gb HD setup as just one partition because I really don't see any benefits in breaking it up I have the 9300 and reformated it pretty much as soon as I received it. lol One thing you have to have handy, is make sure you have the NIC drivers somewhere downloaded or saved -- on a usb storage device or a cd. You'll need it. Everything else can be easily downloaded from the Dell support website that SG linked after you re-install the os and the drivers.

If you are going with a Go6800 solution, I'd strongly suggest you download and use an updated graphics driver from places like www.video2go.com. Installing the latest versions can drastically boost your graphics performance!

After 4.5 months of usage (I got my 9300 in beginning of March), I have very little complaints. The silver color of my left hand palmrest is fading, that's about it. The screen still looks fantastic (I have the WUXGA one), and the machine is very peppy, especially when it comes to graphics/gaming (I have the Go6800).

good luck!

cheers,

yass

 

yass..jus a small correction...it's www.laptopvideo2go.com ...not www.video2go.com ....jus a small correction...that's all

 

I just ordered a 9300 from Dell. I configured the same system under the "Education" area and the "small business" area. The system that I configured under small business ended up being about $75 cheaper then the same 9300 under the education area. I ended up ordering the system under small business and then just entered a fictitious business name for my home based small business. Will the Dell police be coming for me?? Will I go to hell for doing this?? Is there a potential problem here?? Or am I worrying over nothing?

 

if u did picked "home systems"...u could have gotten a $750 off coupon....which would have been really nice

 

no, you are okay.They won't come looking for you. You might even get an XP cd. They are supposed to send XP cd with business systems.

 

Ya, I called them and asked if they send a (hopefully bootable) XP Pro CD (for $10) and they said they do.

 

i still don't know why you have to pay for the CD

 

yay, thanks!!!!!!!

now i just have to wait for it......expected arrival is this coming tuesday.....

Next up: desktop than maybe a mini-itx project!

 

The reason you have to pay is because Dell is trying to cut back on costs. This is the reason they stopped sending the CDs in the first place. Now, they are giving their customers the option to pay 10 bucks for the cd. I imagine that if you don't pay the 10 bucks for the cd, then call dell later requesting a cd, they will make you pay then. Either way, it still sucks.

 

Dell WILL send you the OS cd for free, you just need to know how to talk to the CSR's. If one doesn't, call back and try another one. They just sent mine next day air for free. I called, but the guy tried to tell me they don't. I told him yes, you can, and what's more they can do it for free. After a couple minutes, he came back and said that he would put the order through for me. It shows up as a charge on my order status, but I was told that my card won't get charged. If it does, I'll just call them up again and complain about being lied to until they take the charge off.

Summary: Dell will send you your OS cd if you call them up and make sure you know what you're entitled to beforehand so you can argue it.

 

kk...thanks