Clean Install vs. Uninstalling Preloaded Software

I just got my new Lenovo T61p notebook...

And I don't have a lot of time this week to go through the clean install steps (following the Guide on this forums), but I would like to still use it. So if I use CCleaner to just uninstall a lot of the preloaded software and not clean install Vista, would I still be able to get rid of a lot or would my machine still be slowed down?

My specs are...

T9300 2.5 ghz
Vista Home Premium
4 gb RAM
160 gb HD 7200 RPM

 

Uninstalling helps speed things up but it will never beat or be as good as a clean install.

 

Yep like flipfire said a clean install is the best. However if you don't have the time just use ccleaner to remove the programs that you don't want. My guess is that you won't notice a huge performance increase, but it will help to get rid of programs that are just running in the background.
Tim

 

a clean install (or a refomat i think), does doing this multiple times affect your hard drive and harware?

 

Nicely summed up

Just be sure you know what you're doing if ever you opt to do a clean install. Lots of guides here and all over the internets; just follow 'em carefully

 

I think I might just do CCleaner. I hate messing with stuff because I always end up downloading the wrong driver or something.

And it doesn't seem like the Lenovo is too junked up, that a clean install would make that much of a difference

 

With Lenovo you can do a "custom reinstall" using the recovery button and select the programs you wish to keep. Not as slick as a clean install but easy and likely more thorough than regular removal of programs. Thread below may be helpful, also search custom reinstall on the Lenovo forum for more info. I plan to do this when mine finally arrives....

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=97684&highlight=reinstall+remove+startup+programs

 

Clean install and reformat are different things. Reformat brings it back to factory settings. And no it doesn't.

 

A clean install is ALWAYS the best way to go.

Uninstalling programs leaves rogue entries in the registry which slow your system down. CCleaner will help, but it may not get everything.

A Vista clean install is quick and painless for the most part. Also, before beginning the process, download and verify that you have the correct drivers.

 

A reformat will also be a nice way to speed up your system again. (I DOn't do clean install)

It is also safer

 

I have tried it both ways and although I agree a reformat and Fresh Install is the best method you can get very close by uninstalling items. I find that the uninstall method takes longer to work at it's best as you have to uninstall the programs, manually remove trace elements from your hard drive, clean out registry entries etc..

good luck

 

do a clean install... it never takes more than 2 hours (including driver install)

 

Id recommend to do clean install to anyone with a new laptop.

With the bloatware HP puts in, its unbelievable how much it makes the notebook run like crap. Kinda ruins the experience

Clean installing vista only takes like 25mins + installing drivers and programs 1hr

 

I've never even heard of clean install until I joined the forums here. I'll attempt it for my next laptop.
;x

 

Sony do the same. Takes a while but I prefer to clean out all the crap they preinstall rather than do a clean install, then I know I've got the right drivers and custom apps installed. Tried to do a clean install to a Sony laptop today, and to be honest I'm still searching for some of the custom Sony apps that came preinstalled. They don't really help too much when it comes to clean installs, their website tells you to use the recovery discs you should of created when you first got the laptop, kind of useless as they contain all the "bloatware" that comes preinstalled. My biggest argument is that most laptop manufacturers preinstall Norton on a 60 day trial, along with countless other "useful" programs that are time limited. If they could only supply a computer without these time limited programs and only the basic required apps, it would save me hours each time I prep a new laptop or computer for the company I work for.

 

Because of all the bloat, we're able to buy notebooks at the current pricing. Like or not, the bloatware actually helps us, in that respect atleast.

 

For Sony now, isn't there a option when you buy the laptop if you want bloatware or not. They used to charge 50 bucks but I think it is free now.

 

I really don't mind the bloat. It all gets wiped soon after anyway!

A clean install is very easy and greatly improves performance. In MY experiences at least.

 

I got my Thinkpad R61 14.1" today. I immediately did a custom reinstall through the recovery Thinkvantage software - very nice as it allows you to choose whether to keep or ditch Norton and other utilities - and then does the factory reinstall without them so it really is like they were never there. A nice compromise between manual removal and a true clean install. For me the problem with clean install is it really takes a lot of discipline on day 1 with a new working machine to immediately put it in some risk with a long and slightly painful install procedure. Unfortunately if you wait then you've installed stuff and it's much more work to do it later!

 

You can also use this tool: http://pcdecrapifier.com/

 

Isn't that like the same thing as ccleaner

 

Once you do a clean install, youll never go back to the uninstalling method. Just not worth it.

Im might do another clean install tonight, this time with the stand alone SP1. This will probably reduce SP1 issues. Probably take me 2 hours to rebuild my settings/setup exactly the way it was

 

I'm really suprised that this thread is still alive.

Everyone is pretty much saying the same stuff. Lol.

Anyway; Clean install > Uninstalling Apps/doing nothing.

 

I remove programs because amongst the junk there's one or two worth keeping, like PowerDVD.

 

I did that, but it caused more sp1 issues so I was forced to clean install w/o sp1.

 

Peformance wise clean install is no better than unistalling programs, registry cleaning, disk clean up and disk defragmentation. I did both and experienced this.

 

Clean install all the way if you can, when I got my new HP laptop, it was slow right out of the box, you have your bloat and crapware along with what I call WTFware, its these resident programs running in the background that I have no clue in what they are actually doing, so I say wtf is this, I trace them to where they originate and find out its been placed there by the manufacturer or crapware people, even when you uninstall so called programs related to the WTFware, the WTFware still has something I dont know wtf it is running in the background, there are many tricks used by the bloat/crapware makers to still maintain some kind of presence on your computer, and if you question these bloat/crapware makers why they do these tricks (and I have had it out with some) their answer is always "its to make the user experiance better" and my answer to them is "stay the F out of my machine and my ram, my user experiance is none of their business", everybody wants to advertise something to you and it easy to hide little pieces of crap on the drive, there are many vulnerable people out there who know little or nothing about computers who dont do any kind of clean up or even uninstall the bloat/crapware and its not long till they complain their system is running at a crawl.

 

i have to agree with you!
uninstall preloaded bloats + registry cleaning + disk cleanup + defrag,
this is exactly what i did last time, and the result is superb!
38 processes & 30%ram at startup!
for registry cleaner, i use "Free Window Registry Repair" way better than CCleaner's one.

 

i can't wait for XP sp3 to be released,, then i'll have a good excuse to do a clean install.... i've already upgraded from Vista to XP Pro Sp2.

i can't wait to start diabling all the defaut processes and get my laptop back to goodness again.

later,
bigozone