Wondering whether to do a clean reinstallation of Vista

I have a Toshiba Equium L40 laptop, new with Vosta Home Premium. Both the recent SP1 and some mobile phone software caused troubles and a System Restore failed because I didn't realise the Norton 90-day trial I have would prevent it, as it apparently did. For the first fortnight of use I had no problems or exclamation marks in those performance tests you can do, but one did appear after the phone software - for saving pics and sending txts typed from my laptop - was installed. Being stumped, I did nothing about this and now that I'm on the verge of uninstalling Norton that restore point is long gone. I'm not really seeing any problems that bug me but I'm wondering whether to run the Recovery dvd that came with the machine. It seems a drag, but maybe I'd get full performance back - or maybe the difference is negligible. I'm a bit worried the dvd will fail or drivers will be absent or some other hassle will occur.

My hard disk is also weirdly partitioned, sort of 50:50 to Vista and data. My dad's laptop is about 90:10, and though I don't imagine ever getting anywhere near filling my hd I'd like to keep music and picture together. What is this partitioning for? I hadn't come across it on previous computers. Is my recovery dvd likely ot recreate this partition ratio or will I get to choose? The data portion is almost entirely empty.

Anyway - should I forget about the reinstallation? All input appreciated.

 

To date, I have yet to experience a reinstall that was not better than the original install. I've personally seen an improvement on a Sony, Gateway, Dell and HP.

Assuming you can get yourself through the install, I see no reason why you shouldn't do it.

Regards,
Paolo

 

The recovery CD will make the laptop go back to factory settings and will not mean a 'clean install' (bloatware free).

All software including the Norton Trials will still be present.