The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    New Owner of XPS13 - Any tips (for newbie) to get the best out of it?

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by Prizen, Jun 8, 2015.

  1. Prizen

    Prizen Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi all,

    I now own an XPS13 thanks to recommendations on this forum. I must say that I am very happy with the laptop. I am a relative beginner when it comes to laptops, and I just wonder if you guys have any "must do's" in terms of settings to tweak? Sorry, I am being very broad here, but would love to hear your thoughts and if you have any tips or tricks in general on this machine, or Windows 8.1 in general?


    Thanks!
     
    Prizen, Jun 8, 2015
    #1
  2. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,354
    Messages:
    4,449
    Likes Received:
    476
    Trophy Points:
    151
    There are two things I'd recommend:

    (1) For any laptop I ever buy, the first thing I do is wipe the storage drive, and do a clean install of Windows by myself. This accomplishes two things: (a) It clears any unnecessary bloatware from the machine, that the manufacturer inevitably throws onto the laptops; and (b) It wipes the "recovery" partitions from the drive, allowing you to reclaim that storage space as usable storage capacity for your own purposes.

    (2) Pay the $5 to get Start8 from Stardock. It gets rid of the Modern / Metro interface, and restores the Windows 7 style start menu.
     
    kent1146, Jun 8, 2015
    #2
  3. mikochu

    mikochu Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I like StartisBack and have it on all of my installations. However, Windows 10 is right around the corner...so you can hold out if you don't have any beer money.

    I've got the Microsoft Signature Edition. It allows you to make a Recovery USB Drive that includes the recovery partition...and after it successfully makes the drive, it gives you the option to remove the recovery partition on your drive to reclaim the full drive size.
     
    mikochu, Jun 8, 2015
    #3
    Prizen likes this.
  4. Prizen

    Prizen Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Thanks - how do I reinstall Windows on a Dell laptop? Sorry, I am used to the days of getting a Windows CD ROM bundled with the laptop, along with the laptop actually having a cd rom drive!
     
    Prizen, Jun 8, 2015
    #4