Dell E1705 / E1505 Windows Vista Clean Install - Step by Step

As many new Dell owners know, your new system comes with a lot of extra factory installed software. Some programs include Dell Support, antivirus protection, DVD/CD editing software, web browser add ons and perhaps lots of other non essential software. These programs are commonly referred to as “Bloatware”.

The primary reason to do a clean install is to remove the resource robbing bloatware and restore your system to a fresh “CLEAN” state. This will help your system run smoother and faster.

The following is from my personal experience reinstalling the Vista OS using brand new Dell computers with factory installed Microsoft Vista:


1. Do an inventory of all the software disks that came in the box with your new Dell. Make sure that you have the correct Microsoft reinstallation disk that matches your operating system. The disk should read – OPERATING SYSTEM ALREADY INSTALLED ON YOUR COMPUTER Reinstallation DVD Windows Vista……

2. Turn on your new system and do the initial set up process. Familiarize yourself with the Vista operating system. Use all of the bloatware programs that you may want to keep and see if you like or want them. This way you will know what you may want to reinstall later. If you have an Antivirus subscription that was pre-installed and you do not have the reinstallation disks it would be a good idea to create your account and register online now. By doing this you should be able to log onto your established account and reinstall the software you paid for. This process is covered in Step 7.
After you have explored your new system re-start it. Now take a deep breath and prepare yourself for a cleaner, smoother, faster and better Dell.


3. Verify your system in plugged in and not running on battery. Vista will not reinstall unless you are plugged into AC power.


4. Place the Vista reinstallation DVD into your DVD drive and it will run automatically.

-The first window that appears is Auto Play. Click “Run Setup.exe”

-Next a User Account Control window appears. Click “Allow”

-Install Windows appears. Click “Install Now”

-Wait for the next box to appear and Click “Do not get the latest updates for installation”

-The User Agreement appears next. Click “I Agree”

-Then Click “Custom (advanced) Installation”

-You will then be asked to choose where you want to install Windows. Choose “Disk 0 Partition 3 OS ( C: )” and Click “Next”

-A window pops up warning you that the partition may contain old Windows files. Click “Ok”

The reinstallation has begun!

This process will take 20-30 minutes to complete. The only thing you need to do is relax and wait for the system to restart.



5. When your system restarts you must go through the Windows set up process again. Set your name and password etc….



6. The next step is to reinstall the necessary drivers your individual Dell system needs. Go to the Dell homepage and drag your pointer over the “Support” menu.

-Select “Drivers + Downloads”.

-Enter your service tag number. This number is located on a white label on the bottom of your laptop.

-Select “Vista 32 bit” and Click “Find Downloads”

-Download the drivers that you need.



7. The final step is to reinstall the antivirus subscription. In my case I had Mcafee.

-Go to: “us.mcafee.com/?affid=105”. This will bring you to the Dell Users page.
-Click “My Account” and log in using your previously registered account information.
-Your account should appear on the next screen.
-Click on the blue download button and follow the install instructions.


Congratulations, you now have a faster, cleaner, bloatware free machine!

ENJOY!!

 

To free up a good chunk of space you'll want to delete the windows.old file, when you reinstall or upgrade it compresses your old windows installation into that file, I really wish they had made that optional, but I spose that kinda makes too much sense.

I also suggest installing all the drivers for your system, especially the video card if you have a dedicated card, or even integrated ati graphics, microsoft drivers are usually hobbled, low performance drivers.

 

Thanks a ton Lima. First n foremost i have to register my mcafee before i do a clean install.

Iceman " i have the Nvidia 7400 , where can i find the lastest driver after a clean install. Nvidia itself ??"

 

No, you need modifed drivers, if you dont want to use the Dell driver, go here http://laptopvideo2go.com/

The Dell driver should be fine for now, Microsoft drivers are different from the dell driver, they are stripped down, typically very stable, but slow and usually lack features, noteably openGL support. I've read from several users that their performance index score went up a few points just by upgrading from the MS driver.

 

Thanks Seven Lima!

 

If I were to do a Clean Install of Windows Vista, will I still have to delete the windows.old file you spoke of?

I will not be upgrading, I will be using a FULL version of Vista.

 

I second that. Thanks a ton I needed this. It seems like every year more bloatware gets added into dell pc's

 

is this the same as a reformat?

and will this get rid of my recovery partition?

 

You are all very welcome!
I am glad I can help everyone out!

 

There will be a Windows.old file created when you reinstall Vista.

On my 1705 that file was about 10GB!

It can be easily deleted:

1. Click "Computer" in the programs menu.

2. Double click on "OS ( C: )"

3. You will see "Windows.old" towards the bottom of the list of programs. Right click on it and select "delete"

4. You will be asked if you are sure you want to move it to the reclycling bin. Click "Yes"

5. The files will begin to transfer to the recyling bin. Eventually a message appears "Do you want to permanently delete this folder? The folder contains items whose names are too long to thr Recycling Bin" Click "Yes"

6. A Delete File window will appear saying: "The file "....." is a system file. If you remove it Windows or another program may no longer work correctly. Are you sure you want to permanently delete it?" Check the small box at the bottom where it says "Do this for all current items." This will save you from having to answer yes to every warning.

 

No it will not get rid of the Recovery Partition.

 

Thanks Lima!!! This was a HUGE help! A++++

 

Hey Iceman,

Can you please suggest which series and version should i upgraded to ?? (pic attached).I have the Windows vista home premium (32 bit) and Nvidia 7400.

Thanks

 

ok well i didnt use this tut

but it was easy to clean install...(i swear it was harder in xp)

anyways now my creative labs audigy wont work!!!

 

Hi!

Just one suggestion from me: It might be clever to download all drivers before installing Vista and saving them on a CD/Flash stick or something, so you have got them handy as soon as Vista is running and don't have to go online first. So you can take your time to configure your antivir, firewall etc.

 

Can anyone confirm if the MediaDirect functions on an e1705 will still work after following this procedure?

 

newbie question.

I'm now waiting for my brand new I6400. If I want to do a clean instal of vista on a new labtop, do I need to do the same procedures describe on thread #1 ?


cccchhheeerrzzzzzz

 

I use the dell drivers, I dont do hardly any gaming on my laptop, thats what my desktop system is for, ask around in the LV2G forums, they seem a really helpful bunch there.

 

No. Once you have followed this procedure you will need to reinstall Media Direct. Assuming that you haven't changed the partitions, you can follow these steps to reinstall MD:

1. From the Vista desktop, be sure that all applications are closed,

2. Insert the MD reinstallation DVD into the drive

3. The Dell Media Direct window will open automatically.

4. Press enter to reinstall MD

5. Remove the MD DVD from the drive.

6. Press enter to exit the reinstallation window

7. Shut down the computer through the start menu.

8. Once you system has completey shutdown, press the Media Direct button on your computer to launch MD.

*These instructions are paraphrased from the dell Reinstalling Dell MediaDirect manual.

 

Anyone know if i can reinstalled xp (dell's oem) after performing a clean installation of vista from the upgrade disk? My disc is coming soon this week.

 

Hi,
Those that have reinstalled, which product key did you use, the one that was installed when new, or the one that is on the label on the bottom? I used Magic Jelly Bean to get the one that is currently on the E1505, but it is different than the one on the label. Do you think that the preinstalled key is a "corporate" type of key?

 

i have a question, to clean install, don't u have to go to the bios or whatever and boot from disc? isn't what u are doing just installing another copy of windows onto of the old one?

 

Let me thank you for at least giveing me a direction to go to than trying to desifer the instructions that DELL Tech. support would be putting me through .
Could you e-mail thoses steps so as I can look at the instructions or steps without having have the coming out in the printer .

 

I found the best way to do this when I first got my dell was to boot from the CD, and completely delete the partition, then create the partitions again, thus really removing everything.

 

You can buy this "secret" clean installation process on e-Bay. The starting price is only $9.95 and it's delivered electronically... I reported it as a scam to e-Bay but they didn't give a crap. I supposed they figured if someone is dumb enough to pay for information freely available on Notebook Forums they deserve it. Too bad though, people getting ripped off like that. Good procedure... better explanation than I've seen on some other sites.

 

Hi
I tried this procedure on a DELL INSPIRON 6400 and it didn't appear to work

The windows setup got to about 63% at which stage a message came up saying that the PC needed to be restarted to complete installation. I restarted.

When windows restarted, and the log in screen appeared, it had my user name as set up initially (before running this re-install procedure), and I logged in with the password set up inititially.When windows logged in, all the shortcuts to the bloat ware were still there and the system was as it was before running the procedure.

Any ideas?

 

so if you use that disk that came with the notebook you could boot from the disk and format the hard drive then install vista and use the product key on the laptop? I didnt think the disk they give you was a real vista disk

 

Hello,

Im new to this whole notebook thing and I'm going to be purchasing a new E1501 soon and was wondering if the vista reinstall disk comes factory with the laptop? I would be getting the free vista upgrade from dell. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I installed Vista on my E1705 that was pre-loaded with XP. After doing so, windows did not detect my display. It shows as "Generic PNP Monitor". DELL does not have a display driver available on their site and after contacting them about it, they said I need to CALL Microsoft. Has anyone else noticed this after installing Vista on their E1705?

Would anyone be willing to email me their Vista E1705 Display driver?

Thanks!

Phil

 

Thanks for the guide.

I just reformatted and reinstalled Vista, and everything seems okay except one thing - the bluetooth.

The hardware is fine - if I use the built-in Microsoft software I can use the bluetooth radio. But when I try to install the Dell software I get the following message:

Bluetooth Software
This installer be run on Windows Vista only

(Those are the exact words).

I tried the bluetooth software that came on the drivers DVD, and the one from the website, (they are the same) and I get the message with both of them. Googling turned up nothing.

Any ideas?

 

The display driver is pertaining to your video card. Go back onto Dell's Driver Support and look for card. It should be there.

Anyways, thanks Seven Lima. This should help those who do not know exactly how to reformat with Vista.

For those that like tweaking, try vLite. Remove the stuff you don't want.

Mike.

 

Mike,

Thanks for your reply. I had already been to DELL's site and installed the latest nVidia 7800 Go driver for Vista, but in Device Manager, under Monitor, it still shows "Generic PNP Monitor".

Any other suggestions?

Phil

 

Im getting my 9400 on wednesday, this is going to be one of the first things i do.

 

Just got my E1705 today and I am running the reinstall now, thanks for this post guys, great info.

 

Many thanks to Seven Lima for these notes. After 2 weeks of banging my head against a brick wall, I finally bit the bullet and reinstalled. So far I feel much more in control of this computer!

 

So I just received my Dell 1505 yesterday. I received 5 cds with the notebook and they are Roxio, Vista, McAfee, Media Center, and "Drivers and Utility". If want to do the clean install, can I just install the "Drivers and Utilities" CD for the drivers or I still have to go to dell.support website ? Also is it wise to delete the "recovery" partition ? and how ?

Sorry, this is my first laptop. Plus I am missing 14 Gb of my hard drive (146 Gb of 160Gb)

 

If I understand correctly, this guide explains how to do a reinstallation while running windows... What if I want to run a full installation myself i.e. boot from the cd, reformat and install? I belive for some reason that reinstalling this way will be a little cleaner. Can I do this with the DVD supplied by Dell? If so, how do I go into my bios to make it boot from the dvd, and is the end result really cleaner than the one described in this tut.? thanks

 

I also would like to know if someone here can put a tutorial or a link to one which explains how do to a full reformat (- not just install over) installation on an e1705.

 

I'll be getting my 6400 tomorrow and this will be the first thing i do.

 

Okie I did it, and the notebook runs alot quicker than before.

I'm currently trying to troubleshoot the WiFi cause I cannot detect any other sources of connections.

 

Hey guys. I just purchased my E1505 last week and it arrived several days ago. I decided to go ahead and do the clean install. My thanks to Lima. Great* directions; easy to follow.

I had a question though. Do you have to goto dell's homepage to download drivers? or can I just use the drivers/utilities cd that came with the laptop.

 

You can use the driver disc that came with the computer, but if you download them you'll get the latest version.

 

Seems like the better option then. thanks =]

I've come across an unexpected problem through the clean install. I've lost some secondary functions i.e. I press Fn key coupled with F3 key for battery power display but nothing happens; the same goes for the volume and several others. Any help would be appreciated.

 

If you are referring to the popup icons when using the function button, I think you have to reinstall the Dell quickset software.

 

Ok I have a more complicated one for you. I'm going to install either vista dual boot with os x or xp dual boot with os x. I can handle those no problem, my only concern is media direct. If after everything is setup and I've kept the extra hidden partition and the media direct partition, if I boot in xp and install media direct will it mess up my bootloader? anyone knows how media direct works?

 

This may seem like a dumb question, but these directions are the same for an Inspiron 1721?

 

so it seems that this guide is to basically just to a reinstall...not a clean (format) install. How would you do a format clean install? Do you just boot from disk at the bios? Also if i did a clean format install...the recovery partition would be removed? If so how would I repartition it?

 

Thing is, I have a sony desktop right now, and if I do the same thing it will just reinstall all the bloatware. Wouldn't that just do the same thing with a dell? I'm getting mine in about a week...

Also, I have an integrated sb audigy software edition... would that mean that it would get wiped off in a reinstall?

 

Hey isn't there a cd with all the drivers included with the laptop? Why do you need to download them??

 

will this work for any dell laptop? I have a 1720 now. the information is a little outdated now.