Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide

Check your sound properties...very minimum the Vista drivers should work...If not, there will be drivers available on your drivers disk and the site.

 

Fantastic Thread....

I got my Inspiron 1420 Yesterday and wish to do a clean install. Some apprehensions I have. Any help would be highly appreciated.

I need 3 Partitions:
1) C: only for the OS and all the softwares I install.
2) D: for all my data,music,movies,photos and all the other files
3) M: Media direct

I have 120 GB HDD. Apart from OS, I generally have a number of softwares like photoshop CS3, Adobe acrobat pro 7, Office 2003, few statistical softwares, couple of media players, and few other softwares each of would take only few MB or at the max 100-200 MB each. You think keeping 30GB for C will be fine?
I want to save as much space as possible in C and add it to my D drive.

I have couple of questions:

1) Is M going to take a default 3GB?
2) Can M and D be merged?
3) if I keep my music in D drive, will the MD still play these files from D drive?
4) Having MD will create any bloatwares apart from the fact that it will occupy three GB of HD space?
5)Currently my machine (vista premium) shows almost 70+ processes running without me installing anything, even though it came without any productivity software preinstalled. Will clean install substantially reduce this processes?
6)will clean install improve my windows performance index score?


My machine came with 5 Disks.
1)Vista premium DVD
2)Media direct 3.3
3)drivers
4)drivers for webcam
5)roxio creator

Since I have all these deleting my recovery partition while clean install would not be a problem I suppose.

Thanks giving weekend I am planning to devote for this.

 

Great thread!!! I used it to do a clean install and had absolutely no problems. Thanks!

System is running faster than ever. Now...if I could find something about over clocking.... search function isn't turning anything up.

 

coolmalayalee while 30GB will probably do, I would recommend bumping to at least 40GB. Nothing worse than getting everything done and then realizing you have minimial if any space on your C drive.

1. MD will set it's own partition size which I do beileve is 3GB. And in fact, you will not see that partition because it's hidden. When you look in Windows Explorer you will only see your C and D drives.
2. MD partion and D can not be merged.
3. Yes, you can keep all your files on your D drive and MD will be able to access them just fine.
4. MD does NOT create any bloatware.
5. Absolutely. A clean in stall will definetely reduce your processes and startup items. Also take a look at Flamenkos thread on Tweaking Vista and speeding your boot time...it's GREAT also!
6. I do not beileve doing any clean install will ultimately change your Windows Proformance score. HOWEVER, once you get all the new drivers installed then I would definetly repeat the test because it will be extremely low when vista tests without any of the correct drivers installed (i.e. first boot after install).

Those disks should be all you need....BUT you can download all the new drivers or any missing ones from dell.com. Just enter your service code to see the list of potential drivers you need.

Good luck. It worked GREAT for me.

 

Regarding Windows Performance Index - it is just a crappy benchmark tool and is of no good.... Try using some other tool like PC Mark, 3d mark, etc.

 

Please help.. I am stuck at step 10.

When I insert drivers and utilities CD, and runs it, it opens a window and with two panels. The left panel has a search criteria and it searches for Inspiron 1420, Windows Vista 32-bit and Topic: My System.

On the right hand panel under My system, it lists a set of drivers, applications and utilities. Some of it are checked and some unchecked. However nothing in there allows me to open and extract all the checked items and install together. However, I can install them one by one when I click on each one separately. What is dell resource application? Under the application tab all I could see was Dell Quickset, which was unchecked. Thinking that this was what you said would open by itself and extract all the rest, I extracted that and installed it. However after the installation nothing happend.

So What am I doing wrong? Should I extract and install all the checked drivers one by one? if so how do I determine the order of that installation? What should I do so that all checked drivers are installed one by one on its own?
is dell quickset application need to be installed at all? If not, can I uninstall it now?

Under input drivers Dell Touchpad/ Pointing stick Rev: A01 driver is unchecked.
similarly, Intel (R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN Rev: A03 is also unchecked. Arent these required drivers?

Please help me as soon as possible.

 

Yes and no... The Dell Resource disk can be a bit of a pain but, yes...install all those checked and then install any others that arent checked that YOU KNOW are should be included such as touchpad or biometric reader (fingerprint) etc. You will also have to install the camera from the disk although it shows an installation UPDATE elsewhere.

Good luck and sorry for long return...Im sitting in the lobby of the UN Millenium in NYC on vacation taking a time out lol.

 

Thanks... is there any particular order in which the drivers should be installed?

Also, what is dell quickset application? is that needed? I already installed that.. in not needed can I uninsall that?

 

Intel Turbo memory driver is checked under driver list when I dont have it. Similary no audio driver is checked at all...

 

Flamenko,
Great posts you have! I've spent a few days reading through all of yours. I recently received my new Dell, and my understanding is, if I use Norton Ghost to image my disk, then I will have an option to always get back to factory installed if ever need be? If so, then I'm good to go per your instructions.

 

Thats correct. I have Vista Ultimate now which does the trick but used to use Acronis Disk Image.

 

Hi there

Does anyone have problem with USB devices after clean Vista install on M1330?
I have install all the chipset drivers from Dell disc. Still cannot figure out what driver
I am missing. My problem is no matter what USB flash drives or card readers I connect to the USB ports they all give a pop up windows asking for drivers?
I have tried them all on another vista system and none of them need to load any drivers. Any ideas?
Many thanks

 

Everything went smooth, and actually after inserting the resource cd it all came back to me pretty quickly. So I have the partitions set just the way I want, plus I went from 75 or so processes down to 41. Then I headed over to your top vista tweaks... smoooookin!

Oh, and I'll probably end up doing this once a month or so, just because it's fun! lol

 

Im having some problems, here is what I am doing, maybe someone knows how to fix it.

Insert media direct cd, restart, f12, wipe everything, insert os cd, restart, f12

ok, now here is where the problem comes.

I go to install vista..it gets through the first 4 steps, restarts itself, but then it gets stuck on "completing installation" however the system is not frozen, the three little dots are still moving and i can move my pointer. I have let it sit for over 30 minutes and tried it numerous times. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Did you install the intel matrix storage drivers during the Vista install? It occurs when you come to the screen that asks where you want to install Vista....you would click on the "install drivers" button on the bottom left of the screen.

You can get the drivers either on the dell website or on Intel's website (under GM965 chipset). You put these drivers on a jump drive that you can then install them off of during the vista install described above.

 

there was no option like that. I am currently reformatting the old fashioned way. (command prompt. format C im at 46 percent. then i will try reinstalling vista. I will let you know how it works

correction, there WAS an option like that. Maybe that is the problem. if it doesnt work after this reformat, i will try it. thanks

 

why is there three partitions? and what would be on the 3ed?

 

It could force the 3rd depending on the size of your hard drive.

 

my vista became corrupted, I'm trying to use the recovery via the disk. but it won't find my HD, I've used the Intel Storage Matrix Driver for the M1330, but it won't load ideas?

 

How wont it find your HD? Is it not recognized from boot or does it boot and then go dead somehow?

Its hard to assist with just a sketch of the problem.

As for runing recovery, there should have been no need for reinstallation of the AHCI drivers.

 

Thanks very much, quick and easy to follow, had mine done in about an hour! I was well impressed

 

just wondering. what is the main purpose to making a fresh install in the M1330. Couldn't you just manually delete the bloatware (which are what programs btw) and then defrag the hdd.

This has nothing against your post, I'm just wondering because i'm deciding whether or not to do a fresh install (which i'm trying to avoid unless absolutely necessary)

 

Beyond removing the bloatware, I find it very useful because it lets me reclaim the dell recovery partition. Plus it gets rid of all of Dell's registry settings too. Overall, just a faster, cleaner system. Well worth it if you are on the fence!

 

Thanks for making this thread Flamenko. I recently purchased the M1330 and have not received it yet and just wanted to know if Dell ships all the backup DVD/CD's with every laptop i.e. Vista Reinstall, Tools and Utilities, Drivers, etc. that are necessary for a clean install. I remember having to request these items from Dell in the past when reformatting my other Dell computers.

 

Yes they ship you everything to include a nice binder for your CDs and manuals which also includes a great cleaning cloth.

 

is there a way to do this reinstall but keep all the original paritition in place? i dont want to loss those partition incase i need them for reinstall

 

You can do a clean install of Vista onto the existing C: partition without going through the MediaDirect route of reformatting the disk, this will keep your partitions intact but the downside is that if you do a restore from the existing recovery partition then all of your bloat will be back onto C: The above guide is for completely removing all of the bloat including the recovery partition because that in itself is taking up 10GB of your disk space! Just keep your Vista installation disk in a safe place for future use if you do decide to follow this guide and lose the recovery partition

 

Have you done this football? I recall others, as well as myself stating that this is a bad option as you lose MD3. When you delete C, MD3 goes with it and forces a complete reinstall.

Please correct me if I am wrong as it has been so long since ive done a complete reinstall as such.

For OP, download a program such as Acronis 15day trial version and make a complete disk set so you can go back to that if you want later on. The new diskset has no 15 day limit and can be restored whenever you want.

 

so no more MD3 after you follow this guide?

 

No...thats not it at all. MD3 works fine when one follows the guide.

The guide provides for a formatting and reinstallation of MD3 and the OS, not just deleting and reinstalling the OS which will leave MD3 (not working) and all the backup info which is also not accessible.

The purpose of the guide is to build you own system and rid yourself of all the bloatware as well as getting back all the space you never had control over initially.

 

Sorry, I forgot to indicate that you would lose the MD software by just re-installing Vista + drivers onto the existing C: I haven't tried just doing that to be honest but I remember it being discussed on this thread before. Can't you just insert the MediaDirect disk again and install it, after all that's what you effectively do by following Flamenko's complete guide - the MD disk is booted and used initially to create the required (2 or 3) partitions but then you boot the Vista disk, install Vista, insert MD disk and complete the MD installation. Surely if even after following the complete guide and then at a later date want to do another clean Vista installation you don't really want to erase the whole disk again by starting from step 1 again otherwise you would lose your data partition if you created one? Hope that makes sense

 

Sorry, I haven't read the entire thread but I have a troubleshooting question. I've reformatted and re-installed all drivers, but now my 1530 just doesn't look as good as it did. When I first started the system everything moved smoothly and the aeroglass look of Vista was on. Now It appears less clear and aeroglass is not on. How to I get it looking as snazzy as it did on arrival?

 

Aeroglass should be on but it may have defaulted before you reinstalled video drivers...which you did didnt you???

In any case go to your desktop, right click, personalize and make everything look good again.

 

i had to reinstall video drivers manually via control panel

the nvidia driver for 8600 Vista found on their site gives me a "no applicable hardware" error

but my control panel does acknowledge that I have an 8600GT video card, so I'm assuming the manual update worked? Got glass back on, thank you!

 

Another problem: before the reformat I had bluetooth headset I could connect to the integrated bluetooth. After reinstalling the driver I still have bluetooth capabilities but there is no longer an "audio" tab for my headset

 

U haved to set it up again. Make your headset discoverable and then go through bluetooth to discover, confirm and install it.

 

I did, it just won't work. Before the reformat there was an "audio" tab where I could find the headphones and choose them for use. No longer, they are just under a general devices tab and they won't connect. I knew this whole reformat ordeal was a bad idea

 

Not a bad idea and no need to panic. Go to the Dell site for your system and look for the upgraded bluetooth drivers for your system.

 

I made it thru
Thank you flamenko, appreciate your guidance

 

What is the 3rd partition for??

 

Depending on the size of your drive, it may format your total available space into two partitions if you choose default..and then there is the MD3 partition which is invisible.

 

Do you get to choose how it splits up the two partitions? ie. the size. How much does the media direct take up? And what do people normally have as the size of the OS partition?

Sorry if I seem to be asking lots of questions, just I am quite new to computer stuff.

 

Yes you can choose and create partitions yourself and MD3 takes up 3gb.

 

FWIW - I have an MSDN account and one of the options on there is to download a copy of Vista with the SP1 RC included. I decided to do a fresh install of Vista on my m1330 (2mb webcam, fingerprint reader, x3100 graphics, intel 3945 wireless card) with that to see how it went.

Initial install went ok, but resolution was limited to 1024x768 and a few devices (finger print reader, broadcom wired ethernet, media card reader) weren't recognized. I set up the wireless connection and let it download updates. It rebooted and everything was recognized except the finger print reader - resolution was fine, card reader worked, aero was enabled, wired ethernet worked, etc.

Looks like doing a reformat with the 1330 will be pretty simple post SP1.

 

Yes and as for your FPR, you just need to install the correct software which is included with the system.

 

If anyone has questions about this process (say, you have an older Dell vs. the M1330) either read this WHOLE thread and take NOTES or keep searching the forums. There are a few really good topics on dealing with these machines and the occassional or frequent issues people have when they want to control the process and operating system or upgrade the hard drives on their own. This is a great solution and DOES WORK for the M1330- and almost anything that has MediaDirect 3 or newer installed on it (might work for ALL of them).

If you're running into noticeably smaller disk size, and it's not due to bytes vs. bits, and you know about the

Ctrl + f11 function (complete system restore to factory defaults using factory shipped hard drive)

the DSR and DE partitions

and

the HPA partition that sometimes (in older and always in MD2 versions)

OR
if you want to simply really take control of your rig,
OR
you've messed up your HD

there's some great editing tutorials and forum threads on here for editing and reclaiming the hard drives on your Dell laptop.

So keep searching and take a day or three to read the big threads on it- and again...

TAKE NOTES!!!!

 

Hi there I have a quick question on the CPU on the M1330...I pucheased mine with the 1.5GHz Core 2 Duo, and would love to upgrade to a 2.0, 2.2, or if the motherboard supports it 2.4...My only question is the socket type, is it P or M?

One other question, for the media direct portion to work, you mention putting the CD in when the vista install starts to finish is that when it is looking up the configuration of the computer and giving it generic drivers, or is it when it is finishing installing vista on the "copying files" portion of the install.

Also last thing, sorry but mine shipped out with a recovery partition as well as the windows installation, I plan on completely wiping the thing and starting out fresh with 64-bit. From what is sounds like I need to put the hard drive to AHCI and disable caching in the bios, then when I go to install vista 64-bit, load the intel matrix 64-bit driver off a flash drive, prior to the vista business installation? Then once everything is installed switch it back to SATA? From what I've read in the 64-bit forum that is what I got from it, is this correct? Thanks a lot guys

 

CPUz will tell you the socket type. You can download it by clicking here

 

I purchased the xps 1530 with the 160 gb hard drive. I followed the instructions at the beginning of the thread. When it came to partitioning, I chose to let it do it on its own, or so i believe so.. I believe all of Vista is on the C:\. In the my computer folder with the drives it shows 116 GB free of 145 GB for my C:\ . I feel as if I'm missing a lot of hard drive space but maybe thats just me. I haven't installed any programs other than the ones for webcam, the fingerprint scanner, and also Service Pack1. I have a couple of gigs of music but thats about it.

Did I mess up when I was partioning or am I at where i should be?

 

There could be a number of reasons why it has used so much, the first being for your pagefile which addresses virtual memory. How much RAM is installed on your system?

Another could be the type of installation as some choose to retain the old system in a file called system/old on their drive. This is common when people upgrade rather than doing clean installs.

Go to Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer management/Disk Management and tell me what your size information for your primary and or any other partitions/unnallocated space are.