Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide

1. I have 3 GB of ram.
2. Apparently there are 3 partions, or so I believe. There is one called EISA configuration thats only using 47 MB. Then there is a healthy primary partioning taking up 3 GB which im guessing is mediadirect. Then there is the system, boot, page file, active, crash dump, primary partion which is 146 GB.

 

Yes your partitions are correct.

Go into my Vista tweak thread and download Easy Cleaner. Once installed, start it and click on 'space usage' It will give you a pie diagram where you can move your mouse over every piece and see how your hard drive is being used right now.

 

I guess I'm fine then, I thought something else might have been on the hard drive that I didn't get rid of some how. Thanks!

 

So if he bought a 160gb hd, and he has partitions totalling 146gb+3gb+49mb = just over 149gb, where has the 11 gig gone??

 

A common marketing ploy by hard drive manufacturers is to calculate the size of a hard disk by using the decimal 10 system of 1000 bytes = one kilobyte, instead of the binary system where 1024 bytes = one kilobyte (your PC only knows binary). This rounding off practice means you end up with a hard drive with a capacity less than what is indicated on the label.

I'm assuming thats whats taking place.

 

A 32 Gb SSD = 29.8Gb total...

 

I have a new Dell inspiron 1520,
How much of a speed increase will this give me?,
The only bloatware mine came with was Mcafee, I have already installed lots of games and if its not going to be a big difference i cant be bothered.

 

Lots. If your not sure I wouldnt suggest it however.

 

Oneman have a good point.

I had an Inspiron E1505 and there were not much bloatware that I can't remove using some registry tool. The time it took me to remove some of these bloatware manually (NAV, Roxio, etc.) was less than the time it (will) take me to reinstall the OS AND Dell Media Direct.

So in term of the XPS series (m1330 and m1530), what are these bloatwares that are known to slow down the system? I know ASUS laptop have tons of em, like ASUS Splendid that actually harmful to the system.

BTW, I have selected "No Anti Virus" and "No ISP requested" when I ordered the XPS M1530, but I haven't gotten the laptop yet so I don't know what other crap Dell installed.

 

Thank you!

 

I just purchased a HP TX1000 and it was really loaded with bloatware! I returned it back to HP due to build quality. I just got my M1330 a few hours ago and it seems to have virtually no bloatware. I was wondering if a clean install would actually make a noticable difference? TIA.

 

The answer is yes it will make a noticeable difference...but thats my humble opinion. I found a large difference when i first got my m1330 and the first fresh installation.

If you like it like it is though...leave it. If you get ambitious...make a disk backup that you can go back to with a program such as Acronis Disk Image Trial and then go to town.

 

Thanks for that, after a few hiccups I got it all set up nicely. Just have to install my programs and import FF stuff.

Glad there's not much wrong with my m1330 (just a small scratch on the screen from holding it when the lid was down).

 

oops, wrong thread!

 

Quick question I was going to use Acronis, what does anyone think about using the Backup utility found in vista? I'm using Vista business 32-bit, here is a picture of what I'm talking about...it would be the Create a complete backup of computer option, I believe it creates an ISO of the entire comuter? I was looking to do that and then wipe every partition, install MD3 and Vista 64-bit after I get that intel matrix driver on.

 

My apologies but i was not aware Business came with completePCbackup. That is what i use and recommend and nullifies the need for Acronis. I traditionally make myself a backup set on DVD, thus allowing you to restore the system to exactly as it is right now.

So...make the backup and strip 'er down.

 

Personally, I use Acronis TrueIMagebecause not only it create an image snapshot of your HDD (not just files backup), but it can restore even without Windows running. The TrueImage CD is bootable and can run the program independent from Windows.

Here's what I do:
1) Backup image using TrueImage and put image file to external HDD / DVD
- Can also spans to multiple DVD's

2) In the event of restore, boot up using TrueIMage and connect the external HDD or put DVD containing the image file

3) Done.

 

Nice post...repped. yes, the difference is just that. With Acronis the backup is bootable whereas with completePCbackup from Vista you have to put the original disk in, boot to repair and then select restore completePCbackup.

 

So the point of doing the backup is so you can restore to the saved state at any time, like a portable recovery partition?

Can I use my ipod as an external hdd? If not, how many 4.7gb dvds would be needed to backup my new m1330 without me having put any of my stuff (music, photos) on it?

 

Ianwarrior - can you let us know if your Acronis TrueImage worked on an machine with SATA HDD ? does it recognise them

I have M1330 and tried a friends copy of Acronis Disk Director Suite Boot CD. It does not detect the laptop SATA HDD.

was wondering if the Acronis backup software boot CD has the same problem ?
anyone know of any other BOOT CD's or Util BOOT CD's that do support SATA drives ?

thanks

 

cc123:
It takes 3 disks.

billdownunder:
I remember thinking that Acronis did not detect my additional drives (XP/MD3) when I first did it on my dual boot system but it does. In the end, it will make an exact copy of your entire HD. Also my machine is SATA.

 

Awesome Thanks...I'll use the Windows Backup put to a DVD and then Strip it down, I'll let ya know if I run into any problems, thanks for your help

 

Hi Flamenko - firstly excellent thread mate, abundance of usful information you have provided, well done.

question have new M1330 can came with the foillowing factory partitions:

1) Dell Util (Primary) 78MB
2) RECOVERY (Primary ) 10GB
3) OS Vista Ultimate (Primary)
4) Hidden other ( Extended 2.5 GB ) assume this is MD

Now my goal is to have a multi-boot machine with followig partitions
- XP Pro
- Vista
- Win2K3 for work testing
- Data
- dell MD

question re partitions as this is laptop and only a single HDD available we have the limitations of number of primary partitions. i beleive its
- x4 primary max or
- x3 primary & x1 Extended parttions

1) any ideas or recomendations on how to do this ?
is it possible to boot an OS which is not a primary partition and in an Extended Partition?

2) your instructions on rebuilding Vista bloat free and also deleting\freeing the recovery partitoon is great, but what about the Dell Util partition ?
what is this used for ? can it be removed ? and what are the implications if remove?
is not an issue of the 78MB size it takes up but rather it takes up one of the Primary partitions.

anyone tried multi boot M1330 with x3 or more OS ?
any advise guys, thanks in advance.

 

I have tried multiboot and used it for awhile and the first thing I learned is there is no way to increase the number 4...4 partitions no ifs ands or buts, one of which is bootable.

You can dual boot XP/Vista and there is a great guide somewhere on the net. Im sorry but I havent worked with it for awhile.

Next, the Dell utility partition and the recovery partition I always get rid of. Since you have Vista Ultimate, this is very easy as you can run a completePCbackup now. Then format as per my instructions and set your partitions as you would like. Worse comes to worse you can always just revert back to what you have now.

The PC Backup through ultimate is complete which means all drives and partitions. For the number of changes I make to my system, I find I back it up with this utility every two weeks or so. I will be doing it again this week as im going to try SP1.

Oh one thing...the Utility partition allows the alt-F11 recovery (or at least it used to). Once this is deleted you get to the recovery mode by inserting your Ultimate disk and going into recovery; it will then be an option.

 

Flamenko thanks for quick reply.

qucik clarification question, sorry for maybe asking the obvious.

is the Util partition, the Alt-F11 recovery an Dell Recovery software tool ? or an MS Vista recovery software tool ?

and also what exactly with respect to "Recovery" does this do , or offer ?


i know is probably simple dumb questions, but just trying to understand exactly what it does, b4 decide to keep or nuke it.


(besides helps you closer to yr 3K postings)

 

It is a recovery tool, belonging to MS but proprietary to Dell. It allows you to do a recovery, in specific instances, by hitting the designated keys which I believe have changed. It does the same as the vista disk itself. The downfall of the utility partition is that as soon as a reformat is done, it doesnt work in any case. I have experienced this with many others.

This is why I suggest the backup for comfort and then stripper down and make the system yours.

It does nothing that the Vista disk, once inserted and moved into the Recovery menu, doesnt do.

As for the post count...wow I just noticed that. Close.

 

thanks Flamenko,
now moving forward, plannig to do complete backup and follow yr instructiosn to re-install MD and Vista (whilst deleting the other Dell util and recovery partitions)

slight digression on this Thread now.
is there any practicle difference of Vista 64 v 32 ? asside from 64bit allows you to recognise the full 4GB RAM.

i see yr a Vista 64 bit man. Have you found any issues of other 3rd party programs not working on Vista64?
also is Vista64 installer a separate CD and key needed ? or binaries are on the same VISTA DVD? and can we use exhisting Vista Ultimate key supplied ?
any other consideration into installing Vista64?
cheers

 

Vista Ultimate should come with your 64-Bit and 32-Bit CD Keys, if not the 32-Bit key you are currently using will work with 64-Bit. All you will need to do is call Microsoft, explain to them you have that key installed on one computer and they will give you a confirmation code of 8 boxes or so, 6 digits per box and your good to go.
I love 64-Bit I have run it on my desktop for about 8 months now and I haven't had a single driver/program issue. If worse comes to worse just run the prog as administrator and in XP SP2 Compatability mode. Most of my apps like AIM 5.9 and such run as aim.exe*32 So it automatically runs in 32-Bit but programs designed for 64-Bit run in 64-Bit, not to mention you are getting the full use of the C2D as well. As for my laptop, I am in the middle of installing 64-Bit, but also getting mine swapped out for a C2D 2.2GHz machine, that Dell is actually shipping me for free to replace my 1.5GHz...I will let you know how it goes, from my understanding, installed correctly the M1330 is 100% 64-Bit Compatable.

 

Hi CountryClubber
thanks for yr coments.
What was wrong with your M1330 that yr getting a swapout from Dell?

also re Vista 64, is there a separate DVD instraller CD titled Vista64? or do all Vista DVD have both binaries included ? or is there an option to select either 32 or 64 , when you clean build from Vista install DVD .
cheers
sorry for all the newbie basic questions

 

So when you do a clean install, can you create new partitions or would you require third party software to do this i.e. partition magic?

 

You can create new partitions. What will occur is that you will be able to choose the custom partition size and then you will complete the installation. Once completed, go to Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management and you will find unallocated space (the extra storage not yet created). Format and you can create extended or logical drives.

Remember only 4 max!!!

 

More Vista SP1 RC updates on a M1330 if anyone is interested:

- the sound driver Vista installs by default is incorrect. You need to load the one from support.dell.com to enable sound

- the Intel x3100 video drive Vista installs by default causes problems with hibernation. Sleep still works fine, but s4/hibernate locks up. Reverting to the older driver posted on support.dell.com fixes the problem. I was also having some lock ups/drop outs with WMP that seem to have been eliminated with the older driver as well.

- the Broadcom ethernet port is not recognized by default. This is amazing to me - that's a pretty standard (and a pretty critical) component on computers. The Intel 3495 wireless card I have -was- recognized - go figure...

-Boot times - from end of POST to login prompt is consistently under 30 seconds. Resume from sleep is under 5 seconds. This is a t5250 and 120gb 5400rpm drive, 2.5gb ram, vista ultimate running default services. For startup apps, I'm allowing Windows Defender, IDT Audio, OEM2Mon, Dell Synaptics driver and Dell Quickset to load.

- Battery Life - impressive. I'm getting 2:15-2:25 web browsing/general office use out of the 4 cell on a CCFL equipped machine using a variant of the 'power saver' profile that allows a 75% screen brightness and processor to run at 100% when needed.

- Overall performance -quite snappy - no complaints.


I like SP1, but am shocked that it's still getting drivers wrong or missing them entirely. It's not like the m1330 is using esoteric hardware - there's no reason in the world that hibernate shouldn't work on a x3100 based system, or that a broadcom ethernet port shouldn't be recognized today. Even most Linux distros, who don't get support from the hardware makers, get this things right more often than not. MS has to do better.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the Vista with SP1 version MS has up on MSDN isn't slipstreamed in the normal sense, meaning that you can't uninstall SP1. That means that when the 'real' SP1 finally comes out, you probably won't be able to uninstall the RC SP1 to load it and will have to completely reload Vista.

 

My Expresscard slot was broken, and I was looking to upgrade from the 1.5GHz to 2.0GHz to be able to play Crysis. I called them up, let them know and the rep came back and told me they will be shipping out a 2.2GHz unit. I let him know I only wanted the 2.0GHz unit and he said, oh no the upgrade is on Dell, you will not be paying anything for it. I was pleased with that.

64-bit disk is a seperate disk, I have multiple 32-bit keys/disks from school and I went on the Vista site and searched for a half hour on where to buy a 64-bit disk, since I only have Business and not Ultimate. Ultimate comes with 32-bit and 64-bit disks. I finally found a link to the disk purchase and I bought it for around 15.00, typed in my valid 32-bit key and received it in a few days. The disk is labeled business but if you don't type a product key it, it asks you which version of vista 64-bit you'd like to install. All versions are on the disk. What the CD Key does is basically identify which version you have. Essentially if I installed ultimate, then I typed in my business key, it will downgrade me to business.

 

So say I do everything in the guide, and perhaps a few months later I get some virus so I need to format. Would you just follow the exact same steps, using the MD cd to reinstall?

Thanks.

 

hi guys,
i just got my xps 1330 and was trying to perform a clean install of the OS....
I followed the procedure my flamenko! just was wondering how long it takes to create the partition once you insert the media direct dvd and select number 2 (i created a partition size of about 30gb!!!)....
My question is...how long does it takes to create the parttition and asks us to insert the OS DVD???
I am doing it now and it takes quite a lot of time....

 

still waiting....

 

Problem then...it should take you all of 5 seconds to create that partition. After that you will see an announcement to remove the MD disk and place in the OS disk and then later you will put the MD disk back in. You missed the announcement because after about 10 sec it goes blank and will stay like that until infinity...which Im guessing is where you are.

 

yes.....you are right...what should i do now...the screen is blank....btw thanks for your reply!!! panic mode

 

Rishi, since you already wipe out the HDD, try to do it from start again. No harm done.

 

I took care of Rishi in PM Panic Mode....

and cc123...yes.

 

When making a image using Acronis, I read somewhere that the first disc you use must be a CD and then after the CD is filled, you can use DVDs. Is this true, that CDs are bootable yet DVDs aren't?

 

Thats the first I have heard of that and it wasnt the case when I used it.

 

The Acronis Install CD itself is bootable. You also have the option of making another bootable CD with True Image in it, separate from the CD/DVD containing your image.

I'd recommend imaging to your external HDD first, and then burn it to DVD as it'll be faster. True Image have the option of splitting the image to DVD size (4.34 GB). So if you're imaging your entire hard drive and the size of that image is 10 GB, during the imaging session True IMage will split into 3 files which you can later burn into DVD.

 

One word for you, Flamenko....

FLAWLESS

Thanks especially for tip on #4 to put Vista in before reboot. Also on #6 to hit "any key" quickly (I didn't the first time).

The Acronis backup took a while, but this clean install was smooth.

Can't thank you enough. Repped.

Now onto the tweaks....

 

How long did it take? Do you have a 7200 or 5400rpm HD?

 

I have a 64GB SSD, but the bottleneck is writing to the DVD disks. I used high compression, but it still took a little more than 2 disks.

I'd say the time, including installing Acronis, was 90 minutes. The clean install was under 1 hour.

 

Congrats on the SSD! Its a diff world.

 

I've read up to page 28 so far as I wait for my m1530 due in by the middle of next week.
Excellent info here and on "how to buy a pc" thread!
This will be my "first" laptop and am looking forward doing a clean install with my Vista home premium. Did a few upgrades with the CSR and got a few freebies (sp) before reading "how to purchase".
This is a great forum with great people willing to help others like me who are computer challenged but willing to learn!
Thanks in advance!

 

Thanks...these threads have been put together by some great contributors.

 

First... AMAZING Flamenko, +1!

After getting a great deal from Dell, and then reading all the way through this thread I am really excited to get my m1330 on monday. I have been using the same Inspiron 5100 since 2002 and I cant wait to actually have a little power!

That said, I have a couple questions. I have read through this entire thread but I have a little computer experience to interpret what has been discussed. If I ask a question that has been answered before, please forgive me.

My lappy is coming with Home Premium, and my Uni provides 32bit Business. When I get my laptop, I plan on backing up the settings and then clean installing MD and Vista. Reading through the thread though, people say that there is a problem with OEM vista disks (presumably the business edition that my school provides?). Can I clean install home premium, partition a C: and D: drive, and then upgrade to Business? If I understand right I can't reinstall business and MD together due to the OEM problems.

Does vista "upgrade" from one OS to another, or does it reinstall?
Am I going to be forced to choose between MD and Vista Business?
If that is the case, what are the benefits of Business vs Home Premium?

My current Ideal system:
MD 3gb
C: 50gb Vista/Games
D: 100gb media/storage

Please let me know if I am understanding this right. I would hate to have to choose between the two programs.

Edit: What exactly is OEM disks. I assumed that it was all Vista disks not from dell, but it appears that isnt the case. How could I tell if the disks given to me by the university are OEM, or are just plain MS Vista Disks?