IdeaPad Y460p Windows 7 clean install best practices?

I got my new IdeaPad Y460p with i7 this week and I'm in the process of setting it up how I'd like it, which includes getting rid of the bloatware via a clean install of Windows 7. I saw that others on here have done this with good results, and I'm hoping to get some tips on how best to do it, pitfalls to avoid, etc.

Using Clonezilla, I've already created an image of the hard drive as it came to me and stored it on a networked drive, so I can revert to that if I completely screw anything up.

My Y460p came with Windows 7 Home x64, and through my employer I purchased a dvd and license for Windows 7 Pro x64 that I plan to use for the clean install.

I've read advice that I should copy the drivers that came installed on the Y460p, and then use those during the clean install process. I'm unclear, though, on exactly what I should be copying and when in the reinstall process it will be needed.

It looked like Lenovo had drivers for this machine available on their website, but then I saw a reference in a forum to it being difficult to find drivers. Is the Lenovo site incomplete?

Also, it looks like the hard disk on my Y460p was partitioned already to create a "D:" drive titled LENOVO. I assume that during the clean install process, I'm going to want to wipe this partition as well and not recreate it, but I'd like to confirm that.

I want the machine to still work, but I don't think I need/want, for example, the Lenovo "Smile Dock", VeriFace, SplitScreen, or even the SlideNav software. Since this is my first Lenovo, though, I honestly don't know -- are some of these actually worth keeping? I'd like advice here, too.

Thanks for any advice or warnings you can provide.

 

It sounds like you have a good handle on this. The site has all of the drivers, but you need to download each individual driver/software and it becomes long and drawn out. Take the folder in the partitioned driver, copy it, and paste it on an external hard drive or usb driver, etc. This way you can simply copy and paste that on your freshly installed windows and install the drivers.(You can place the folder wherever you want. Desktop, ect.)

Most of Lenovo Ideapad's software is awful. Try it and see if you like it. (All of them are on the website. Also, you can format the D: drive to clear up some space.

You have a backup up if anything goes wrong and you seem to have a good handle on this. Good luck!

The y460p driver site: Lenovo Ideapad Support & downloads - Drivers & Downloads (64 Bit, Win 7)

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I did the clean install and the drivers reinstalls, and here are a few notes for others who may want to follow this path:

Copy the drivers that came preinstalled to a DVD, rather than a networked hard drive, because (in retrospect, a big duh!) one of the drivers you will need to install will be the one that will allow you to use ethernet and/or wireless connections. Fortunately, we had another laptop that was able to access the networked drive and burn a DVD, but it could have turned into a much bigger PITA.

When you go to reinstall the drivers, you will notice that they have "setup" executable files associated with them. Using these to reinstall the drivers, though, will also reinstall a bunch of software that you probably don't want to reinstall, if you're going for a very clean install of Windows.

Instead, go through the Devices and Printers window, double click on your computer's icon, then select the Hardware tab. This will show you a list of all the hardware on your machine, and any that don't have drivers installed will have a yellow symbol next to them. You can install drivers through this window, pointing them toward wherever you have the copy you previously saved of the drivers that came on the machine, or telling it to search online.

After doing this, I still had one device without a driver called "Unknown Device" that wasn't getting any results when I told Windows to search online for a driver. Some Googling turned up that this was related to Power Management, so I went ahead and reinstalled the Power Management driver using the "Setup" executable. This reinstalled the Lenovo power management software, but also took care of the mystery device I was seeing. I figure I can always uninstall later.

The end result, after doing all of this, is that I have a relatively uncluttered install of Windows, and I no longer have that Lenovo partition I mentioned in the first post. Even after installing McAffee and Office, I have 432/465 GB free on my hard drive.

The SlideNav bar doesn't do anything anymore, but I could always reinstall that software if I really wanted it for some reason. As far as I've been able to tell so far, that's the only hardware functionality I've lost in this process, and it's definitely one I can live with.

 

take a look at this thread for slidebar installation.

 

Hey guys, I'm trying to prepare to do a clean Windows 7 install on my new Y470, and I had a question if you don't mind.

Instead of using Clonezilla, couldn't I just use One Key Recovery to create the Recovery Discs, wouldn't that be easier or is there an advantage to using Clonezilla? Other than the lack of having to deal with the physical media that is...thanks!

 

one key recovery works just the same it just takes longer to backup and restore and you have to spend a couple disks.