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.

    Reformat my new PC?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by apolloaec, Dec 13, 2005.

  1. apolloaec

    apolloaec Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I just got a new Inspiron 9300 from Dell, and as you all well know, they load it up with crap. Should I reformat right off the bat, or should I just uninstall the programs? Also, if you say I should reformat, can you give me some simple instructions how to do it, and what things I need to reinstall when my computer is reformatted?
     
  2. rdiver

    rdiver Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    62
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
  3. Jordan1

    Jordan1 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    73
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I would recommend reformating.
     
  4. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    1,659
    Messages:
    5,066
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
  5. olyteddy

    olyteddy Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    468
    Messages:
    1,369
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I'd just do a restore then delete what you don't need and then connect to Windows update. Follow that with a good registry cleaner or two and you should be golden. That way you get to keep any of the "junk-ware" you'd like to have, like PowerDVD or Roxio or whatever else Dell ships.
     
  6. apolloaec

    apolloaec Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hey, thanks A LOT for all the quick replies, I owe a lot to this site now, including a $750 dollar discount!!!

    Thanks again!
     
  7. kingjimmi

    kingjimmi Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    61
    Messages:
    183
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    The amount of time it takes to format and reinstall your operating system is about an hour. It would probably take about that long to delete all the junk that Dell installs. Also, Trend Micro antivirus is pretty hard to remove completely from your hard drive(you might never get it fully off your computer). Then take into account the 5gigs of hard drive space you'll get back when you delete the system restore partition and it's almost a no brainer. On top of all this, your system will probably run a little faster and your hard drive would be less fragmented with a reformat compared to uninstalling.

    I'd do the reformat.
     
  8. Shampoo

    Shampoo Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    208
    Messages:
    1,889
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Yes I agree with kingjimmi.

    Do a fresh install from scratch to save you headaches down the road.

    Shouldn't take longer than 2 hours to have your baby up and purring full steam.

    Cheers,
    Mike