Question:
How important is it to reformat when I get my 1505?
Hey guys. Everyone seems to be suggesting a complete reformat as soon as I pull my new laptop out of the box. What exactly am I getting rid of that a simple delete wouldn't fix? AOL? I only ask because the instructions southerngirl is suggesting seem long and complecated. (No offense, Southergirl- I appreciate detailed instructions. It just seems like it'll take a long time and be easy to forget something).
Thanks
-@dam
Answer:
Re: How important is it to reformat when I get my 1505?
It is to get rid of all the bloatware that Dell puts on their machine. It takes up space and slowes performance because of the processes.
You can uninstall alot of it, then get a registry cleaner and tune XP to get it running faster. If you don't want to do the re-format. :)
Hope this helps.
Answer:
Re: How important is it to reformat when I get my 1505?
Yeah, I will say. Once I got my laptop, it came with **** of softwares that I didnt need and I know it will take out the performance of my laptop. One I completely reformat the hd and install a fresh clean of XP, I was very pleased withe results, and you should be also. :)
JC
Answer:
Re: How important is it to reformat when I get my 1505?
I will be also performing a 'clean' XP install myself, but just to be sure you know before you start....
1. There's a good chance you will 'break' the Dell restore functionality. This allows you to put your computer back to its 'as-delivered' state
2. Your Dell MediaDirect 'hot button' may no longer work properly and it can be a bit of a chore to get it back.
Mark
Answer:
Re: How important is it to reformat when I get my 1505?
Is it safe to uninstall - I mean, are there any programs that have dll links that are critical to other programs??
Answer:
Re: How important is it to reformat when I get my 1505?
I didn't notice any. I got rid of almost all the stuff I could. All the other programs work fine. I got rid of Norton too (after some trouble). For the most part no issues.
Hope this helps.
Answer:
Re: How important is it to reformat when I get my 1505?
it's your decision, but for me, the importance of a clean install is a very strong 10/10. not only is it the first thing i do for every new computer, i also do it periodically as stuff accumulates. when i was in law school, i did a fresh install of the OS every new semester and i still do it about twice a year.
Answer:
Re: How important is it to reformat when I get my 1505?
I'm like drumfu, i reformat about every 6 to 8 months. As you install/uninstall programs, alot of junk builds up and clutters your system. Even if you have a 120gb HDD, this junk will degrade your system.
As far as I know there isn't any .dll that are critical to the other programs. Most of the registery keys that are cleaned up are specific to that software.
SG
Answer:
Re: How important is it to reformat when I get my 1505?
How do you backup the Dell restore partition just incase? I tired Goodells.net like Southerngirl mentioned in another thread but I could not find it anywhere.
This is my first notebook, that I didn't receive yet, but I would like to have a clean install, that's what I do with my desktops always.
Thanks
Answer:
Re: How important is it to reformat when I get my 1505?
the dell restore partition is an image of the factory install meaning it has all the junk in there. it also takes up around 3-4 GBs of hard drive space. because of this, i always delete all partitions and make one parition using the entire drive. you paid for a certain sized HD, why lose 3-4 GBs for a partition that's useless?