Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide

[maxwellJF]

okay, i just downloaded this AHCI driver for my m1330:
http://support.euro.dell.com/support...&fileid=205611

i think that's the right thing.

when i save the .exe to a USB stick, the vista setup can't seem to find it. thoughts?

[maxwellJF]

So this is what I've found out.. If you are installing a windows vista sp1 disk then the AHCI driver is already supported by vista and there is no need to install it during the windows installation. To make sure you'r running on AHCI go to device manager and check for IDE ATA/ATAPI controller if there are already something called SATA AHCI controller that mean the driver is already installed by windows

ah, excellent

[maxwellJF]

after extracting some of these drivers, in particular, the matrix storage manager, there doesn't seem to be any installation. it extracts, then shows me the folder. do i have to manually install them?

[maxwellJF]

further to my above question, how come vista never asked me for some kind of key? could i install this on any machine?

[Monk]

further to my above question, how come vista never asked me for some kind of key? could i install this on any machine?

No...your comp's BIOS is embeded with a code that has an OEM registered Key..it tells Vista that its installed from Dell and also the key tells it which version on Vista to install..your disk actually has all versions of Vista on it..its the key that denotes which one to install.

after extracting some of these drivers, in particular, the matrix storage manager, there doesn't seem to be any installation. it extracts, then shows me the folder. do i have to manually install them?

All files will ask for a location to extract to, or you can make your own. I make a new file on the desktop and extract all there so i can just delete the file when everything is extraced and installed. After each program extracts it will automatically install the program.

okay, i just downloaded this AHCI driver for my m1330:
http://support.euro.dell.com/support...&fileid=205611

i think that's the right thing.

when i save the .exe to a USB stick, the vista setup can't seem to find it. thoughts?

When installing Vista and AHCI, slide in the Dell drivers disk and search for it there, its much easier to install from a disk.

what is the most secure way to save your windows "situation" in the event of a minor/medium problem? i will be backing up files and program setups on an external drive.

ACRONIS...back up the whole entire system using ACRONIS home 11. BEST **** PROGRAM FOR WINDOWS.

hi. i'm just about to attempt this. can i ask for advice concerning the recovery partition that the laptop arrives with? do i need it? why would i want it? if, when i reinstall mediadirect, i only create one drive (C, can i still set restore points?

The age old Dell ques....the partition is only usefull if you run into an issue and want to restore the comp back to the way it came from the factory. Sense you want to reformatt and get rid of the bloatware...i would suggest getting rid of the recovery partition and reclaim all the space. If you want the partition then backup using ACRONIS..the whole entire sys b/f the reformatt, then you can always go back to orriginal Dell setup..if you want, not sure why you would though.


AND FINALLY...when you post once, go back to that post and hit the edit button so you dont have to post 7 different posts...takes toooooo much space up, we'll answer all your questions even if there are 10 in one edited post. Hope this helps...good luck and let me know if you need more help. Enjoy!

[maxwellJF]

cheers monk! great response! it's just a lot better to know what's going on, not just "how to do it". i'll look into Acronis.

[cxkx]

A question guys.
I've tried to make a backup image using Acronis true image home 11. It tells me one of the partitions has errors and it can only do it in point to point method.
I've run checkdisk for my OS drive and the restore drive and they seem to be fine. Does that mean there's an error on the media direct or the diagnostics partition? If that is the case how can i deal with it since vista doesn't let me anything with those two partitions except see them in computer management. The other thing is that Acronis only sees 3 partitions OS, recovery and I think media direct but could be the diagnostic partition. What do i do to get all 4 in an image?

Actually I found the solution myself. I used Active disk image and it did recognize all 4 partitions so I made an image with all of them included. It includes cd/usb boot software to restore but I haven't tried it yet.

[Monk]

A question guys.
I've tried to make a backup image using Acronis true image home 11. It tells me one of the partitions has errors and it can only do it in point to point method.
I've run checkdisk for my OS drive and the restore drive and they seem to be fine. Does that mean there's an error on the media direct or the diagnostics partition? If that is the case how can i deal with it since vista doesn't let me anything with those two partitions except see them in computer management. The other thing is that Acronis only sees 3 partitions OS, recovery and I think media direct but could be the diagnostic partition. What do i do to get all 4 in an image?

Actually I found the solution myself. I used Active disk image and it did recognize all 4 partitions so I made an image with all of them included. It includes cd/usb boot software to restore but I haven't tried it yet.

I've run into this a few times...if you have disabled services in msconf or services.msc, acronis has a service that if disabled wont allow it to work or image. U have to enable it at startup then preform the image with acronis, and it should work just fine.

Also, if you use Media Direcr 3.3 or 3.5 you wont see the partition..its hidden. If your using Media Direcrt 4.0, then of course you wont see it..they changed it in 4.0 to run as a program within Vista, so no partition is needed. Enjoy

[maxwellJF]

so i'm running this again because after just 2 days, there is already a problem with WMP11.

just wondering, what would be the first things you do right after a complete reinstall? i'm thinking, disable UAC as the absolute first thing, then install the drivers, then get acronis?

edit: another question, with the UPEK driver (and some others), the installation does not start automatically, but rather takes me to the folders where the setups lie, and i have to pick between x64 and x86, vista and XP. well i have 32-bit - so do i choose x86?

[Monk]

so i'm running this again because after just 2 days, there is already a problem with WMP11.

just wondering, what would be the first things you do right after a complete reinstall? i'm thinking, disable UAC as the absolute first thing, then install the drivers, then get acronis?

edit: another question, with the UPEK driver (and some others), the installation does not start automatically, but rather takes me to the folders where the setups lie, and i have to pick between x64 and x86, vista and XP. well i have 32-bit - so do i choose x86?

There is no exact science as to how to reinstall. I do all my drivers, but my question for you is why would you ever want to disable UAC. search this website to read up about it...i would strongly suggest you keep it on, it does more in the backgroup of vista that what you think.

if you havent read through this thread, please do
NBR Vista Tips and Tweaks Guide
there is a ton of fighting abour UAC, and it may just open your eyes on how impt it is to keep b/c of the Layer Effect

if you have vista 32- bit then open up x86, 64-bit is x64.