Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide

[chiew]

ok i installed the AHCI driver during the installation as stated on the First page of this thread.
I did not get the BSOD, but the screen was hanging and after "completing installation".. the screen just went BLACK. After 1hour, the screen was still black.

What should i do now??

[chiew]

What i did just then is 'held the power button for 5 seconds to shut down'.
Then i turned it on again. Started up 'SLOW' but normally to windows asking me to create a username etc..
Should i be worrying at this stage? Did the AHCI driver install sucessfully?

[chiew]

WIndows is up and running now. It is very very slow tho. A lot of lag and delay. Seems to be a lot slower than before i reformatted

[crash]

WIndows is up and running now. It is very very slow tho. A lot of lag and delay. Seems to be a lot slower than before i reformatted

It's normal that Vista is slow after a reformat because it takes a while to complete indexing and learn your habits to it can build it's Superfetch data. If your laptop doesn't noticeably speed up within a week, then something may have installed incorrectly.

Also, see the NBR Vista Tips and Tweaks Guide.

[chiew]

iv installed all the drivers on the disc and rebooted.. when it reaches that windows screen.. it says Configuring Updates.. then the screen will turn black.. after 30mins still black
So i turned laptop off and on.. and same thing again

[crash]

iv installed all the drivers on the disc and rebooted.. when it reaches that windows screen.. it says Configuring Updates.. then the screen will turn black.. after 30mins still black
So i turned laptop off and on.. and same thing again

I know you're not going to like the sound of this, but try doing a clean install again. However, this time, download all the drivers from you computer from Dell's support site (http://support.dell.com/) and save them to a USB drive or something. Those drivers will be more recent than the ones on the disk which seem to be causing you problems. Once you install Vista (it should boot fine and go to your desktop for the first time without issues), install the newer drivers from your USB drive instead of the disk.

[chiew]

thanks for replying crash.
I actually did do a clean install again about 3 times, but not yet with the updated drivers.
I need a bit of assistance on doing a clean install.
Just to let you know im running on Vista Premium.
I tried following the steps by Les on the start of this thread, and the AHCI part. I installed the AHCI driver like he said, and now it doesnt load up onto windows.. just a black screen.
Am i suppose to install the AHCI driver? I downloaded it from the dell website and saved it on my USB key.

[crash]

thanks for replying crash.
I actually did do a clean install again about 3 times, but not yet with the updated drivers.
I need a bit of assistance on doing a clean install.
Just to let you know im running on Vista Premium.
I tried following the steps by Les on the start of this thread, and the AHCI part. I installed the AHCI driver like he said, and now it doesnt load up onto windows.. just a black screen.
Am i suppose to install the AHCI driver? I downloaded it from the dell website and saved it on my USB key.

I didn't install the AHCI driver like the instructions on the first post say. I installed Vista normally and then installed the driver after installing Windows. I've never had any problems doing that. Hopefully that works for you.

[chiew]

Hey crash, so you reckon i should reformat again and do a clean install without installing that AHCI driver? My laptop is always freezing and im getting a lot of error messages poppin up. Ever since i formatted the 3rd time the other day, i can never shut down my laptop normally coz it will freeze.
Do you reckon it would be a hardware issue? Or should i "TRY" and do a clean install without installing the AHCI driver, and everything will be fine?

[wdro]

I clean installed vista on my notebook. Is it still possible to install windows 7 on another partition?