Clean Vista install WITH NO ACTIVATION

[orev]

Just FYI, I torrented a DVD (2.5gb) that had all versions of Windows on it, and used the method described here in post #1 by orev to painlessly reactivate. Thanks, pal

With drivers, I just downloaded my new DV9500 series lappy's drivers from the HP site on another PC and put them on a jumpdrive and transferred them across, no problem.

Be careful getting those torrents. You never know if the distributor may have put an extra surprise in the install, like a botnet or spyware, for example. A clean image of those discs has these MD5 sums:

1008f323d5170c8e614e52ccb85c0491    32bit
11e2010d857fffc47813295e6be6d58d    64bit

[Datman]

I have a dv2500t. I'm considering doing a clean install to get rid of bloatware, that and I'm already experiencing BSOD even though I've only had the notebook for about a week now...

Anyways, my question is, after doing a clean isntall, do I run SWSETUP or can I download the drivers off the HP site to get all the functionality back?
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...369421&lang=en

I want to make sure I can get the HP Wireless assistant, quickplay, and all that other stuff that works with the HP notebook (stuff that starts with HP xxx)

I just did a clean install on an old notebook with XP and it won't even boot up anymore (booted up fine for a while, then just died this morning)

[orev]

Yes, you can download the drivers from HP, but there is other software on there that you can't download. Stuff like quickplay, quicklaunch buttons, and if you wanted to use some of it like roxio. It only takes 1 DVD to save it, so it's better to do that then be without it later. SWsetup is a whole folder, with lots of stuff inside that you can choose to install or not.

[the_penguin]

I don't mean to imply that this utility is not very useful, but could someone please explain the actual disadvantages of having to reactivate Vista (apart from the big brother aspect/any possible inconvenience this causes). I'm not fussed about having to reactivate, I just want to know I'm not disadvantaging myself by doing it.

[flipfire]

There is no disadvantage of having to re-activate it again besides calling up and wasting time. With this utility, it does it in an instant and you can do it over and over again. Instead of calling Microsoft over and over again for an activation key everytime you reformat

[the_penguin]

But the activation is done instantly over the internet isn't it?

[miner]

But the activation is done instantly over the internet isn't it?

No, If you use the key stuck to the bottom of the notebook you will have to call up and activate. Plus the online activation works for a finitie muber of times before the phone activation takes over.

[Datman]

Yes, you can download the drivers from HP, but there is other software on there that you can't download. Stuff like quickplay, quicklaunch buttons, and if you wanted to use some of it like roxio. It only takes 1 DVD to save it, so it's better to do that then be without it later. SWsetup is a whole folder, with lots of stuff inside that you can choose to install or not.

Wait, is quickplay from the website or from swsetup? If it's from the folder, I can't seem to locate a folder named "quickplay"

Also, is there a recommended order for installing the drivers/software again?

What would I need to install from the HP site and what would I need to install from SWSETUP?

Thank you so much for your help. I've been trying to locate a guide on a clean install of vista for a while now.

[miner]

Wait, is quickplay from the website or from swsetup? If it's from the folder, I can't seem to locate a folder named "quickplay"

Also, is there a recommended order for installing the drivers/software again?

What would I need to install from the HP site and what would I need to install from SWSETUP?

Thank you so much for your help. I've been trying to locate a guide on a clean install of vista for a while now.

The Quickplay software setup fildes should be located in SWSetup/QPW folder.

There is no general order as such but start off with the chipset drivers and work you way with the other devices.

Download the drivers from HP website or direct from the manufacturers of the devices. The Swsetup folder contains the installation files for the software which HP ships with their systems(for example - Roxio, muveeplayer, HP help/support add on etc). So, if you need any of those software you can find them in there.

[orev]

Wait, is quickplay from the website or from swsetup? If it's from the folder, I can't seem to locate a folder named "quickplay"

Also, is there a recommended order for installing the drivers/software again?

What would I need to install from the HP site and what would I need to install from SWSETUP?

Thank you so much for your help. I've been trying to locate a guide on a clean install of vista for a while now.

HP uses some cryptic names for the folders. You have to explore them to figure out what's in them. I think quickplay buttons is on QLB, and quickplay is QPW. If you have the fingerprint reader, the software that runs that is in there too.

Really, just keep a copy on DVD. You may not need it, but a DVD is very cheap, and it's a good idea to have, just in case.