Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide
by Les Tokar
~~~Introduction~~~
This guide is intended for use on
Dell systems which contain Dell MediaDirect and the Vista Operating system. It has been put together through a consumer need to reformat Dell systems as simply as possible and to remove the vast amount of
bloatware contained on newly received Dell laptops. Unfamiliar to most, newly received laptops, not only contain an unnecessary amount of useless programs but also, contain unneeded alternate language files as well as registry entries created to serve the benefit of Dell and not necessarily the user. This '
bloatware' will, not only serve to slow your system a great deal, but also take up needed and valuable space.
At the end of this guide, you will find a link to another popular article entitled
'Top Vista Tips and Tweaks Guide', this article being recognized as one of the leading tweaking articles available on the internet.
The combination of both threads will result in a blazing fast laptop that will amaze you!
The change in your startup and shutdown times alone will attest as to the success that can be had.
~~~Instructions~~~
NOTE: Please follow these word for word and, should you encounter a problem, review the steps. 99% of problems experienced are a result of someone not reading this carefully and fixed only after a certain step is brought to their attention.
AHCI Concerns: On new Dell systems, they are set up to run in AHCI mode which will give you a 15% system performance boost. In many instances, the AHCI driver MUST be installed during the initial installation process for the installation to work. Those not installing it are finding that their system may BSOD or hang during the installation and saying "Completing Installation Process". One must find the driver specific to their system either on the drivers disk that came with their laptop or at
www.Dell.com in the drivers section. Download and expand it to a USB drive or disk; the USB is prefered but it is important that you expand it on the media you just saved it to. Once done, put it aside for now.
UPDATE: If your more the visual type, Bamaster has put together a photogallery of the steps on Pg 130, Post 1291 here!!! He has put alot of work...and I mean ALOT of work into this. Don't be afraid to show him your appreciation by throwing him a rep on his post (scales bottom left) Great job Bamaster!!! - Place MediaDirect 3.3 in drive;
- Restart/Hit F12 at initial screen/One time boot/Boot Dvd;
- Follow instructions to change your partitions. This will delete everything. (Note, I got my system to accept two partitions which are the 3Gb MediaDirect partition and the main partition but sometimes you will have no choice but to go with 3;
- When it says, remove MD3 disk and replace with your Vista disk;
- Restart/hit F12 at initial screen/one time boot/Boot DVD;
- When "press any key when ready" comes up make sure you press this right away. On mine, if you dont in the first few seconds there will be no reaction;
- Follow the instructions/select complete install and, in the select partition screen, click bottom left to install the AHCI driver, insert the driver medium and direct it to the file which will say AHCI. There may be two files identified, ensure you select the AHCI driver. Once you have completed installing the driver, select correct partition to install Vista on;
- On completion and windows is running, reinsert MediaDirect 3;
- Run "DellKit" and press enter to complete installation of MediaDirect;
- Change disk to your 'Drivers and Utilities' Disk and install 'Dell Resource Application;
- Let it open and press extract for all that are checked. Install them. (note: Dont reboot after each installation of appropriate driver or it will take forever.);
- Look at the unchecked drivers carefully. NOTE: There are a few that may be unchecked that are on your system. For example, my fingerprint reader doesnt come up checked as well as Quikset but they are there; and
- Go to the Dell website/support/drivers and downloads and enter your service tag. Look for drivers that arent on your disk. I am aware that there are a few such as a DVD update.
THAT SHOULD BE IT!!!! Now, I will concede that this is an enjoyable project if you arent scared and take your time. If your a real 'nut' like me, you will end up doing it several times until all works exactly as you want it. If something goes wrong, throw the MediaDirect disk back in and start over again!!!
Good luck all and click on the scales bottom left of this article and leave me a note if this helped you along.!!
AND PLEASE...make comment at the bottom of the post so it gets bumped to the top of the section for others to find.
and last but not least... improve on what you have just done by now jumping into my Top Vista Tips and Tweaks Guide which contains the BEST tweaks available for your systems performance.!!!
Dell Vista Laptop Reformat and Bloatware Removal Guide
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