First time laptop owner: safe to remove bloatware?

[Treason]

I have acquired a Dell Inspiron 6000. First time I have ever had a laptop. Once I powered it on, I noticed it's running Windows XP Home and a million tray icons (AOL, Dell this Dell that, free trial this free trial that).

Mobile software is probaby proprietary. I can't just wipe the hard drive and install Windows XP PRO right? The laptop only came with 90 days warranty, so the Dell software will be useless?

[Clay]

I've had a number of laptops (IBM Thinkpads, Sony VAIOs and HP) and the first thing I always do is to first make sure that the laptop either came with a CD/DVD that contains all the drivers and actual necessary software that you'll need...or...if it doesn't come with a CD/DVD then all of that is likely on a hidden partition that you should have an option to burn from to your own CDs or DVDs. If neither of those is possible then you should at least be able to get all the drivers/software for your particular model from Dell's website.

Once you're sure that you have all of that in hand, you can then do your own clean install of Windows. You'll then be able to pick and choose exactly what drivers/software you want/need to install.

[ricercar]

If Dell has a driver download website, or if you have the CDROMs that came with the machine, wipe away. The only meaningful loss is drivers, in most cases.

The first thing I do when I buy a new ThinkPad is format the drive and install a clean WinXP Pro configuration. The company that makes ThinkPads now, Lenovo, has a clever utility that connects to the support website and installs the latest drivers for my particular model, even if it's years old.

[Sazar]

You can remove the majority of the freeware that is included on the 6000 w/o problems.

There are a lot of apps that are dell utilities for wifi and so on but you should be able to remove the other stuff.

You should already have a hidden partition on the system which can be used for recovery.

www.support.dell.com should have all the drivers you need besides.

[netviper13]

The first thing I did when I received my Dell laptop was hit up the website, download the latest drivers and software patches, and format the sucker. Even if you don't get the latest updates, you should either receive a CD or have a partition with all the needed software/drivers. Formatting it is fine.

[Treason]

Hey thanks for the advice folks. It did indeed come with a CD driver disk.

[uOpt]

All laptops of mine and my coworkers run just fine under Linux and FreeBSD. I guess that counts as removing bloatware :)

[j0j081]

pretty much anytime you buy a prebuilt pc or laptop a clean format will do the trick. most are so loading with sh*t uninstalling it all won't even help because it'll be all cheesed up in the registry and stuff.

[evilghost]

All laptops of mine and my coworkers run just fine under Linux and FreeBSD. I guess that counts as removing bloatware :)

+1 to that.

[911medic]

You may find this useful:

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=53625

Look under chapter 4, "Some re-install/ software issues."

And this, too: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=23363&page=1&pp=10

[Treason]

Woah, thanks for the links medic! Looks like my weekend has been made easier!

The only strange thing that stands out is the monitor in system properties. It is listed as Plug and Play monitor, whereas the shipping invoice says 15.4W Samsung (It's a WXGA screen). I don't think I would need a specific Samsung driver.

[911medic]

Yeah, so is mine. In fact, Device Manager shows 3 "Default Monitor"s, in addition to the "Plug and Play Monitor." Mine is a WXGA+ Samsung screen.

[j0j081]

Yeah, so is mine. In fact, Device Manager shows 3 "Default Monitor"s, in addition to the "Plug and Play Monitor." Mine is a WXGA+ Samsung screen.
i think that's an nv driver bug.

[911medic]

I know it was a while back (7x.xx series, I believe?), but I'm running 82.10's right now, and it was there with the version that came with the new notebook, too...don't remember what that was.

Has anyone else running 82.10's seen this problem?