Formatting a new Dell Laptop - Recommendations?

[Nitecon]

Hi, long time lurker on OC forums.

I've recently bought a new Dell Laptop XPS M1530.

There's some Dell software and some other random stuff pre-installed on the HD.

I was wondering what you guys would recommend?

1. Formatting the HD and reinstalling Vista? And installing the drivers required for the hardware only, and none of the "Dell" software.

2. Just use control panel to remove the software I don't want.

If I choose option 1. does the Windows Vista CD that comes with the laptop contain the full vista installation? or is it just a recovery CD?

Also, Does the driver CD that comes with the laptop cover all the hardware installed on it?

New to the whole Dell Laptop experience. I'm used to building my own desktops from scratch, so not really used to having all this pre-installed software malarky.

 

[TheVoice]

I would do (and have done) number 1, personally. To get the latest drivers, BIOS and software, go to this page and select Drivers & Downloads, then enter the Service Tag which is printed on a label on the bottom of the notebook:
http://support.euro.dell.com/support/index.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=gen&~ck=pn

Then just download the stuff you feel is appropriate; obviously device drivers for the vital bits of hardware are most important, and you'll also want stuff like QuickSet for the hotkeys to work.

The Vista DVD that the notebook comes with only contains Vista, so you'll get a completely clean install with that.

 

[reflux]

I've had three Dell lappies and I always boot it up once to check it works, and then reformat it with my choice of OS. Best way IMO.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

1. Formatting the HD and reinstalling Vista? And installing the drivers required for the hardware only, and none of the "Dell" software.

This because this option removes any branding from the company and any select software/configurations. For the sake of an hour or 2 you can have a system you want the way you like.

Always use the updated drivers from the manufactures website and try not to install any 3rd party driver software if it contains it.

There should be an option to 'create' a boot disk - contains only the Vista DVD image.