clean install

I would like to do a clean install on my dell e521,windows xp media
center,want to get rid of all the junk dell puts on there computers.how hard
is this ,is there a good tutorial on how do to this,I do have the disk I
think(orange colored disk),it says operating system.Thanks

it is not hard, but it is incredibly time consuming and rather tedious.
you have to install windows, then the drivers (chipset, video, sound, modem,
etc), then all windows updates which can be considerable. and only then do
reinstall all of your application software (antivirus, dvd decoder, cd/dvd
burning software, word processor, etc). it will take the better part of a
day when you are experienced at it. i don't know what people are talking
about when they say that they can reinstall a machine in a couple of hours.
either they are not considering the whole picture or are doing something
wrong. but dell does make it pretty easy with their operating system cd and
separate drivers cd. you may want to make your own drivers cd by
downloading the latest drivers found on support.dell.com but the drivers on
the provided cd will work despite not always being the latest version. dell
also has a guide to walk you through the reinstallation process that you
should check out http://tinyurl.com/ydepxv

"Tony Pacc" wrote in message
...
I would like to do a clean install on my dell e521,windows xp media
center,want to get rid of all the junk dell puts on there computers.how
hard
is this ,is there a good tutorial on how do to this,I do have the disk I
think(orange colored disk),it says operating system.Thanks

Here is a link to a handy little utility that was designed just for those
that buy a new PC but would rather not have all the misc 'crap' that the
manufacturer has loaded.

http://www.protista.com/143003/Dell+Decrapifier.htm


"Christopher Muto" wrote in message
news:rnqrh.5089$9B6.255@trnddc07...
it is not hard, but it is incredibly time consuming and rather tedious.
you have to install windows, then the drivers (chipset, video, sound,
modem, etc), then all windows updates which can be considerable. and only
then do reinstall all of your application software (antivirus, dvd
decoder, cd/dvd burning software, word processor, etc). it will take the
better part of a day when you are experienced at it. i don't know what
people are talking about when they say that they can reinstall a machine
in a couple of hours. either they are not considering the whole picture or
are doing something wrong. but dell does make it pretty easy with their
operating system cd and separate drivers cd. you may want to make your
own drivers cd by downloading the latest drivers found on support.dell.com
but the drivers on the provided cd will work despite not always being the
latest version. dell also has a guide to walk you through the
reinstallation process that you should check out http://tinyurl.com/ydepxv

"Tony Pacc" wrote in message
...
I would like to do a clean install on my dell e521,windows xp media
center,want to get rid of all the junk dell puts on there computers.how
hard
is this ,is there a good tutorial on how do to this,I do have the disk I
think(orange colored disk),it says operating system.Thanks

I second using the PC Decrapifier program. It has been updated to allow
selective removal of various preinstalled trial programs, etc. The older
version nuked whatever the developer didn't like or use.

I just used it to setup new Dimension 5150 and 9200 for friends. Worked
great as far as I can tell. Both machines are now rather speedy, as
compared to the bloated out of the box performance.

HTH, Pat

"hdrdtd" wrote in message
...
Here is a link to a handy little utility that was designed just for those
that buy a new PC but would rather not have all the misc 'crap' that the
manufacturer has loaded.

http://www.protista.com/143003/Dell+Decrapifier.htm


"Christopher Muto" wrote in message
news:rnqrh.5089$9B6.255@trnddc07...
it is not hard, but it is incredibly time consuming and rather tedious.
you have to install windows, then the drivers (chipset, video, sound,
modem, etc), then all windows updates which can be considerable. and
only then do reinstall all of your application software (antivirus, dvd
decoder, cd/dvd burning software, word processor, etc). it will take the
better part of a day when you are experienced at it. i don't know what
people are talking about when they say that they can reinstall a machine
in a couple of hours. either they are not considering the whole picture
or are doing something wrong. but dell does make it pretty easy with
their operating system cd and separate drivers cd. you may want to make
your own drivers cd by downloading the latest drivers found on
support.dell.com but the drivers on the provided cd will work despite not
always being the latest version. dell also has a guide to walk you
through the reinstallation process that you should check out
http://tinyurl.com/ydepxv

"Tony Pacc" wrote in message
...
I would like to do a clean install on my dell e521,windows xp media
center,want to get rid of all the junk dell puts on there computers.how
hard
is this ,is there a good tutorial on how do to this,I do have the disk I
think(orange colored disk),it says operating system.Thanks

"Tony Pacc" wrote in message
...
I would like to do a clean install on my dell e521,windows xp media
center,want to get rid of all the junk dell puts on there computers.how
hard
is this ,is there a good tutorial on how do to this,I do have the disk I
think(orange colored disk),it says operating system.Thanks



Assuming you have a Windows CD and Dell driver CD,

1. Set the computer to be able to boot from a CD, then start the computer
with the Windows CD in the CD drive. Erase all partitions, then create two
new partitions, C: and D:. You can make the C: drive about 40 GB and the D:
drive the rest of the hard drive. Making two virtual drives means you can
keep all your data and downloads on the D: drive, and all of your programs,
including Windows, on the C: drive. This makes it easy to back up your D:
drive files. And easier later if you want to clean reinstall Windows
again -- all your files will be on the D: drive which you won't be wiping
clean on a future Windows install.

2. Select a full format of the C: drive, which you will select to install
Windows. (Later, after installing Windows, you will format the virtual D:
drive from Windows Explorer or My Computer.)

3. At the end of the installation, do not select to register or validate
your copy of Windows, and do not connect to the internet. Install your
drivers that need it (checking Device Manager from My Computer properties),
chipset and video drivers first, and then your spyware, antivirus, and
firewall programs. Only then enable your internet connection, and
immediately update the spyware, anti-virus, and firewall.

4. Go to Windows Update, and install all critical updates (and any others
you feel to be important).

5. Install your other programs, then update them to their latest versions
(if applicable).

6. There are several services, accessed from running services.msc, that can
be disabled to make your computer run more efficiently. A Google search of
services.msc will give you lots of information on this.



Just a quick summary off the top of my head. On a new computer, it would
take me about 3 to 4 hours.

Bud H

In article rnqrh.5089$9B6.255@trnddc07, "Christopher Muto" wrote:
it is not hard, but it is incredibly time consuming and rather tedious.
you have to install windows, then the drivers (chipset, video, sound, modem,
etc), then all windows updates which can be considerable. and only then do
reinstall all of your application software (antivirus, dvd decoder, cd/dvd
burning software, word processor, etc). it will take the better part of a
day when you are experienced at it. i don't know what people are talking
about when they say that they can reinstall a machine in a couple of hours.
either they are not considering the whole picture or are doing something
wrong. but dell does make it pretty easy with their operating system cd and
separate drivers cd. you may want to make your own drivers cd by
downloading the latest drivers found on support.dell.com but the drivers on
the provided cd will work despite not always being the latest version. dell
also has a guide to walk you through the reinstallation process that you
should check out http://tinyurl.com/ydepxv

Chris, do you know if that guide, or something similar, is available
to download and print? One can hardly be using an online interactive
guide when one has killed off the whole system to start again! :-)

"Tony Pacc" wrote in message
...
I would like to do a clean install on my dell e521,windows xp media
center,want to get rid of all the junk dell puts on there computers.how
hard
is this ,is there a good tutorial on how do to this,I do have the disk I
think(orange colored disk),it says operating system.Thanks


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

"Phred" wrote in message
...
In article rnqrh.5089$9B6.255@trnddc07, "Christopher Muto"
wrote:
it is not hard, but it is incredibly time consuming and rather tedious.
you have to install windows, then the drivers (chipset, video, sound,
modem,
etc), then all windows updates which can be considerable. and only then
do
reinstall all of your application software (antivirus, dvd decoder, cd/dvd
burning software, word processor, etc). it will take the better part of a
day when you are experienced at it. i don't know what people are talking
about when they say that they can reinstall a machine in a couple of
hours.
either they are not considering the whole picture or are doing something
wrong. but dell does make it pretty easy with their operating system cd
and
separate drivers cd. you may want to make your own drivers cd by
downloading the latest drivers found on support.dell.com but the drivers
on
the provided cd will work despite not always being the latest version.
dell
also has a guide to walk you through the reinstallation process that you
should check out http://tinyurl.com/ydepxv

Chris, do you know if that guide, or something similar, is available
to download and print? One can hardly be using an online interactive
guide when one has killed off the whole system to start again! :-)

"Tony Pacc" wrote in message
...
I would like to do a clean install on my dell e521,windows xp media
center,want to get rid of all the junk dell puts on there computers.how
hard
is this ,is there a good tutorial on how do to this,I do have the disk I
think(orange colored disk),it says operating system.Thanks


Cheers, Phred.


as clumsy as that interactive dell instruction is I think it handles lots of
different scenarios that are confusing to follow with static/printed
instructions. but here is an alternate and pretty comprehensive set of
instructions that can be printed...
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
ps. a couple of notes on the other posting in this thread with step by step
instructions which are very good but have at least these two issues - first,
I think partitioning the drive into two parts for applications and data is a
mistake. there is no advantage to doing that but there is a change that you
find yourself running out of space in the primary partition. and you can
not run windows update until the software is activated. if the installation
is done on a dell with a dell oem xp cd you will not have to activate
windows, but if you use a regular windows xp cd you will have to activate
the installation before you can do the windows update.

The quick and dirty response to your request is as follows:

1. Re-install Windows XP Media Center using the CD provided. During the
install, you will need to reformat the hard drive to do a clean install. DO
NOT delete the other small partition (less than 50MB) which contains the Dell
diagnostics, handy to have.
2. After completion of basic installation, use the Dell Drivers and Utilities CD
to install all the software drivers needed by the system hardware. ALWAYS,
ALWAYS, ALWAYS install the Intel motherboard chipset drivers first, then install
drivers for graphics, Ethernet, audio, etc. in more or less any order. The
Drivers and Utilities CD is well-designed to make this an easy process.
3. If you like the free software supplied by Dell for CD/DVD burning and playing
of DVDs, install it.
4. Now go through the 100+ megabytes of downloads needed to patch up all the
critical fixes and security holes in Windows XP.
5. Finally, disconnect your computer from the internet, reboot, and do a disk
cleanup. Tell the disk cleanup to delete all prior restore points, too. You
should end up with a complete Windows install occupying 4 to 5GB of hard drive
space, and absent the 90-day trialware garbage present on a new Dell system.

.... Ben Myers

On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 08:05:18 -0600, "Tony Pacc" wrote:

I would like to do a clean install on my dell e521,windows xp media
center,want to get rid of all the junk dell puts on there computers.how hard
is this ,is there a good tutorial on how do to this,I do have the disk I
think(orange colored disk),it says operating system.Thanks

Thanks very much for your response and other detail, Chris.

In article 3jLrh.1224$Hc5.560@trnddc03, "Christopher Muto"
wrote:
"Phred" wrote in message
...
In article rnqrh.5089$9B6.255@trnddc07, "Christopher Muto"
wrote:
it is not hard, but it is incredibly time consuming and rather tedious.
you have to install windows, then the drivers (chipset, video, sound, modem,
etc), then all windows updates which can be considerable. and only then do
reinstall all of your application software (antivirus, dvd decoder, cd/dvd
burning software, word processor, etc). it will take the better part of a
day when you are experienced at it. i don't know what people are talking
about when they say that they can reinstall a machine in a couple of hours.
either they are not considering the whole picture or are doing something
wrong. but dell does make it pretty easy with their operating system cd and
separate drivers cd. you may want to make your own drivers cd by
downloading the latest drivers found on support.dell.com but the drivers on
the provided cd will work despite not always being the latest version.
dell also has a guide to walk you through the reinstallation process that you
should check out http://tinyurl.com/ydepxv

Chris, do you know if that guide, or something similar, is available
to download and print? One can hardly be using an online interactive
guide when one has killed off the whole system to start again! :-)

"Tony Pacc" wrote in message
...
I would like to do a clean install on my dell e521,windows xp media
center,want to get rid of all the junk dell puts on there computers.how hard
is this ,is there a good tutorial on how do to this,I do have the disk I
think(orange colored disk),it says operating system.Thanks

as clumsy as that interactive dell instruction is I think it handles lots of
different scenarios that are confusing to follow with static/printed
instructions. but here is an alternate and pretty comprehensive set of
instructions that can be printed...
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

ps. a couple of notes on the other posting in this thread with step by step
instructions which are very good but have at least these two issues - first,
I think partitioning the drive into two parts for applications and data is a
mistake. there is no advantage to doing that but there is a change that you
find yourself running out of space in the primary partition. and you can
not run windows update until the software is activated. if the installation
is done on a dell with a dell oem xp cd you will not have to activate
windows, but if you use a regular windows xp cd you will have to activate
the installation before you can do the windows update.

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

Phred wrote:
Thanks very much for your response and other detail, Chris.


I heartily recommend visiting

http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/

and downloading the update pack and integrator; it will allow you to
slipstream every single Windows Update onto your OS CD and thus chop
your reinstall time by about half :-)