Dell + Vista

[Luxman]

Hi everyone

I have a question for anyone owning a Dell that was purchased with Vista;

Is the recovery dvd a retail clone, or does it have similar bloatware/garbage pay-Dell-to-install software on it just like is installed with the os on the hdd?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Edited February 9, 2008 by Luxman

[Kelsenellenelvian]

does it have similar bloatware/garbage pay-Dell-to-install software

Usually yes it does include the same crap...

[Grake]

It doesn't. It only installs Vista. Only the recovery partition contains the rest of the crap. If you install it through the CD, it's a clean install.

[Luxman]

That's what I had assumed, but these days, with cut-throat profits for pc manufacturers, I had figured they would not hesitate to load their pay-to-install bloatware on the recovery dvd too.

Thanks for the confirmation Grake

[jrf2027]

If you have a Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD, or any other clean Vista source, you can follow this guide to clean install Vista to ensure no "value-added" crapware is included:

Clean Windows Vista Install - no activation needed

Or check out orev's original thread from notebookreview.com:

Clean Vista Install WITH NO ACTIVATION

Works for all the Royalty OEM's I've run across, including Dell.

[Luxman]

Hi jrf2027.

Yes, I've read the tutorial on the first link you posted a few days ago. What I simply don't understand is why all of this is necessary? I understand the reasoning behind this if you do not have recovery discs, but why can't I just do a simple 'throw in my dvd and format' a la XP? If the recovery dvd is a retail clone this seems to me to be the simplist thing to do? What am I missing here? Thanks.

[Grake]

I don't see why you can't do that. I'm almost sure all Dell users don't go through that much trouble installing Vista.

[jrf2027]

Hi jrf2027.

Yes, I've read the tutorial on the first link you posted a few days ago. What I simply don't understand is why all of this is necessary? I understand the reasoning behind this if you do not have recovery discs, but why can't I just do a simple 'throw in my dvd and format' a la XP? If the recovery dvd is a retail clone this seems to me to be the simplist thing to do? What am I missing here? Thanks.

If you're lucky enough to have an OEM recovery disk that does not add all the additional crapware, you don't need those guides. You're exactly right - throw in the disk and go.

However, if your OEM recovery disk is of the image variety that includes the trial versions of Office, McAfee, online games, etc., and you want a true clean install, orev's guide and using a Windows Anytime Upgrade disk is the way to go. It only requires a handful of minor steps above "throw in the DVD and reformat":

1. Before you reformat, run the ABR Backup utility and save the activation information someplace that will not be reformatted during the reinstallation, such as a flash drive.

2. Don't type in your product key when installing Vista.

3. Run the ABR Restore utility after reinstalling Vista to reactivate.

Even if the OEM disk was clean I'd probably still use orev's ABRBeta program to back up my OEM activation information before reinstalling Windows.

Edited February 11, 2008 by jrf2027

[Grake]

Hmm, isn't that the SRCD that would install the entire image and restore the recovery partition. I thought all Vista CD's only included Vista and none of the other stuff.

[Luxman]

Ok, well thanks some more for the further posts and clarification. In any case, a clean install is a sure thing.