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Computer newbies: reformat vs deleting unused programs?
If the partition's THAT hidden, Lani,...
by Paul C - 4/21/06 4:42 AM In reply to: THANKS AGAIN guys... i'm going to purchase by Chief.CrazyBear...then it well may not be there and your system recovery disk will have everything to reinstall the software as it was when you opened the box. In any event, if ever you have to reformat - which I don't see you doing if all you do is uninstall the unneeded software - you'll see it during the reformat process.
Before you image the drive, remember to clean out extraneous junk. A couple free apps:
Reg Seeker
CCleaner
These are not only free, but they're safe to use.
Good luck, and feel free to post back whenever you need help!
Paul
Sys recovery disc
by jeffsammons - 4/21/06 9:41 AM In reply to: If the partition's THAT hidden, Lani,... by Paul CI bought a Dell in Feb. 06 and it did not come with any disks at all. I mean nothing. Where do you get a Sys recovery disk and what does it do? Dell charges $99.00 to resolve an issue or help with anything.
What is a hidden partition? Should I remove it from my Dimension E510 XP?
Also, how do I copy or burn a CD? This does not work like my ME.
Elizabeth
Answers...
by John.Wilkinson
- 4/21/06 10:59 AM
In reply to: Sys recovery disc by jeffsammons
A partition is basically a section of your hard drive. In the case of recovery partitions, it may or may not be hidden...visible by looking in My Computer.
A while back PC manufacturers began creating recovery partitions instead of supplying you with recovery CDs. This relieves them of the time and cost of creating the CDs, leaving that task up to you. Infomation about burning a set of CDs from the Dell recovery partition can be found by clicking here.
Once you have burned a set of CDs you can remove the partition if you want so you can use it for storage, but it doesn't hurt to leave it alone. (Aside from not having that space available for use.)
You can also purchase a set of recovery CDs from Dell for a nominal fee...it won't be $99 to order a set.
Finally, when it comes to copying/burning CDs, that depends on the burning software you have. (Nero, Roxio, Sonic, etc.) If you share that we can provide detailed instructions/tutorials. Windows XP also has the native ability t burn CDs, though I wouldn't rely on it...best to use the software that came with the computer/burner.
Hope this helps,
John
Dell sent me 5 CDs at no cost to me
by Sheafferkin - 5/18/06 5:51 PM In reply to: Sys recovery disc by jeffsammonsCalled them up, gave them the info they needed and over the next couple of days (literally) 5 discs arrived in two deliveries. My computer was ordered around the same time as yours, btw.
lani55
by shankru85 - 4/21/06 6:11 AM In reply to: THANKS AGAIN guys... i'm going to purchase by Chief.CrazyBearSince you wrote that you don't want to spend money , assuming
that you have to buy a good backup program , i suggested to
reformat .
Since you wrote that you have many programs & half of them are
unuseful , i thought that partition was not your
primary problem .
Since you wrote that you have many programs & half of them are
unuseful , i thought that is fairly impossible
to get rid of all registry keys , empty folders , junk files ,
unusable .dll files & system modifications introduced by
many installations without reformatting .
Since you wrote that you have many programs...so
a lot of memory allocated...so an "unhappy" &
fragmented paging file , i thought not to suggest
to install another software .
Since you wrote that you have many programs on a laptop ,
assuming that laptops are unfrequently equipped
with powerful processors (over 1800 GHz) & large
RAM size (usually 512 Mbytes) , i thought that
the best way to make your pc working
correctly was reformatting & installing only
necessary programs ( than backup ).
Since you posted in "COMPUTER NEWBIES" forum ,
i thought that you are not able to correctly manage
a software like PARTITION MAGIC .
Anyway , Partition Magic :
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/system_performance/pm80/index.html
FAQs :
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/powerquest.nsf/docid/2004061486839062?OpenDocument&wsrc=hho&src=hot&prod=PartitionMagic&ver=8.0&csm=no&seg=hho
Manuals :
http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/home_homeoffice/products/pmagic/pmagic_8/manuals.html
There are currently no programs able to
remove all components of applications uninstalled ,
but this one removes most of them :
http://www.download.com/WinXP-Manager/3000-2086_4-10526630.html?tag=lst-0-1
You can also try one of these :
http://www.download.com/Optimizers-Diagnostics/3150-2086_4-0.html?tag=dir
I strongly recommend not to backup disk image before
reformatting & to read carefully Partion Magic tutorial , including inconveniences that may occur .
Best Regards
White [ITA]
all free programs and preformance boosters:
by mamouthweb - 4/23/06 12:41 PM In reply to: THANKS ALL FOR YOUR ADVICE! 1 more question... by Chief.CrazyBearsince i also have a nice new laptop that was a fourtune, i have been digging through CNET and have found these great programs. and on download.com on the front page there is a link to a list of most of the programs ill mention, its listed as "programs for a new computer" or something similar.
CCleaner-cleans out all the crap from IE and the system and the registry.
TuneXP-rearranges boot files and programs so your computer starts up and is usable within seconds after logging in.
i also recomend getting rid of programs that you dont need when you start up, in Spybot S&D you can do this easily.
Spybot Search & Destroy-anti-spyware app, great. and under view/advanced mode, there is the tools to cleaning your registry, securing your computer, and deleting start up programs, it recomends which ones to keep and to delete.
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition-Great Free Anti-virus app, runs very quietly so it uses like no RAM and i like it a lot better than norton.
ZoneAlarm-good strength firewall, has all the same features of a firewall you'ld pay $50 for. When you first start it up, i recomend putting program control on learing mode, so it doesnt bother you much.
all of these programs use little or no RAM, thats why i like them so much. i also have the other good stuff on my comp like itunes,AIM, photoshop, acrobat reader, and MS office
It depends...
by shankru85 - 4/20/06 4:53 AM In reply to: reformat vs deleting unused programs? by Chief.CrazyBearThe answer depends on how you use your pc .
I install/uninstall many softwares
& i use to reformat once a month ,
just cause it is not easy to completely uninstall
programs & getting rid of unused .dll files ,
reg key added by them , thus system setting's
modifications .
Maybe this program(shareware) could be helpful in
finding unnecessary files & reg keys...but use it
carefully :
http://www.download.com/WinXP-Manager/3000-2086_4-10526630.html?tag=lst-0-1
Also this could be helpful in finding unwanted running programs :
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html
Perform scandisk to find Windows errors &
frequently defragment your hard disk to avoid
reformatting often .
Best Regards
White [ITA]
deleting unwanted programs
by geomurray - 4/21/06 2:26 AM In reply to: reformat vs deleting unused programs? by Chief.CrazyBearI have the same problem when getting a new machine also. As a tech I always use the install/uninstall program located in the control panel. Its the safest way. One thing to remember though, when in doubt, don't delete. Many of the online games on new machines are usually the first ones to go, they attract adware. I personally use quicken so I always delete Microsoft money. Hope this helps you.
went in doubt,, don't
by mittens - 4/21/06 4:24 AM In reply to: reformat vs deleting unused programs? by Chief.CrazyBearlani, a lot of programs that you don't think you'll need are often linked to other programs that you do need. Be very careful about deleting stuff until you know what you have.
I recently upgraded to XP and found it loaded with strange looking programs and files, but before I deleted anything I would type in the name of the program I wanted to remove into Google, and read about it. Often it was part of a larger complex, and removing part would mess with the rest.
I agree, there's a lot of stuff that no one needs, and some of it is easy to spot. voice tutorials, .wav files that play annoying sounds, pre-loaded games. When you do delete, I suggest you always use the uninstall feature if possible, but also check in Search to make sure all the components are gone too. And check the registry if you dare to make sure it's been removed from there as well.
Often what gets removed in Uninstall is just the part you see on the screen, when in actuality the entire program is still in the registry, or still on your hard drive, if you know where to look.
and have fun with it!
Bundled BS aka Bloatware
by Mactrekr - 4/21/06 4:45 AM In reply to: reformat vs deleting unused programs? by Chief.CrazyBearHi There Lani,
Among other things, one of my primary jobs is the setup and configuration of new computers. One of the most annoying current trends with companies like Dell, HP, Compaq etc. is that even if you do format and reinstall, their restoration CD's are most likely to reinstall the bloatware again.
My recommendation is to use the Add/Remove programs wizard located in the control panel to dump everything you don't want. Also, if you're savvy with the registery, you might want to clean that out as well, if not a good program like RegCleaner might be the way to go. (Word of caution, if you don't know registry issues, don't mess around with the registry)
Mac
one thing to remember
by mittens - 4/21/06 5:56 AM In reply to: Bundled BS aka Bloatware by Mactrekrsomething I discovered, the hard way. Anything you have on a computer, be it programs or files or anything else, leaves a footprint of some sort in the registry. just because you've uninstalled it the proper way doesn't mean it's gone, just removed from sight. I uninstalled quicktime last year "legally' and spent days after that removing all the bits and pieces and leftover parts that were in the registry, taking up a huge amount of space.
Even if you never touch a thing in the registry, it doesnt hurt to look at it, open the doors, see what it looks like.
Lani, Be careful and take it slow
by cabowabo - 4/21/06 6:01 AM In reply to: reformat vs deleting unused programs? by Chief.CrazyBearAll of the previous suggestions are great and insightful, however you might also consider the "big picture". Sure, bloatware is unnerving and most of the time the big OEMs are paid big money to distribute it to YOUR PC. Doesn't seem right, does it?!?
My point is, if you have a 80 Gig HDD and are only using 25%, then there is not too much of a worry right?
I think you run much more of a chance of getting into some problems with XP by removing too many apps and files than by just ignoring them. "mittens" message eluded to this, as well.
You don't want to end up having OS problems on your nice, new laptop! THose types of headaches are not worth having an extra 2 or 3 gigs of HDD space.
I have a Dell XPS running XP Pro, which was top of the line 2.5 years ago. I am so impressed with the stability of this OS. I will NEVER forget having to reboot Windoze 95 multiple times a day...what a waste of life.
Sure I have deleted apps and files, but I have done it over time and with great care. I would much rather continue having a stable OS than a little more unused HDD space.
For the long run, please consider using a utility to clone your working HDD, then backup on a separate DVD or CD your "My Documents" files as often as is convenient. Laptop HDDs are more susceptible to data loss just for the simple fact that they are in a portable laptop. Having a good, working image at home in a safe place will save you money and time when your HDD decides to bite the dust.
cabowabo
Delete
by kanehi - 4/21/06 6:28 AM In reply to: reformat vs deleting unused programs? by Chief.CrazyBearSince it's a new computer I would just delete the programs you don't need. Most of the time it has the latest drivers installed. Make sure you defrag the drive after deleting the programs.
The pitfall of reformatting is that you must have an OS disk and the programs you need. It's a pain to install and takes time.
Dell De-Crapifier
by RCGordon - 4/21/06 6:39 AM In reply to: reformat vs deleting unused programs? by Chief.CrazyBearhttp://www.yorkspace.com/2006/04/38
I'm sure you've already done what you need to by now, but if anyone else has the same problem they can give this a try.
here's the program
by RCGordon - 4/21/06 6:52 AM In reply to: Dell De-Crapifier by RCGordonSorry about that, that was just a link to the forum, the only one I had at the time. here's the actual program.
http://www.yorkspace.com/dell-de-crapifier/
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