Decent laptop 289.99 for first 250 cust [CLOSED]

MyUserNamesTaken

djrobmac wrote:

You wont say that once youve done it.

Its faster, no rubbish to get rid of & it gets rid of that horrible purple splash screen.

Its worth it if you have the know how.

Anyways, I got Pro on now anyways.

It's faster just by working your way through removing the stuff you don't want (NIS, etc). I noticed a massive increase in speed when I took off NIS and the PB crap without reformatting. I'd say it takes just as long to reformat as it does to take the needless crap off yourself.


Another thing to remember is that should you need to restore the factory settings (as I have done today), you won't be able to if you've deleted the partition. My notebook has got to go back to PC World to be exchanged. Had I reformatted, I'd have had much harder chance of getting them to accept that the machine they'd sold me was second hand.

calibrax

MyUserNamesTaken wrote:

I don't see the point in reformatting when you can remove most of the PB crap without needing to go that far. I'd rather keep the partition for now, as the laptop is a second computer. I've got 300GBs of hdd on this pc (and will be adding more, as I'm running out of space). 160GBs of that is an external HDD, which can be used by the laptop should I need more space on that.

I agree, I took off NIS, installed AVG and it doesn't take much to change the splash screen and the other tweaks. I have two desktop PCs with around 800GB of disk space and they're all networked, so space isn't an issue. I actually don't really need this laptop as I have one for my work, but it was too good a price to pass up!

Steve

calibrax

MyUserNamesTaken wrote:

Another thing to remember is that should you need to restore the factory settings (as I have done today), you won't be able to if you've deleted the partition.

Good point. When I decide to get rid of this laptop, it will be easier to sell if I can simply delete all my stuff (with a secure deletion program), and then revert it to factory settings so that the instructions etc will make sense.

Steve

djrobmac

MyUserNamesTaken wrote:

It's faster just by working your way through removing the stuff you don't want (NIS, etc). I noticed a massive increase in speed when I took off NIS and the PB crap without reformatting. I'd say it takes just as long to reformat as it does to take the needless crap off yourself.


Another thing to remember is that should you need to restore the factory settings (as I have done today), you won't be able to if you've deleted the partition. My notebook has got to go back to PC World to be exchanged. Had I reformatted, I'd have had much harder chance of getting them to accept that the machine they'd sold me was second hand.

I always prefer a clean install, its a much 'cleaner' way of running windows. Trawling through the registry to delete all the stuff PB left behind even after uninstalling is not my idea of fun.

A few clicks and a brand new operating system, far easier me thinks.

The only reason it would go back to PC World is for a hardware malfunction, Which is covered no mater what software is on the thing (within reason)

p5x

Would you recommend both partitions are deleted or just the main one (leaving behind the PB backup partition)?

calibrax

p5x wrote:

Would you recommend both partitions are deleted or just the main one (leaving behind the PB backup partition)?

Deleting both wont make it any faster. Unless you think you are going to be short on disk space (and on a machine that isn't a games machine 30GB should be plenty!), I'd leave the PB partition.

Steve

p5x

will that allow me to restore the original factory settings at a later time?

calibrax

p5x wrote:

will that allow me to restore the original factory settings at a later time?

Yes... so it's definitely the best option.

Steve

MyUserNamesTaken

p5x wrote:

Would you recommend both partitions are deleted or just the main one (leaving behind the PB backup partition)?

p5x! You took my advice on the dvd forums and came over here!


I wouldn't delete the back up partition, as it will allow you to restore the notebook to its factory settings should you ever decide to sell it later on. If you read the PB manual thing that came with the laptop, it says that even if you make a back up copy of the partition, you won't manage to save everything that's on there. So, making a back up will do you for the most part, but you really should leave the partition alone (in my opinion). I was going to delete mine - glad I didn't now.

djrobmac

p5x wrote:

Would you recommend both partitions are deleted or just the main one (leaving behind the PB backup partition)?

Delete the worthless partition!

There is no point in keeping it. If you ever came to sell the laptop just run a clean install and job done. Why take up space on a needless partition? Youve only got 40gig to play with in the first place.

In reference to the manual matching up with the product (ie all the packard bell stuff) then take a closer look at the manual...how generic is that! You woulda thought that a £600 laptop would have its own manual rather than some vauge shove in any packard bell box thing.