New Laptop management.

[slimmx]

I bought a Dell Inspiron 600m laptop and it came with a whole bunch of dell crap installed on it. After uninstalling a whole bunch of stuff, I still have 33 processes running on it at this moment. I want to reinstall windows, to get rid of all the stuff but I never reinstalled windows on a laptop before. Are there any specifics? The laptop came with xp home and it looks like windows is on a dell cd and not microsoft. Does that mean that windows on that cd will automatically come with dell soft? Should I install windows xp pro from m own cd I have? Also how should I go about installing drivers? Should I just download all the drivers from dell.com? What drivers are neccessary for a laptop?
Video
Audio
network card
wireless card
what else?

I just don't want to compromise my new laptop. Thanks in advance.
Slimmx.

[ViRaL1]

The DELL CD will most likely restore the laptop to original factory settings (extra software included). If you don't want the extra software, download the drivers you need from DELL

http://support.dell.com

You'll need your service number tag or express service code to insure that you're getting the right drivers for your system. Their support / downloads section will let you choose which OS you're using to make sure you have the correct and latest drivers. I'd advise downloading all the WinXP drivers / utilities they offer for your system and burning them to a CD before you wipe everything clean. Once you've installed the OS, the drivers and utility files should have Readme information you need to install them properly.

[slimmx]

ViRaL1 my problem is that after typing in my service tag # I don't know which drivers are for my system, for my configuration. I think it gave me drivers and patches for all Audio Drivers
SIGMATEL STAC 9750 AC97

Chipset
Intel Mobile Chipset
O2Micro O2711EC1 PCMCIA/SmartCard Controller

Communication Drivers
Broadcom V.92 MDC Modem
Conexant D480 MDC V.92 Modem
Dell TrueMobile 5100 GPRS PC Card
PCTel MDC

Diagnostic Utilities
Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics (Graphical User Interface version)
Dell 32-bit Diagnostics Utility Partition Contents Upgrade Tool

Firmware
Dell Dock Bay/D-Bay FX2 firmware

FlashBIOS Updates
Dell Inspiron 600m System BIOS

IDE and EIDE
systems.

This is just a little piece.

[slimmx]

Like for instance which communication driver is for me?

[ViRaL1]

Your best bet is to check Device Manager in Windows before you wipe everything. Also, the DELL support site has a page where you can view your original configuration as shipped. When you first login to their support site, click on Services & Warranties, then click the Original System Configuration. That should give you some clues as to which devices you have installed.

[redwudz]

I had a similar problem with my HP laptop. I figured I would install XPpro. Install went OK, but when I started the laptop, it took about 3 minutes to boot. The XP Pro ran fine, but the startup time was really irritating.

I determined that the HP recover discs set up the computer differently. I know they set up a separate partition for a diagnostic partition. Whatever, I finally gave up and used the factory discs, even with all the crap they installed that I didn't want.

ViRaL1 has it right. If you can find which drivers you need, you can install them from any source.

Look at it this way. As long as you have the original install discs, you can go ahead and do what you want. You can always reformat and install the original.

To do a clean install, you may have to use a win98 startup disc to be able to clean out your HD. Then XP should be able to reformat and give you a clean start for your install.

[ViRaL1]

You should be able to boot to your optical drive with the XP CD and just wipe out all the partitions, then you can install from scratch, or create whatever partitions you want.

[slimmx]

Thanks a lot for the replies. I am going to try reinstall tomorrow. If anything I will just use dell windows disk to return everything to how it was.

Do any of you know where I can get car adapter for a laptop? Also I would like to know if it is safe. I did a search and a whole bunch of them came up but I don't know if it is safe, since I can't find one on dell site.

I just found this.

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-10123&qp=0&oid=95093&m=0

Is this something that I can use?

[ViRaL1]

APC with the same wattage for $10 less at CompUSA

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=294107&pfp=SEARCH

[slimmx]

ViRaL1
I reinstalled windows from dell cd and it installed a clean copy without any dell stuff. All the stuff is on a separate cd. I am very happy with the install.

When you said with the same voltage, is that the right voltage for a laptop? I posted a link of the only converter I found.

[ViRaL1]

Same wattage. The power inverter actually regulates the voltage, but it should be sufficient and safe for your 600m. Your other option is an auto / airplane adapter called Juice from a company called iGO.

http://www.igo.com/

[VideoTechMan]

This is why I dont want to purchase my laptops from name-brand vendors....often they put their name on things and load your laptop with alot of junk software you would never used. I just ordered a new laptop from powernotebooks.com and mine will ship without an OS. I prefer it that way because since I own XP Pro, I can install it anyway I want.

VTM

[ViRaL1]

The downside is that you're the one that has to figure out which driver versions are compatible, and which might conflict with each other. Not sure about their laptops, but I know you can buy DELL servers without an OS, which usally saves you between $75 and $150 or more depending on the OS you'd choose. The other downside is that when you purchase a non-OS system, laptop or otherwise, the only support most places will offer you is strictly for hardware failure. If things just don't act the way you want them too, or there's some incompatibility, you're on your own. I'd take more of a chance with a desktop than a laptop, seeing as how upgrading or replacement of factory standard components is much more limited.

[Capmaster]

This is why I dont want to purchase my laptops from name-brand vendors....often they put their name on things and load your laptop with alot of junk software you would never used. I just ordered a new laptop from powernotebooks.com and mine will ship without an OS. I prefer it that way because since I own XP Pro, I can install it anyway I want.

VTM

What, you mean you don't want AOL preinstalled? Or Fisher Price CD burning software? Party-pooper

[ViRaL1]

I uninstalled MyFirst Bootleg the day I got my Toshiba in the mail. I hate most of the preinstalled crap they give you these days, especially if they're including it in the price (M$ Works).

[Capmaster]

I uninstalled MyFirst Bootleg the day I got my Toshiba in the mail. I hate most of the preinstalled crap they give you these days, especially if they're including it in the price (M$ Works).

They are. No free lunch

[VideoTechMan]

This is why I dont want to purchase my laptops from name-brand vendors....often they put their name on things and load your laptop with alot of junk software you would never used. I just ordered a new laptop from powernotebooks.com and mine will ship without an OS. I prefer it that way because since I own XP Pro, I can install it anyway I want.

VTM

What, you mean you don't want AOL preinstalled? Or Fisher Price CD burning software? Party-pooper

Exactly. I dont want anything to do with the chitty AOL and their junk, and i got no clue about that FP software :P Sounds like something a 5-year old would use to edit their day at the zoo with Mom and Dad 8)

VTM