I Would Like To Restore My Laptop To Factory Settings.

Ok I have had my laptop for a long time, and seriously I am 100% sure there are about 100 things that I no longer need here. I would like to restart this, and only keep whats important. I dont need or want IE, so I would like a better OS.

I do about 4 things on this laptop, downloads, and games, but I play them offline, research, and watching my downloads. I have a higher internet cap, but I am sure that all the stuff that I have installed over the years is cloggin up the system, and I am terrified to do something wrong.

So I would like a do over, without IE ( in my task manager my explorer.exe is taking more space then FF) though I have Vista I dont care for that either. This is something that I have the patience to do, but researching through blogs seems scary enough. I know of a few options, but I would like the most informed decision that I can make as this is my only laptop, and if I screw this up..... well my next thread will have to be done with smoke signals...

So if there is any advice that you can share it would be greatly apreciated

P.S. I am going to make a back up CD and I have an external harddrive that I can use to cover my end if needed, but I would like to start anew, thanks in advance, NRE.

Also I already know that I have Acer Recovery Managment, I just dont want most of this stuff back.

First question - Is it windows XP?

Originally posted by NoRegretsEver
in my task manager my explorer.exe is taking more space then FF

Explorer is not Internet explorer. It uses more resources because it runs most of what you see as your desktop.

Considering you only have the laptop I'd suggest you use the System Restore utility and find the earliest restore point you can.
Then go into Control panel - Then Add Remove Programs, and remove what you dont want.

Personally I'd format and re-install but that's not an option for you.

The first thing I do when I buy a laptop is make sure I buy a new copy of Windows 7 to go with it. New PC's and laptops come with so much bloatware (unneeded programs) installed. That's the easiest way to start fresh is pick up a new copy of Windows 7 which runs about $125-$150. Windows 7 is a more stable version of Vista.

Or, you can look at paying nothing and install a version of Linux. All the stuff you're looking to do can easily be done in Linux. And there's no IE. Linux comes with Firefox.

If you've never ran Linux, I'd suggest Ubuntu or Mint for starters. You can install them onto a CD or USB stick and run the OS from either of those if you would like to check them out before you install Linux to the harddrive.

If you do decide to pick up a new copy of Windows, IE can be uninstalled or disabled.

reply to post by VoidHawk


No its Vista. I have the option for the factory settings, but I would like a new operating system, without all of the programs that I have now, just looking for a clean start. I am sure over the years I downloaded programs that I may have been interested in at the time, but because there are so many I dont know which ones I can remove without it messing up something else.

Peace, NRE.

Originally posted by NoRegretsEver
reply to post by VoidHawk

 

No its Vista. I have the option for the factory settings, but I would like a new operating system, without all of the programs that I have now, just looking for a clean start. I am sure over the years I downloaded programs that I may have been interested in at the time, but because there are so many I dont know which ones I can remove without it messing up something else.

Peace, NRE.

If you have the option for factory settings it may well scrub the entire os and re-install itself. Usually theres a hidden partition (drive) that contains the entire os, thats usualy how they restore to factory settings.
If I were you (and you've saved anything you may want to keep) I'd restore to factory and then do as I said above and delete what I dont want.

Just to add, if you're having problems with explorer.exe, then I'd suggest running some malware software like Malwarebytes and/or Superantispyware.

Explorer.exe is Windows Explorer, not Internet Explorer. Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) usually doesn't take up many resources. If it is, then another program, possibly a virus or malware, is causing explorer.exe to use more resources than it's supposed to.

reply to post by _BoneZ_


Thanks thats funny as I just started malware scan just a few seconds before I clicked this. I am running the scan now, I will wait to see what omes up, again thanks all for the helpful tips

Peace, NRE.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


Reinstall windows. Wipes everything to factory default.

reply to post by _BoneZ_


I'm with you on this one. Since he has an older computer, he could even reinstall his original OS, get rid of the bloatware (garbage) and dual install Linux Ubuntu, and use that type of setup to learn Linux. Once I've learned that, I'd ditch Windows entirely. Linux Ubuntu is easy to use and easy to learn, and you can actually do more fun things with it, than you can with Windows. And doing a dual boot install on an older system is quite easy. If you are interested at all, U2U me and I will walk you through it step by step. It's easier than you think. If you aren't at all interested, then I would reinstall your original OS from scratch after saving what you want to save. Then go into Control Panel and delete all the garbage and trial software you know you won't ever use. It generally warns you if you are about to do something really unintelligent, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

Regardless of your decision, I would be more than happy to help you get your computer back up and running in a civilized manner. Just U2U me and we can take it from there, ok? And no, I won't be offended if you don't want my help. It's just an offer, if you want it, take it, if not, that's fine too. I just wish you the best.

Take Care!!
SK

All of the above posters have great solutions for your problem - system restore followed by eliminating the unwanted factory bloatware would be my recommendation IF YOU WANT TO KEEP THE SAME VERSION OF WINDOWS.

I don't know what applications you have on your laptop, but if you've any significant investment in Windows based software you might think your options limited to Microsoft operating systems. If you choose LINUX, you can maintain your investment in Windows software by installing WINE - it's a Windows virtual machine that runs under Linux.

ganjoa

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


Use the operating system Nasa use Linux. Bill gates tried to sell Nasa Windows and they turned his offer dowm as every user of Windows is aware it was not designed for reliability.

to get your computer back to 'like new condition' the best way is to create a new user profile (login name), and then delete your old one.
first backup your bookmarks in a file!
then delete the files and programs you don't want.
(you need ie and explorer btw).
you will be given an option to save your old files when deleting old user profile, make sure you take it.

it's really the same thing as an o/s reinstall, but you don't lose everything.

you will have to re-customize your desktop and browser, and you'll likley lose your addons, but otherwise , this let's you totally straighten everything out.

true, it's the exact same thing you had before, but now you can go thru it and reset all your prefernces properly. it'll make it work much smoother!

reply to post by NoRegretsEver



Well most OS come with bloat-ware (ie: HP this and HP that) and then every other program wants to load up in your startup memory... But if your looking for a true "clean Windows OS"...

What I have done in the past is locate the computer's original O.S. then retrieve the ISO files online.... Like "if this happened to be your OEM operating System....

Vista Forum - Link to Vista

You will need a ISO burner (Free ISO Burner is Light, Free, can be found on Cnet and gets the job done) to properly burn to CD.

Once done...

Format C:
Restart and run CD
When asked for the code, enter the one on your computer (the Microsoft code)
You should end up with a clean OS...

but now is the fun part..... you have to locate all your system drivers (usually found at the manufacturers' website (ie hp dell etc...) ... I'f your lucky they have them all-in-one...


Then there are the 300 + updates you'll have to do for Vista