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Installing XP Pro on my laptop...

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Marks256

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I am SO SICK of my freaking slow XP HOME edition that came preinstalled on my laptop. Is it just me, or do laptops bought from stores such as Best Buy or Wal-Mart always plagued with crap(such as free AOL for 6 months, "free games", or Norton "Antivirus")? I think it is the crap. Anyways, i was just wondering if i was to install a fresh copy of XP PRO on my HD, would the restore partition still work if i decided to go back to XP HOME?


I am almost positive that it would, but i just want a second opinion before i do anything...
 
I would hope it would, there again I wouldn't rely on Winwoes to do anything.
 
XP-Home isn't the problem (I use it at home)
it is all the CRAP!!! that has been put onto a pre-built machine

That is the reason I build my own desktops and re-format laptops the moment I get them


as to the question abt XP-Pro hosing yr recovery partition... only if you ask it to. At install of XP-Home/Pro (not much difference between them.. extended networking, full FS permissions...) there is an option to say where you want to install XP to, equally a screen that lets you change yr partition layout

THESE two are the dangerous parts IF you want to keep yr recovery partition.



The other option is to spend some time cleaning out yr startup,reg and defrag

un-install EVERYTHING you don't need (or not sure abt you need after a google)
then run a number of regcleaning programs (ccleaner is very good) as well as removing pretty much everything from the reg auto-run (also the start startup folder)
the using msconfig disable the non-MS services you don't need (I would say all and then enable the ones you need)

finally a defrag
 
Download hijackthis and see what you have running on it. Then add_remove the stuff you can. Then go in startup and remove what you do not want. Also, in the registry (search for CurrentVersion) and you can see what loads as well. I clean them all the time, normally killing malware, but all the crap they put on laptops is bad. I leave the battery checking software though.
 
Too late. Got XP PRO installed last night about 10:00pm. That was after spending about 4 hours copying My Documents from my laptop to me desktop as a backup(My Docs was over 10gigs). Then, i spent about an hour and a half downloading the drivers for Video, WI-FI, Sound, Touch pad, and even the Media(removable stuff like SD, and PCMCIA), and then i downloaded all my XP updates. Everything went slick.

Now it is time to install all of my programs...
 
Yes, it runs a lot better. It boots in under 45 seconds now(previously it took somwhere along the lines of about 5-10minutes). It is heaven now.
 
Most laptops I've ever seen come from the store with tonnes of junk on it. First order of buisness after any laptop purchase is downloading and burning all available driver updates from the laptop manufactors site and then a complete OS reinstall.
 
Yep, best thing one could ever do.
 
No, Windows XP Home is not the problem. It's what the stores stuff in the machine. I know I was going to buy a laptop (forgot what store) and I just found out yesterday it had all this junk like; AOL Internet 90 Day Trial, Norton Internet Security 2006 30 Day Trial and all that crap. I said to them. "Mate, I just want a laptop that has NOTHING on it. Not even an OS. I just want a fast, working laptop for me and the kids." I didn't ask for an OS because they try to hide stuff those bastards!
 
Get adaware, spybot S&D, and (yes..) Microsoft Defender (its actually pretty good). For a good A/V, I use Free AVG. All 3 of those will protect your system.

Of course, Unless you game, you COULD go to linux...If you just surf the net (porn, forums, email..office, etc) Use Linux, but for gaming, use windows. Just Do not let it connect to the internet. You Can however, have it set up so only traffic inside your LAN can get to that computer.
 
Ok, you people are driving me nuts!I know that XP Home wasn't the problem! It is the crap that is put on my the manufacture and retailer include preinstalled on it! In my opinion, XP home and XP Pro are both great, but stores wreck the thrill of buying a new laptop.
 
Marks256 said:
That was after spending about 4 hours copying My Documents from my laptop to me desktop as a backup(My Docs was over 10gigs).


How did that take four hours? Even my older computers with just 10baseT will do it in under an hour.

One time I did an IrDA 80 megabyte transfer...took over three hours :D
 
They were both sharing the same WI-FI connection. My desktop has wireless, and so does the laptop, so they were both sharing the router. :(
 
Marks256 said:
It is the crap that is put on my the manufacture and retailer include preinstalled on it!
OEM installs are always crap, it's always good to reformat and reinstall the software whent you buy a new PC and if they won't give you discs for all the software on it then don't buy it.
 
In control panel/system/advanced/settings choose adjust for best performance, that should speed things up a little but make everything ugly :|

I run Process explorer to keep an eye on what's running and to shut things down: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/ProcessExplorer.mspx

I run regprot to keep stuff from loading into my registry:
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Utilities/Anti-Virus_Utilities/DiamondCS_RegProt.html

Take a look at control panel/admin tools/services and see what's being started, stop then disable annoying memory hugging ones:
http://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=12

Get flashswitch and be done with annoying flash ads that eat up little cpu's
**broken link removed**

And don't forget to make some Nachos using Christmas tree Doritos :) :)
 
Last edited:
chiba said:
Take a look at control panel/admin tools/services and see what's being started, stop then disable annoying memory hugging ones:
https://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=12

OMG!!! Quake-viper, I thought all traces of this BS was purged from the web

DO NOT TRUST THIS ADVICE!!
this will mess yr PC up. Also they are not memory hogs. majority of them get swapped out early in a Win boot
 
Thank you for your advice(s), but i am not going to install more programs to just get rid of a few programs. I like my way better; installing what i want right from the get-go.
 
Yes, that's certainly the best way to do it.

I also recommend against installing shareware limited trial period software because it almost never fully installs, there's always some crap left behind at least to stop you from installing it again.
 
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