Windows 7 - Should I do a clean install?

ThumperSD said:

So I suppose there is no way to reinstall HP's hardware diagnostic tool on a clean installed Win7

Call HP and ask them how to continue with these HP apps you want after doing a clean install Upgrade to Win7.

Millions of their customers are going to be in this position, so I doubt they are going try their usual tact of saying you have to use their bloatware recovery disks. They will probably have app disks available in this case.

If not, I have taken these HP utilities off of dozens of HP machines and they were never missed. They are bloatware that duplicates poorly the tools already built into Win7.

One other thing, if your machine is still under warranty and your manufacturer insists they will not support a clean install of Win7 (or Vista), just go ahead and do it but do not tell them because it might void your tech support (not hardware) warranty. And have your recovery disks with their bloatware available in case you have to restore it long enough to get their support on any hardware replacement.

I did a clean install last night and after installation, I inserted the HP upgrade assistant disk that came with Win7 installation disk. The HP upgrade disk restored back the hardware diagnostic tools and i was able to download Norton and reinstall it. Pretty easy. A lot less hassle than I thought.

I do have one question though. Before I installed Win7, I had about 340GB of free internal HDD space. After installing Win7, and restoring all of my files and programs, I only have 165GB. Windows.old and Windows.old.000 together add up to 56GB (I will delete later in the future). After I delete those two, I will have 165+56=221GB space left. What about the other 100+GB? what is taking up all of that space?

Use WinDirStat ( WinDirStat - Windows Directory Statistics ) to show you what's on your HDD. But that will not show the shadowstorage. For that, open an elevated Command Prompt and type VSSADMIN LIST SHADOWSTORAGE. The number behind "allocated" is what is currently used. Then you add the 2 together and you have the total.
Besides the windows.old, there are a couple of other files that can be eliminated. If you are interested, post back.

I ran the disk clean up tool and it basically got rid of my windows.old folders and a bunch of other files I believe. I now have 340GB.

Clean install of Windows 7 is easier than I thought. Highly recommended over a basic upgrade.

Thanks for all the help guys.

Hi , I have also ordered a laptop with the windows 7 upgrade from hp, I received the laptop, but am still awaiting the upgrade kit. What should I expect? trouble with upgrading? Or is it a simple, easy proccess? Do we receive a disk as well with the drivers and all, or will I have to download them? Would you also recommend a clean install or the upgrade option?

gregrocker said:

It would have been cleaner if you had booted from the installer and then done the Custom install with Advanced tools to delete then create and format fresh. You wouldn't have gotten the windows.old folder.

Unlike any before it, Win7 should never bog or hang. It should be consistently zippy or there are issues needing troubleshooting.

Enjoy Windows 7.

I did not want to format my hard drive. Just wanted a clean install. I do not mind windows.old as it was easily deleted.

gregrocker said:

It would have been cleaner if you had booted from the installer and then done the Custom install with Advanced tools to delete then create and format fresh. You wouldn't have gotten the windows.old folder.

Unlike any before it, Win7 should never bog or hang. It should be consistently zippy or there are issues needing troubleshooting.

Enjoy Windows 7.

hp7Windows said:

Hi , I have also ordered a laptop with the windows 7 upgrade from hp, I received the laptop, but am still awaiting the upgrade kit. What should I expect? trouble with upgrading? Or is it a simple, easy proccess? Do we receive a disk as well with the drivers and all, or will I have to download them? Would you also recommend a clean install or the upgrade option?

I would say it is fairly easy
Make sure you backup all of your data before doing a clean install/basic upgrade
You may have to download your drivers over again if you do a clean install. My HP upgrade assistant CD helped me reinstall the drivers.

Cool, thanks. I think I will just end up upgrading rather than a clean install, seeing as that I havent used the laptop yet. Do the advantages of a clean install outway those of the upgrade?