New laptop, changing partition disks?

[NicoleUK]

Ahh yeah I understand, I followed that tutorial and made the repair disk and also just completed the Samsung recovery, should I be good to go now with what I mentioned about shrinking C, creating a new D drive and then moving my user profile to D?

I have estimated with the programs I'll be using to have C at 110gb then the rest as D

 

[seavixen32]

That sounds just fine.

Please post back if you encounter further problems or just to let us know how you get on.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I have estimated with the programs I'll be using to have C at 110gb then the rest as D

If you mean that the estimated space occupied on C will be 110, then you should make C noticeable larger than that--maybe 150 or 170.

You don't ever want C to be nearly full. Preferably never more than 80% full.

If it turns out that C is too small, you can enlarge it---but the better move is to make it larger than you might think necessary to begin with.

C will grow over time even if you don't install more programs, due to Windows updates.

But I will say that 110 GB is larger than most people have for Windows and programs. That is certainly possible though because you said that you have quite a few Adobe programs, which can be large.

 

[NicoleUK]

I can't make C smaller than 186gb...this is all starting to make me think to just have the one drive and keep everything in there.

 

[gregrocker]

I would do just that.

Later if C becomes too large and unwieldy for backup imaging you can consider creating D Data/Storage drive to offload some or all User folders, or just for storage.

Here are some tips to Clean up factory bloatware on a new computer to get best performance out of Win7.

 

[NicoleUK]

Yeah I'll do that, I'm just really worried that over time I'm going to not have enough space left on one of the drives and be back to square one. I haven't yet got all my programs back and I need to clean up the factory stuff as you said. Here is how it looks right now.

(F Drive is my external)

 

[gregrocker]

There is no worry about changing partition sizes at any time in the future, as we can help you using free Partition Wizard bootable CD which can resize partitions in any direction, making room from C to add to the left side of D, etc. It is the most valuable tool we use here and has helped thousands of users without fail.

 

[NicoleUK]

Thank you that's very good to know that is possible.

Am I ok to ask another question in this thread in reference to your link about cleaning up factory bloatware?
I have already removed the startup from msconfig. These are most of the programs that came with the laptop, I'm not sure which of them if any I can remove without actually needed them?

 

[gregrocker]

I hope you didn't start Norton Security. It and its backup crapware should be uninstalled first and replaced with Microsoft Security Essentials

Office 2010 is also a trial, which if you start using it will present you with a $200+ bill in 60 days. Best to uninstall it now unless you bought it or own it.

The rest are personal preference and should probably hang around long enough to get to know whether you want each or not. You can open them in All Programs list to sample.

Based on my usage I would get rid of all the Cyberlink since Win7 has its own burner and I don't burn or label music CD's, the Easy stuff looks like crapware, Paragon Partition manager is a trial - free Partition Wizard is better, PhoneShare and Tweetdeck look like crapware.

Most of the others would probably eventually be gone here but I can't click on them to see what they are or aren't. Keep in mind that with the superior Win7 clean reinstall there would be zero programs in that list at startup.

But on the chance there's something there you like, it's worth taking your time to be sure.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You are on the right track and doing fine.

Most of those programs that came pre-installed are there because those software companies pay the PC manufacturer (Samsung in your case) to include them. That enables Samsung to sell the PC to you at a lower price. Every dime counts because the PC business has low profit margins----the average selling price of a PC is a lot lower than it was 10 years ago.

You can nearly always find programs on your own (usually free) that are better than the included ones.

I would be immediately suspicious of Norton, Cyber Link, Easy, Adobe Air, Fast Start, Phone Share, Tweet Deck, Windows Live Essentials, and Word CaptureX Pro.

There are good replacements for Adobe Reader as well.

You can investigate what they do and uninstall as necessary---and look for superior replacements if you need the functionality.

A good anti-virus combination is Microsoft Security Essentials plus Malwarebytes.

 

[NicoleUK]

Yeah I did, Norton popped up so I thought why not since I don't have any other anti-virus, is it that bad? On my old laptop I used Malwarebytes and Avira. I'll also get CCleaner again too.

I'll have a look around at all the other programs you've both mentioned and see if I have any use for them, which I doubt but I'll take a look. I clean install would probably be easier but since I've already transferred all my documents I'll just remove programs as I go.

(I installed Tweetdeck myself and I've now removed that paragon think since it was useless for me as a trial)

 

[gregrocker]

The Clean up factory bloatware steps I gave you include methods to check for System File damage after uninstalling crapware, clean up Disk and Registry leftovers using CCLeaner, then Defrag.

Most important is to keep a Clean Boot so even if they hang around, the bloatware doesn't get to hog System Resources, slow startup/shutdown or spy on you.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I think the newest versions of certain Norton packages are tolerable, but I don't know about that particular package you have. At any rate, it would not be my first choice.

Particularly avoid Norton Backup.

The standard antivirus recommendation here is Microsoft Security Essentials plus Malwarebytes.

But many people here do use other antivirus with good results--most often AVG and Avast among the free applications.

McAfee is hopeless and Norton is questionable for most of its product line.

There's no need to go beyond Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG, or Avast. The more important point is that you use it, keep it updated, and use semi-sane browsing habits.

Malwarebytes seems to not conflict with most antivirus apps, which is a good thing. You might even consider getting the paid version (maybe 15 UK pounds). It's a lifetime license and provides "real time" protection, rather than relying on periodic scans.

 

[gregrocker]

AVG bloated up as few years ago and never slimmed back down, losing its popularity. It's search/toolbar crapware is the cause of a lot of problems. I would stick with Avast or MSE.

 

[NicoleUK]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]So far, I have removed Norton and now have Microsoft security essentials and Malwarebytes
I'll run what you said with SFC /SCANNOW,[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] CCleaner and defrag once I'm happy I've removed what I don't want

If I get rid of everything cyber link and easy, what do I use as alternatives for that, you mentioned windows 7 already has things?
All the easy software seems to be by Samsung
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

I'm using Windows Live Essentials just for the Calendar as I realised it's not separate with 7 as it was with Vista and I used it everyday. Any suggestions for another calendar program that I can also import my old calendar files.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

 

[gregrocker]

Look over those programs carefully in All Programs list to decide if they're something you want.

Don't uninstall them until you're sure you don't want them.

They cost you only HD space if they're turned off in msconfig as shown earlier. But once they're gone they can only be restored by running Factory Recovery from it's partition or disks - unless you were provided with an Apps disk by Samsung.

Remember to make your Recovery Disks, too, so you have a backup method to restore to Factory condition besides Samsung Factory Recovery run from boot.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

If I get rid of everything cyber link and easy, what do I use as alternatives for that, you mentioned windows 7 already has things?
All the easy software seems to be by Samsung

Regarding applications--I generally wait until I actually have a new task at hand for which I have no application. Then investigate the best possible free alternatives for that particular task.

I don't worry about what applications I need until I have a task I can't currently do with existing apps.

eg: for disk burning, I learned about ImgBurn. For viewing videos, I learned of Media Player Classic. And so forth.

Rather than simply arming yourself with a bunch of random apps that may do most things but are often not the best choice. The apps on store-bought PCs are not there because they are best--but only because they made a deal with Samsung in your case.

Some may be perfectly fine for your purposes. You need to experiment with them and then decide to keep or uninstall.

 

[NicoleUK]

I made a disk earlier from here http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html is that what you mean?

I also have a system recovery media disk provided by Samsung. And I also did a backup to my external using Samsung Recovery Solution 5. However the backup and restore on my system keeps informing me to run a backup?

 

[gregrocker]

That is Win7 backup center which can be engaged later to back up incremetally your files and a System Image going forward.

It sounds like you've done your homework with the Samsung Recovery backup and System Repair disk which is used when Win7 won't boot to run Startup Repair, System Restore, Reimage from stored Win7 backup image, etc.

Only if Win7 can't be repaired do you need to worry about running Factory Recovery or clean reinstalling without the factory bloatware as described here: Reinstalling Windows 7

I'm wondering if the Recovery disk provided by Samsung is the Factory Recovery image or a valuable Win7 Reinstallation DVD (without the bloatware). What does it say on the disk?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Good that you made a System Repair disc.

Good that you have a System Recovery disk from Samsung.

Re backup--I know nothing of "Samsung Recovery Solution 5". I would not assume it is good or bad. It may be an "imaging" type of application that makes an image of your entire C drive, or it may be some type of file-by-file backup program intended to back up personal data.

The imaging program most used on this forum is Macrium. You need to decide if you want to use an imaging program or not. All they really do is save you the time required to reinstall all of your applications if you have a disk failure of some kind. Otherwise, you would just reinstall Windows and reinstall your applications manually. Imaging programs generally are a bit testy and prone to surprises and disappointment. Not what you'd like to see. But when they work, they save time and can bail you out of a bad situation.

That message you are getting is Windows telling you to run Windows built-in imaging/backup application. It "works", but is inflexible and not intuitive or easily understood. Many here avoid it entirely.