I have 2 new Dell Laptops, and I want to do a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate on both to remove all of the bloatware (but hopefully keep most of the dell specific mechanics/shortcuts intact), and I think I've hit a problem. Here's what models I have:
Dell Inspirion 15r (5520)
Dell Inspiron 15r SE (7520) - the one with the 32GB SSD
In both Dells, there's an OEM partition (around 39 GB) that I can't access, which I assume is the OS+Dell drivers. The 5520, the best I could do was do an upgrade to Ultimate (which is perfectly fine for who's going to get the Dell). However, the 7520, I would rather do a clean install and get it as clean as possible with the OS on the SSD, but I ran in to several issues:
1) Booting from disk resulted in not being able to find any HDD to even install the OS
2) When I tried doing custom install from CD in Windows, I could only install it on the non-OEM partitions, which resulted in the BSOD and a TON of work in recovery in order to get the SSD working properly again...
So I have a few questions:
1) On the 5520, can I boot from disk and do a clean install (afraid to try this) and still keep all of the Dell features working? or do I have to manually find/download all of the dell drivers after the clean install?
2) Searching around has gotten me no where in terms of being able to do a clean install/format of the 7520, so I'm more curious if it's possible or should I just do the upgrade and just manually remove all of the bloatware?
I've never actually tried a format/clean install of Windows on a Dell before, so I'm a bit cautious (considering these aren't for me), so forgive me if I'm being paranoid/stupid. Thanks in advance!
Dell Inspirion 15r (5520)
Dell Inspiron 15r SE (7520) - the one with the 32GB SSD
In both Dells, there's an OEM partition (around 39 GB) that I can't access, which I assume is the OS+Dell drivers. The 5520, the best I could do was do an upgrade to Ultimate (which is perfectly fine for who's going to get the Dell). However, the 7520, I would rather do a clean install and get it as clean as possible with the OS on the SSD, but I ran in to several issues:
1) Booting from disk resulted in not being able to find any HDD to even install the OS
2) When I tried doing custom install from CD in Windows, I could only install it on the non-OEM partitions, which resulted in the BSOD and a TON of work in recovery in order to get the SSD working properly again...
So I have a few questions:
1) On the 5520, can I boot from disk and do a clean install (afraid to try this) and still keep all of the Dell features working? or do I have to manually find/download all of the dell drivers after the clean install?
2) Searching around has gotten me no where in terms of being able to do a clean install/format of the 7520, so I'm more curious if it's possible or should I just do the upgrade and just manually remove all of the bloatware?
I've never actually tried a format/clean install of Windows on a Dell before, so I'm a bit cautious (considering these aren't for me), so forgive me if I'm being paranoid/stupid. Thanks in advance!