Wiping out OS and reinstalling - can do?

[Hauk]

So I've built my own rigs for years, but am planning to buy my first laptop. I've decided on this model: Toshiba A215-S5818.

It comes pre-loaded with all kinds of crap. I'd like to wipe out OS and reinstall what I need. I checked Toshiba's website, they seem to have all the drivers listed. A couple questions before I proceed:

Is a reinstall pretty much the same as a desktop PC? Any tips or advice?

Is there likely to be a backup utility that will allow me to burn copies of installed software prior to wipe?

Will they include a Vista OS disk or will I need to burn a copy prior to wipe?

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: SteelSixWill they include a Vista OS disk or will I need to burn a copy prior to wipe?
Is there likely to be a backup utility that will allow me to burn copies of installed software prior to wipe?

If a backup utility is not inluded, there are plenty od free ones available.
You can not "backup" an OS , burn it to a disk and reinstall it. If you could, no one would be buying OSs, and Microsoft would go belly up pretty quickly.
You will need a valid Microsoft OS install disk to do what you want.

 

[Hauk]

EDIT:

If I can take Geek Squad's word for it, this unit does come with the OS disk. I'll confirm of course before I do anything. Comes with backup program too, not sure if it allows backup of drivers but I'm gonna download them anyway.

I guess my only question then is, does an OS installation go just like a desktop installation in terms of booting, recognizing hardware, and installing drivers for hardware OS doesn't recognize, like graphics or sound?

 

[f1sh3r]

toshibas come with a disc that generally give you a few recovery options. it will have all applications, drivers, and the OS. i believe you can install the components separately, but im not positive.

you can clean everything off, and use a program like acronis true image to make a backup

 

[Old Hippie]

I guess my only question then is, does an OS installation go just like a desktop installation in terms of booting, recognizing hardware, and installing drivers for hardware OS doesn't recognize, like graphics or sound?

Yep! It's just like a desktop.

Go For It!

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie

I guess my only question then is, does an OS installation go just like a desktop installation in terms of booting, recognizing hardware, and installing drivers for hardware OS doesn't recognize, like graphics or sound?

Yep! It's just like a desktop.

Go For It!

Excellent. I'm going to pick it up at lunch. I'm pretty happy.. first laptop...

 

[Elstupido]

Try this, worked perfectly for me on my Toshiba A215-7428

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=120228

 

[wwswimming]

Excellent. I'm going to pick it up at lunch. I'm pretty happy.. first laptop...

what will you say after your first lap dance ?

( i'm saying that assuming you're a guy. )

that's a good laptop, exactly the price range i was looking
in and also, Toshiba, plus with 2 GB RAM.

how hard is it to add a second hard drive to these ?

 

[Hauk]

As suspected, the HD went non-stop for over 20 minutes on a reboot with factory installed OS and extras. It was still slow after uninstlling the extras. The two Toshiba disks were an image of the factory install, not just Vista. Only way to use them was a recovery, couldn't install Vista only.

I ended up being lazy and wasting a little money. On hand I had an OEM Vista 32-bit I got from Microcenter for $49. Driver install went well, it's quite fast when optimized. Thanks for the tips, I know there was a cheaper way, but having it done in an hour vs. anything more was worth it.

 

[Old Hippie]

how hard is it to add a second hard drive to these ?

External in a case, easy. Internal, no way Jose.

Some higher-end machines have an option for 2 drives.

 

[Rubycon]

Lappie installs take long too. Get a copy of Acronis True Image if you don't already have one so you can make a recovery image of your system when it is fully patched and complete. This way if you hose it (and you WILL!) you can boot off a CD and restore the image in minutes. You can send the image to an external USB drive like a WDC Passport or even over the network to a shared drive you have access to, NAS, even FTP if you have multimegabit upstream. (I wish I did!)

Have fun!

 

[urbanra5cal]

you can also use vLite (nLite for xp/win2k) to make yourself a personalized/modified version of your Vista recovery iso. I did it to my lenovo lappies recovery iso.

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: SteelSix
The two Toshiba disks were an image of the factory install, not just Vista. Only way to use them was a recovery, couldn't install Vista only.

They lied, huh?

Welcome to the world of laptops. I just set one up that doesn't even have a HDD in it, just a thumb drive. Booting a Knoppix CD. All I need it for is web mail when I travel.