Windows 7 Clean Install Prep

[whitewolfofblackfang]

I just received a new laptop that is bloated with stupid HP programs and other HP garbage. It also has 4gb of ram but only sees 3gb because its runs 32bit XP. So i want to do a clean install of Windows 7 64bit on it and at the same time wipe all the useless garbage on the hard drive. It has nothing important on it anyway. I want to wipe all of the data on it along with any form of viruses or malware I could have picked up in its limited usage. So should I DBAN the heck out of it or would that be complete overkill? Its either that or reforming the hard drive.

 

[Bolbi]

I think DBAN would be overkill. It's not like you will be donating the PC or trying to recover any virus files that may be on there! A simple reformat should be enough for this situation. Also, if you're using the free Win7 upgrade coupon that came with your system, you will need a previous Windows OS installed on the HDD for it to work, whether clean install or upgrade. With that said, I'm not sure if the upgrade disk will allow a reformat even before a clean install.
Agreed that HP puts a lot of junk on their systems; I think most manufacturers do it nowadays to supplement their incomes.

 

[whitewolfofblackfang]

I think DBAN would be overkill. It's not like you will be donating the PC or trying to recover any virus files that may be on there! A simple reformat should be enough for this situation. Also, if you're using the free Win7 upgrade coupon that came with your system, you will need a previous Windows OS installed on the HDD for it to work, whether clean install or upgrade. With that said, I'm not sure if the upgrade disk will allow a reformat even before a clean install.
Agreed that HP puts a lot of junk on their systems; I think most manufacturers do it nowadays to supplement their incomes.

You're right. I can't read the virus files normally anyway after a reformat.

As far as Win7 goes, I'm getting a free Ultimate RTM iso through my university. 😀 So installation shouldnt be an issue.

Jeez....Its a pretty powerful laptop and it runs fast but it would run so much better actually using its 4gb of ram and no bloatware >____<