BleepingComputer.com: Starting over

Hi all.

I have a 2 year old HP Pavillion a6009n with Windows Vista. There is so much junk installed on it ( 2 daughters) and I don't know where to start. Some programs I tried to remove through the control panel. Now the program is still listed as being on the computer but it no longer runs. I think I would like to start over with a clean system and only install what I want. I have the disks that came with the computer- recovery disk 1; recovery disk 2 and PC doctor.

Is this something a novice like myself can do with help from here? Or should I leave it to the pros? I talked to the people at Best Buy. They want $70 to run a diagnostic check and $130 to reinstall Vista. They won't reinstall Vista without running the check first.

Thanks for any help

Mike

You should have no problems

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen...product=3384293

Holy Crap! People are getting $200 to do a reinstall? I've been doing it for beer, and I think I am getting the better deal. I have no idea what sort of 'scan' they are doing. A hardware scan can not tell you if a hardware failure is imminent, and who cares if there is a virus or something. The system is going to be wiped clean and reformatted. You ought to ask them what the purpose of the scan is. At best, they can maybe tell you if your hard drive has issues, but beyond that, I can't think of a single thing that a 'scan' is going to uncover.

You absolutely can do it yourself. I think garmanma is about to respond to this post, so I won't steal his thunder, but there are tons of guides on the Internet to help you out. Seriously, the hardest part is usually getting the system to boot from the CD.

$200? Maaaaaaaan, next time I do a reformat, I am charging for a whole CASE of beer.

Thanks for the quick replies. I've read the instructions and it sounds easy enough. I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know how I make out (if I'm sucessful. ha ha)

I knew BB was way out of line. The more I deal with them the less I like it.

Thanks
Mike

I'm with groovicus.... a case of beer and I'm happy to do a reinstall. As garmanma said, "you should have no problems".

Good Luck,

You two might only charge a case of beer (or less) but YOU don't show up in a "cool" black and white bug that says geek squad on it lol. That's worth $150 right there..........

True, but by the time I am done with my beer, I don't care.

Mike K,

Keep in mind that the factory recovery will reinstall some programs you may not wish to keep.
Instead of using the built in uninstall feature you might want to try Revo Uninstaller. It will do a
much better job of getting rid of left over items. I have a a6110n and have done several
recoveries and Revo makes the job alot easier.

http://www.revouninstaller.com/

ps; If you use Revo the "Advanced" mode works best.
Also it is completely free!

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I got an old black van with Bleeping Computer bumper stickers on it and a can of spray paint
I'll put whatever you want on the side for free beer

Wow, that was easy! The hardest part was going through everything and saving what we wanted to keep. All that's left now is to install the updates and a few programs we want. AV, firewall and spyblaster already installed.

Thanks everyone.

Bartster, I'll have to check out Revo.

Mike

FYI, the $200 at BB was for me to take it there.

geesh that is steep. I think If I was doing one for a customer ID likely only charge 25 bucks total, and thats to check the hardware AND reformat. come on best buy dont be such a rip off. . . lol

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Congrats! Now buy yourself a beer or two to celebrate!