Perhaps (most probably) a silly question, but -

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 8:00 am

I got a new laptop in 09, but since I got my iPad I wasn't on it much and honestly kinda let things slide, not updating Ad-Aware or cleaning and maintaining it. It had gotten really slow, so tonight in a fit of pique I threw the Windows 7 Recovery DVD in there and just redid it. Except... my DVD ROM drive was acting all wonky, not wanting to start, and I had to eject it and put it back in three times in order to get the process to finish. So, it just finished, but the only thing on the desktop was the Recycle bin. I took a quick look around and I mean... everything seems ok on first glance, but shouldn't I have had a bunch of junkware and stuff on the desktop? Trial software versions and all that jazz? I'm just wondering if it installed right. Or is a clean install from a recovery DVD just meant to give you the absolute basics and not all the stuff the PC had when you bought it.

Is my computer ok, or did something go wrong? I figure you are alll out there with no access to my computer whatsoever, so who better to ask?

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 10:21 am

Depends on the restore CD. If you just put in the Windows 7 operating system CD (DVD) and did a nuke 'n pave....you have a barebones OS...no drivers, no 3rd party software that came on the laptop, etc. Depending on the hardware on that laptop...you may have to at least download/install drivers so that your video card, sound, NIC, wireless NIC, display, special function keys, stuff like that...work correctly.

I actually prefer to redo my laptops this way...rather than just use some factory supplied system restore CD which, as you noted..yes..throws on a lot more "fluff 'n junk" than you want.

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 11:59 am

Make sure your disk isn't dirty, sticky, scratched... You may want to copy disk to a zip or other drive using a different dvd rom and trying that as your dvd rom may be bad... (laser dirty, etc...)

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:25 pm

thanks to both of you

YeOldeStonecat wrote:Depends on the restore CD. If you just put in the Windows 7 operating system CD (DVD) and did a nuke 'n pave....you have a barebones OS...no drivers, no 3rd party software that came on the laptop, etc. Depending on the hardware on that laptop...you may have to at least download/install drivers so that your video card, sound, NIC, wireless NIC, display, special function keys, stuff like that...work correctly.

I actually prefer to redo my laptops this way...rather than just use some factory supplied system restore CD which, as you noted..yes..throws on a lot more "fluff 'n junk" than you want.

I can watch video (only tried youtube) and hear sound just fine, so does that mean I don't need video card and sound drivers? My wireless net is working fine... I don't know what NIC and wireless NIC are tho? special function keys, I've never used those.

I actually haven't had a chance to get back on it til now, I went away for a few days for the holiday weekend, but the mission today is to get my laptop back in shape. So what I did is called a "nuke and pave"?

I just got tired of the slowness, I didn't even care that I'd lose things I don't have install cds for, I just wanted to redo it and start off with a brand clean pc. Actually, I'm kind of thinking of *whispers* trying out a Mac. Love my iPhone and iPad, so I thought maybe I should give their computers a chance. I'm not sure tho. I've always been a pc girl.

Anyway, thanks for the help Stonecat. Is there anything else crucial you can think of that I might not have, that I need?

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 5:36 am

Stupid thing never worked right, so i just got windows 8 and did a clean install

CableDude · Post by **CableDude** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 6:53 pm

9mmprincess wrote:so i just got windows 8 and did a clean install

Do you like it (Windows 8)?

9mmprincess · Post by **9mmprincess** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 7:09 pm

I think for me the jury's still out. It's really different, it kind of makes me miss the old windows sometimes, because I've used that since I got on the net ten years ago (never had a Mac) and know it like the back of my hand. It feels like they definitely took a page from Apple's book and tried to make things prettier, simpler, and more user friendly. I'm still getting used to it and finding my way around. I've only had it about a week, and I dont get on my laptop as much as I used to because I'm usually on my iPad, so I need some more time with it.

Did you upgrade CableDude?

CableDude · Post by **CableDude** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:00 pm

9mmprincess wrote:I think for me the jury's still out. It's really different, it kind of makes me miss the old windows sometimes, because I've used that since I got on the net ten years ago (never had a Mac) and know it like the back of my hand. It feels like they definitely took a page from Apple's book and tried to make things prettier, simpler, and more user friendly. I'm still getting used to it and finding my way around. I've only had it about a week, and I dont get on my laptop as much as I used to because I'm usually on my iPad, so I need some more time with it.

Did you upgrade CableDude?

I had a spare PC that I installed it on today. Not a fan as I can not see how to make thing work across multiple users.