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Removing DELL BloadWare without Reformat (Inspiron 9400)

post #1 of 19
1/26/06 at 8:21am
Thread Starter 
Hi all,

Yes I know it would really be easier to re-format my brand new Inspiron 9400 ( E1705).

Thing is, I want to keep the Restore Partition (so I can sell it easier in 3 or 4 years time), and even more important, I paid €133 EUROs for an OEM version of Office 2003 Basic Edition. They supply discs for Windows XP, but not for that... so if I reformat, I lose Office 2003 Basic Edition

So is there a list anywhere of the Dell BloatWare I can safely remove - I want to keep the Dell Media Center/Dell Media Experience ...

thanks for any tips, or help

Philip
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post #2 of 19
1/26/06 at 8:31am
Can't you just copy Office to CD and paste it into Program files on your new computer? It should work (games that I've installed and then copied to CD work when I paste them on another computer, though the directory might have to be the same).

Also, does Media Center come on a CD?
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post #3 of 19
1/26/06 at 8:38am
Thread Starter 

RE: copy paste of Office 2003 ....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rafehi
Can't you just copy Office to CD and paste it into Program files on your new computer? It should work (games that I've installed and then copied to CD work when I paste them on another computer, though the directory might have to be the same).

Also, does Media Center come on a CD?
Not with a complex application suite like Office 2003. It puts a million dll's and components in the Windows System folder as well as the Program Files directory, and they all have to be registered with Windows ... to do that manually is almost impossible ...

I tried it once when I was young and naive and believed that all was possible in life, and now I have grown up and understand that some things will always be just dreams...
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post #4 of 19
1/26/06 at 8:53am
Ok, than why don't you just download Office and use the Office CD key that came with the laptop (if one did come with it).

Man am I angry I wasted 150 bucks for stupid Office that doesnt even come with a CD when I couldve gotten an extra half gig of ram .
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post #5 of 19
1/26/06 at 9:01am
Do you have a (hidden) folder called MSOCache in the root of your drive?

If so it is more than likely that it contains the installation sources for Office2003. You can easily check that if you try to install office using the files from that folder on a seperate machine.

Deida
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post #6 of 19
1/26/06 at 9:55am
Thread Starter 

Download Office ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rafehi
Ok, than why don't you just download Office and use the Office CD key that came with the laptop (if one did come with it).

Man am I angry I wasted 150 bucks for stupid Office that doesnt even come with a CD when I couldve gotten an extra half gig of ram .
Sorry, I must be missing something ... do you know of a legal site (Microsoft approved) where you can download a legal copy of MS office?
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post #7 of 19
1/26/06 at 9:55am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deida
Do you have a (hidden) folder called MSOCache in the root of your drive?

If so it is more than likely that it contains the installation sources for Office2003. You can easily check that if you try to install office using the files from that folder on a seperate machine.

Deida
I'll have a look when it arrives on 2nd February...

thanks, maybe that's it

Philip
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post #8 of 19
1/26/06 at 12:12pm
I also think the MSOCache dit should be there. Otherwise I really think you have the right to receive the installation discs. You should probably ask for them a few times. Descibe to Dell the scenario where your HDD crashes and you need to reinstall Office.

When I get my i9400 I'll have a quick look to see if I can tell which apps you can remove. If I can I will post a list.
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post #9 of 19
1/26/06 at 1:27pm
Thread Starter 
I argued with the salesman, played two departments off against each other (sales and customer service) and now the situation is that after my lappy arrives, I can order the Office installation discs to be sent to me...

nice!
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post #10 of 19
1/26/06 at 1:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by deadstone2706
I argued with the salesman, played two departments off against each other (sales and customer service) and now the situation is that after my lappy arrives, I can order the Office installation discs to be sent to me...

nice!
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post #11 of 19
1/26/06 at 2:18pm
I don't know why people reformat. It's easy to miss a driver. And a lot of people miss reinstalling their mpeg decoder.

Just go through add/remove and get rid of anything you don't want. Then remove windows components you don't want. Then shutdown services you don't want.

And then your machine will be as fast as a reformatted one, but you'll have all the correct drivers.
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post #12 of 19
1/26/06 at 2:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dellbert
I don't know why people reformat. It's easy to miss a driver. And a lot of people miss reinstalling their mpeg decoder.

Just go through add/remove and get rid of anything you don't want. Then remove windows components you don't want. Then shutdown services you don't want.

And then your machine will be as fast as a reformatted one, but you'll have all the correct drivers.
Umm... if you miss a driver you'll definitely know (if windows doesn't tell you, you'll realize the lost functionality). And drivers are easy to get anyway. Also note that "uninstalling" the bloatware will never be as fast as a reformat; there's no way, that's just not how Windows or hard drives work. But do what you like .

Quote:
Originally Posted by deadstone2706
Thing is, I want to keep the Restore Partition (so I can sell it easier in 3 or 4 years time), and even more important, I paid €133 EUROs for an OEM version of Office 2003 Basic Edition. They supply discs for Windows XP, but not for that... so if I reformat, I lose Office 2003 Basic Edition
I dont know how much having the restore partition will increase your selling point, but you can keep it if you want. You can actually keep or wipe clean any partition that you want, as well as deleting and creating new ones. If you want to only delete the Windows partition while keeping the Dell back up partition and diagnostic partition, you can . All of those options are in the Windows boot CD . Also, you bought that software, so you have the right to a copy of it. Call up Dell and demand it, dont take any crap, just demand it and they will give it to you.
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post #13 of 19
1/26/06 at 6:48pm
Ummm the Office 2003 cd key on stuck on the office cd packaging... So if you have the cd key you have the cd's.. If you didn't get you cd call Dell the messed up..

Why reformat.. Well because uninstalling does not fully remove all the DLL and reg keys so some part of a programs will still be left on the system and loaded in to memory.

Zyb
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post #14 of 19
1/26/06 at 7:16pm
I don't see any reason to reformat either. I didn't do it on either of my Dells. But in reality there isn't a whole lot to remove..the ISP installers, anti-virus, musicmatch, is about all I did. Installed Firefox, AVG, Daemon tools and transfer ~30 gigs of games and iso's over the network and I'm done.
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post #15 of 19
1/26/06 at 7:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sorienor
I don't see any reason to reformat either. I didn't do it on either of my Dells. But in reality there isn't a whole lot to remove..the ISP installers, anti-virus, musicmatch, is about all I did. Installed Firefox, AVG, Daemon tools and transfer ~30 gigs of games and iso's over the network and I'm done.
As I said in another thread, you don't have to. Some are more comfortable with an OS they set up exactly the way they like it, right from the start while others like to leave it and perhaps clean it up a bit.

I have a number of licensed copies of XP Pro, so I'm not going to pay extra for a Dell XP Pro. Therefore I'm going to create a new OS partition and use my own XP Pro (the lappy comes with XP Home). I will leave the factory default Home, clean it up a bit and use it for gaming. If I'm not happy with the performance I'll probably install a new copy anyway.

But to most (including myself) installing and configuring the OS is a way to make sure I can do my day to day work just the way I like it. If my system behaves strangely afterwards I don't have to wonder if the junk Dell left on my OS has anything to do with it. Especially while developing software it is very important to work in a controlled environment.
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post #16 of 19
1/26/06 at 7:59pm
If any of you purchased Office with your notebook you should have the CD's and product key - if you don't then contact DELL. I have puchased 5 notebooks from DELL with MS Office - and each time I received CD's.

As for reformatting - I have not always done so but I do perfer that option. I feel it is a more complete way to get rid of some of the extra junk that comes preloaded and it leaves the user with a much better understanding of what is installed on the notebook (since you essentially did it all yourself). However it is certainly not required.
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post #17 of 19
1/27/06 at 7:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by anettis
I have puchased 5 notebooks from DELL with MS Office - and each time I received CD's.
wtf? Why would you want to purchase MS Office 5 times???
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post #18 of 19
1/27/06 at 7:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Digitalman
wtf? Why would you want to purchase MS Office 5 times???
ehhm, to be legal?
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post #19 of 19
1/27/06 at 10:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Digitalman
wtf? Why would you want to purchase MS Office 5 times???
As Mitchelle pointed out - to be legal. These notebooks were used in a business and the purchases were spread out over a many years.
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