Fresh install (5672)

I just received my 5672 x1600 today! I had it shipped to work. It's my first laptop. I'm making the recovery disk right now. Once I'm done, I also want to reformat and do a fresh install of winXP (and maybe Linux). I want to know if there is any software I need from the recovery disk in order for the Laptop to function properly (such as the Camera software, ect.)

Thanks,
-Jonathan

As long as you make the recovery disks, you can use them to restore all the software back to the factory settings. It will work if you conver the drive to NTFS, removed all the partitions or even if you reformate the entire hard drive.

But if you do remove all the partitions or reformate the entire drive, the recovery disk will not remake all the partitions and restore the "hidden" partition. What it will do is reinstall "factory software" back on your C: drive/partition.

I've tried to do a fresh install of Win XP and install all the other Acer drivers I downloaded from the Acer site... but it didn't go well... There were too many drivers and since there were no documentations, I didn't know which were the correct drivers to install. My Bluetooth wasn't working and I also had other Lan/wireless networking issues...

I finally got fed up and did a factory restore. I like how things look and works right now so I'll keep the Acer "bloatware". =p

I do notice that the computer runs faster now due to me getting rid of the hidden partition and running better defragmentation of the HD.

Bottom line, be sure to make your recovery disk or maybe burn 2 copies in case one goes bad. Then you can play around with a clean install and see if you have better luck than me on installing the drivers... knowing you can always use the recovery disk to get you back to factory settings. =)

Good luck,

Phil.