Compaq - reformat?

[tomster2300]

Hey,

I have a Compaq Presario V2000 series laptop that I bought back in August and am wondering if I should reformat it or not. It's still running on the factory copy of Windows, but it's never run very smoothly for me. Things run slowly at times, despite having done the usual cleaning routine on it (spyware, virus, defrag, etc.). It's just frustrating and I'd like to get it fixed. The only things I've uninstalled were a few of the programs (AOL, etc.) that came preinstalled. Well, I tried to uninstall AOL, who knows how much is left.

I've had a previous thread about my laptop's many problems but I'd like to now consider my reformating options. It came with two disks, an "Operating System CD (XP Home SP2)" and an "Applications and Driver Recovery DVD". After looking through this sticky TFH said Compaq cd's either are buggy or just plain don't work. I would'nt want to get halfway through this and find out it's not going to install. What do you think I should do?

In reformatting with these disks, would the buttons on the front of the laptop (volume controls) still function? Plus would I still get the power saving modes special to laptops? The buttons merely require drivers I suppose, but what about the power options?

Thanks.

[thefultonhow]

Although I have found the restore CDs to be buggy, Compaq usually provides an actual OEM Windows XP CD (and that seems to be the case here -- that's the one labeled "Operating System CD"). You should have no problem using that CD as it uses the Microsoft setup routine and not a Compaq-developed restore program.

As for the buttons on the front of the system, they're controlled by a driver and/or utility. If you install the Compaq-provided driver, you should be able to use them. Of course, it goes without saying that you'll have to install the drivers for chipset, network, video, sound, etc.

[tomster2300]

Originally Posted by thefultonhow Of course, it goes without saying that you'll have to install the drivers for chipset, network, video, sound, etc.

Oh fun. Would they not be located on the other cd? If not, then would they be on the individual manufacturer's pages, or all together at Compaq's website?

What about the power options? Thanks for the help so far TFH.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by tomster2300 Oh fun. Would they not be located on the other cd? If not, then would they be on the individual manufacturer's pages, or all together at Compaq's website? What about the power options? Thanks for the help so far TFH.

The drivers willl almost certainly be on that DVD, but I'd still recommend downloading them from Compaq's site. By "power options" I assume you mean the power profile utility that I'm sure Compaq includes with their laptops -- that's most likely on their site too.

[tomster2300]

You think reformatting is worth doing in this case?

[rspassey]

I tend to avoid reformatting unless it is an absolute last resort. But, it is tough to say, because there might be lots of crud on that laptop which is slowing it down, and starting fresh might be best for it. This would be your personal choice, but I would do the reformat and re-install, assuming that the drivers are available on the website.

[thefultonhow]

I usually like to have a clean install anyway. My IBM is an exception; the preload is actually quite good. But on my Dell I reformatted right out of the box.

[tomster2300]

Alright, I'm going to make a list of what I'll need to reinstall.

Chipset drivers
Video drivers (ATI website or compaq?)
Audio - shouldn't they come with the board drivers though?
LAN - ? Would that be included with the mobo?

EDIT: I found the driver page for my specific laptop model - could somebody tell me exactly which ones I would need to download?

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...=500786&os=228

My laptop also came with some software that doesn't seem to be on the included cd's - I guess that'll be lost, huh? Could it be included on the XP disk? It came with Sonic MyDVD 6 installed but seems will be lost - InterVideo WinDVD is available for redownload off that link though (which also came pre-installed).

[tomster2300]

I'd like to begin working on this today if I know I will be able to reinstall all of my original software (sonic mydvd). Is this possible despite it not being located on a disk, or will it just be lost?

Also if somebody could comment on the drivers link I'd appreciate it.

[thefultonhow]

Check on the DVD for the MyDVD installer -- I bet it's there.

You should download most of the stuff on that driver page -- Firmware BIODS updates aren't necessary, and you can probably skip things like the Help Center and Wireless Assistant, but the other stuff basically provides essential functionality.

[tomster2300]

Alright, I'm formatting and am wondering if I ought to create multiple partitions. Should Windows have it's own, and if so, how big should it be?

[thefultonhow]

There's really no reason to...

[rspassey]

Originally Posted by tomster2300 Alright, I'm formatting and am wondering if I ought to create multiple partitions. Should Windows have it's own, and if so, how big should it be?

Some people like to spilt up OS and Data, that way they can reformat and reinstall on the same OS partition each time and keep their files, but I don't do that. I also wouldn't be sure about the size, but I wouldn't go smaller than 10GB for just the OS.

[tomster2300]

Well, it's formatted and running better than before. I don't have everything loaded on it (I'm going to try to keep it as clean as possible) and every program that came pre-installed was included on the drivers DVD. The only problem I'm having now is that I'm getting a shorter battery life than I previously did. Maybe it's just me (I haven't been keeping an exact count), but is that possible?

I also installed the majority of those updates off the compaq site (the essential ones) but cannot get the cd drive one to work. It brings up a little program that wants me to find a file and flash it, yet the one it directs itself to doesn't work.

Also, why don't I need the bios update?

BTW, I got a good 10 gigs or so of HD space back that came already used up when I first bought it. I'm now only using 5 gigs (Windows, included dvd software, zonealarm, firefox) compared to the 15 or so that the factory had filled up.

[thefultonhow]

The CD drive thing on the site is a firmware updater. You don't need to use it. And you don't need to update the BIOS because you're not trying to fix stability issues or get new hardware working.

The shorter battery life may be due to the fact that there was previously a power management utility installed that you didn't reinstall.