How long does it take to re-install Vista and the Dellprograms/drivers?

On Tue, 6 May 2008 15:13:31 -0500, "Charles Summers" <vmm@comcast.net>
wrote:

>
>"Christopher Muto" <muto@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
>news:J4udndxkYZ7VK73VnZ2dnUVZ_sednZ2d@earthlink.c om...
>> assuming that you have all yoru ducks in a row and have done this before,
>> from start to finish it takes 6-8 hours to completely reinstall windows,
>> install all the drivers specific , etc...>
>
>Are you sure this isn't something that can be done in just a couple of
>hours? Seems to me that last umpteen times that I've done it, it was only a
>couple of hours.
>
>To the OP: be sure to back up everything that your dad needs.

Only takes a few hours for me. Very quick and easy. I've done it a
LOT though, so I know the drill. Installing the drivers from Dell's
site is a breeze. I have my application installs on a network drive
and in a binder with the serial numbers. Usually I am doing something
else when doing a computer reinstallation so the time is elapsed, not
the actual time I have to spend on it.

On Tue, 06 May 2008 17:50:51 -0500, RnR <rnrtexas@gmail.com> wrote:

>>Geek Squad charges $249 for an onsite OS reinstall. ($129 instore or
>>online). This is with drivers and critical updates only and *no*
>>applications installed:
>>http://www.geeksquad.com/pricing/default.aspx#section3
>>
>>2 hours would be extremely optimistic and dependent upon experience of the
>>installer, organization of same, and the speed of the system itself (and
>>almost surely would not include all applications and utilties).
>>
>
>I take my time and knowledge for granted when at home and I rarely see
>outside pricing for this pc stuff but when I do, I'm blown away by it.
>But I guess in fairness, it's a business too.

I have a very large network of friends and acquaintences who used to
expect me to do computer-related things for them for free. About 5
years ago I started charging for it and most of the requests went away
which was what I wanted. Some people, however, were willing to pay me
fees of up to $200 to work on their computers.

Recently a woman who went through a divorce "expected" me to help her
list all of her for-sale items on ebay and Craig's List -- things like
Waterford Crystal, etc. I told her that I don't find that kind of
thing fun and would want to be compensated for helping her and would
do a one-to-one trade for her to do housework around my apartment. No
cigar -- when it comes to "friends" (acquaintences) many assume that
computer help falls into the free category. Not for me, anymore.

On Tue, 06 May 2008 22:32:28 -0500, journey <jouney@merr.com> wrote:

>On Tue, 06 May 2008 17:50:51 -0500, RnR <rnrtexas@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>Geek Squad charges $249 for an onsite OS reinstall. ($129 instore or
>>>online). This is with drivers and critical updates only and *no*
>>>applications installed:
>>>http://www.geeksquad.com/pricing/default.aspx#section3
>>>
>>>2 hours would be extremely optimistic and dependent upon experience of the
>>>installer, organization of same, and the speed of the system itself (and
>>>almost surely would not include all applications and utilties).
>>>
>>
>>I take my time and knowledge for granted when at home and I rarely see
>>outside pricing for this pc stuff but when I do, I'm blown away by it.
>>But I guess in fairness, it's a business too.
>
>I have a very large network of friends and acquaintences who used to
>expect me to do computer-related things for them for free. About 5
>years ago I started charging for it and most of the requests went away
>which was what I wanted. Some people, however, were willing to pay me
>fees of up to $200 to work on their computers.
>
>Recently a woman who went through a divorce "expected" me to help her
>list all of her for-sale items on ebay and Craig's List -- things lik
>Waterford Crystal, etc. I told her that I don't find that kind of
>thing fun and would want to be compensated for helping her and would
>do a one-to-one trade for her to do housework around my apartment. No
>cigar -- when it comes to "friends" (acquaintences) many assume that
>computer help falls into the free category. Not for me, anymore.

Sometimes my in laws ask for help and I can't charge them for obvious
reasons. Personally unless you know this person you're dealing with,
I would not barter with her but charge money instead. She might
accuse you of sexual harassment if she and you are the only ones in
your residence when she comes to clean.

> If it's a browser hijacker, SpyBot will almost surely find it and allow you
> to remove it.

If it mentions SmitFraud as a possible contaminant, you probably need
SmitFraudFix to do the job properly though

RnR wrote:
> On Tue, 06 May 2008 22:32:28 -0500, journey <jouney@merr.com> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 06 May 2008 17:50:51 -0500, RnR <rnrtexas@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>> Geek Squad charges $249 for an onsite OS reinstall. ($129 instore or
>>>> online). This is with drivers and critical updates only and *no*
>>>> applications installed:
>>>> http://www.geeksquad.com/pricing/default.aspx#section3
>>>>
>>>> 2 hours would be extremely optimistic and dependent upon experience of the
>>>> installer, organization of same, and the speed of the system itself (and
>>>> almost surely would not include all applications and utilties).
>>>>
>>> I take my time and knowledge for granted when at home and I rarely see
>>> outside pricing for this pc stuff but when I do, I'm blown away by it.
>>> But I guess in fairness, it's a business too.
>> I have a very large network of friends and acquaintences who used to
>> expect me to do computer-related things for them for free. About 5
>> years ago I started charging for it and most of the requests went away
>> which was what I wanted. Some people, however, were willing to pay me
>> fees of up to $200 to work on their computers.
>>
>> Recently a woman who went through a divorce "expected" me to help her
>> list all of her for-sale items on ebay and Craig's List -- things lik
>> Waterford Crystal, etc. I told her that I don't find that kind of
>> thing fun and would want to be compensated for helping her and would
>> do a one-to-one trade for her to do housework around my apartment. No
>> cigar -- when it comes to "friends" (acquaintences) many assume that
>> computer help falls into the free category. Not for me, anymore.
>
> Sometimes my in laws ask for help and I can't charge them for obvious
> reasons. Personally unless you know this person you're dealing with,
> I would not barter with her but charge money instead. She might
> accuse you of sexual harassment if she and you are the only ones in
> your residence when she comes to clean.

I took that part in a very tongue in cheek manner.

WSZsr wrote:
> Use the hidden restore partition and it will take 20 or 30 minutes or less!

To the image Dell shipped, anything else needs to be reinstalled after
the restore.

I reinstall Windows periodically when it seems boggy or I start getting
weird errors, e.g., Explorer crashes frequently, DCOM/install errors in
Event Viewer, etc. The newly installed system runs like a gazelle
instead of a 3 legged elephant on 'ludes.

On Wed, 07 May 2008 13:35:17 -0400, Tony Harding <ToHard@nowhere.org>
wrote:

>WSZsr wrote:
>> Use the hidden restore partition and it will take 20 or 30 minutes or less!
>
>To the image Dell shipped, anything else needs to be reinstalled after
>the restore.
>
>I reinstall Windows periodically when it seems boggy or I start getting
>weird errors, e.g., Explorer crashes frequently, DCOM/install errors in
>Event Viewer, etc. The newly installed system runs like a gazelle
>instead of a 3 legged elephant on 'ludes.


Yes a new or clean install will be the best way to go always.
I just yesterday decided to bring outa mothballs my dell inspiron 1100
laptop to recharge the battery and it has basically just xp on it with
little else (I had reinstalled everything just prior to putting it
into mothballs) and it seemed snappier than the E1405 laptop (core2duo
with 7200rpm drive) I'm presently using because I have a lot of files
on this one. Kinda ironic tho to have to admit this.

On May 6, 9:13*pm, "Charles Summers" <v...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Are you sure this isn't something that can be done in just a couple of
> hours? Seems to me that last umpteen times that I've done it, it was only a
> couple of hours.
>

If you've imaged your hard drive as you like it (as I have) then it
takes about 6 minutes using TeraByte software.

void.no.spam.com@gmail.com wrote:
> My dad was browsing the other day, and called me over to the
> computer. Firefox had somehow gone over to onlinexpscanner.com (which
> I have discovered is a spyware site) and downloaded an executable
> file, and there were prompts to run some code. I closed all the
> browser windows and deleted the executable file.
>
> Now I am wondering if my dad may have inadvertently installed any
> spyware, before he called me over. I could spend several hours
> running a bunch of scans, or maybe I can just reinstall Vista and the
> Dell Drivers CD? How long would all that take? There are even old
> posts in this newsgroup where people said their computer runs faster
> after doing a reinstall of Windows, than it did when Dell shipped it
> to them.

Definitely try some of the advice given here about running scans
(especially from Safe Mode). Just about every AV provider has an on-line
scanner. It will sure be faster than rebuilding the system. From our
description, it doesn't sound nearly bad enough to force a rebuild...

Remember, rebuilding a system consists of a lot more than just
installing the OS. You have to first backup all your personalizations
and documents. The you must download & install all the Windows (&
Office?) updates. Then install all the additional software (and believe
me, there is more than you think), customize them, restore your
Favorites and Documents, etc.

I've done it so many times, that I can just about do it in my sleep. It
takes me about 3- 4 hours o get a usable system and about a week before
I've finished restoring all my customizations.

One trick I've used is to have two "boot" partitions. I start with the
C: drive as my boot drive. D: ad my programs/files drive and E: as a
blank drive. When I want to rebuild, I just install on the E: drive.
This allows me to build the new boot partition while allowing me to
continue do do "normal" work until the new drive is ready. Then I change
the default boot addition to the new one. the "old one is now available
for the next rebuild....

The good news is that you will be guarantees a noticeably (or even
significantly) faster system, Many of us "Geek" types will rebuild our
systems 1 or 2 times a year.... Dell, like other OEM's installs lot of
of software that many of us consider "bloatware". A correctly rebuilt
system will always run faster than a Dell built image....

--

Regards,
Hank Arnold
Microsoft MVP
Windows Server - Directory Services