Overwriting OS on laptop with my own

[Oregonian]

I recently purchased a HP laptop (although I don't like them). Till now I have already used desktops and always built them and installed windows myself. The Notebook already has windows XP installed with all other crap software.
I was thinking of installing Windows from scratch and also partioning the hard disk to create back up image of the system.

My question is whether I should do it? The notebook came with OS recovery CD and drivers CD. Will I miss any proprietary stuff from HP if I install XP of my own (like their wireless wizards etc)
Has anyone of you installed Windows from scartch on your laptop? Please share your experience.

[twisterX]

yea install it but go to the HP website to download like sound and motherboard drivers and stuff like that.

I did that to my pc and when i installed it i have no network and no sound untill i installed the drivers.

[Rip The Jacker]

Why? What's wrong with what you have?

You have Windows XP, and a recovery CD, sounds like your all set. Why re-install Windows XP just because it came with crap software? Just un-install all the optional crap...

Plus your going to have to look for drivers and such... Sounds like more trouble than it's worth...

[Santa]

driver backup software - http://www.drivermagician.com/screenshot.htm

also get everest for full system specs - http://www.lavalys.com/

[accat13]

Why? What's wrong with what you have?

You have Windows XP, and a recovery CD, sounds like your all set. Why re-install Windows XP just because it came with crap software? Just un-install all the optional crap...

Plus your going to have to look for drivers and such... Sounds like more trouble than it's worth...

Just curious Rip The Jacker have you ever tried to remove all the crap that HP so nicely puts on there pre installed systems.

[clocker]

...have you ever tried to remove all the crap that HP so nicely puts on there pre installed systems.

Quel suprise.
They (all the big guys do it) make money putting that poop all over your desktop.
It's very aggravating...akin to being forced to watch ads at movie theaters.

[Oregonian]

Just one more question...
These laptops always come with one hard drive and no partitions. I hate that.
Can I partition the hard drive without actually wiping out the C drive? I want to take an backup image of the current machine before I scrap everything.

[Rip The Jacker]

Why? What's wrong with what you have?

You have Windows XP, and a recovery CD, sounds like your all set. Why re-install Windows XP just because it came with crap software? Just un-install all the optional crap...

Plus your going to have to look for drivers and such... Sounds like more trouble than it's worth...

Just curious Rip The Jacker have you ever tried to remove all the crap that HP so nicely puts on there pre installed systems.

Yes. My HP Pavilion came with a shitload of crap, went into Add/Remove Programs, uninstalled everything I didn't need. Went into Program Files, removed all the left over folders and junk. Used Ultra Win Cleaner to remove all the Temp files, and invalid entries from the windows registry. Then removed the junk from the desktop/start menu...

Took about 15-20 minutes I'd say...

I know it's not as good as a clean install, but it's a lot easier for me...

[twisterX]

clean install also takes 20 minutes and its much better.

[Oregonian]

Please someone answer this:

Can I partition the hard drive without actually wiping out the C drive? I want to take an backup image of the current machine before I scrap everything

Can I network my Laptop and my desktop? Laptop is wirelessly connected to the router and desktop is wired.