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Specs for new pc?
40hz:
Actually I don't. Surely the easiest way to get rid of crapware is not to install it in the first place, is it not?
-daddydave (June 08, 2010, 04:59 AM)
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True. But there's always free tools like PC Decrapifier for situations where a machine is loaded with as much junk as you can shake a stick at. This utility has made getting rid of junk so easy that even a relative neophyte could handle it.
So yes, while it's better not to have it on your box in the first place, it's still no big deal to get rid of.
I haven't had an issue with drivers having to be installed in the correct sequence since Windows 98 at the latest.
-daddydave (June 08, 2010, 04:59 AM)
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Depends on what you're building. Today it's more about hassles with BIOS updates rather than driver issues. So yes, you won't encounter driver installation sequence issues too much any more. But it still does rear it's ugly head from time to time.
What recovery software are you referring to?
-daddydave (June 08, 2010, 04:59 AM)
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Anything that allows you to make your own disk image recovery set. Macrium Reflect is an excellent choice for Windows machines.
I really like Macrium. They even use the word "whilst" on their website. ;D :Thmbsup:
Clonezilla will do the same (plus a whole lot more) for for any OS, including Windows.
There's a DC thread running on this topic over here.
Also I don't have a lot of experience with choosing a vendor that bundles the fewest unwanted apps, but I do have a lot of experience installing and tweaking Windows from a bare install. A lot of it is about leveraging existing skill sets.
But I agree with a lot of what you say, nowadays it is not so much saving money or time as having control.
-daddydave (June 08, 2010, 04:59 AM)
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Agree. Mostly. But as I get older, I'm finding (for me) it is more about saving time. More about getting it done correctly with the least amount of unnecessary effort.
But I do this for a living. And I've been doing it for a loooong time! My first PC (not my first computer) was an IBM PC-XT with dual 5-1/4" floppy drives. So maybe I'm just getting a tad bit lazy about Windows machines now that I'm in my dotage. After you build better than a hundred and configure/tweak more than a few thousand machines, anything is likely to stop being as much fun as it used to.
Fortunately for me, the thrill is not completely gone. Thank heavens for Linux and BSD! :-*
Luck with your build. :Thmbsup:
daddydave:
True. But there's always free tools like PC Decrapifier for situations where a machine is loaded with as much junk as you can shake a stick at. This utility has made getting rid of junk so easy that even a relative neophyte could handle it.
-40hz (June 08, 2010, 06:51 AM)
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So many intangibles here. I ran that tool one time and was a little proud and confused that it didn't find anything.
Anything that allows you to make your own disk image recovery set. Macrium Reflect is an excellent choice for Windows machines.
I really like Macrium. They even use the word "whilst" on their website. ;D :Thmbsup:
Clonezilla will do the same (plus a whole lot more) for for any OS, including Windows.
There's a DC thread running on this topic over here.
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Agree. Mostly. But as I get older, I'm finding (for me) it is more about saving time. More about getting it done correctly with the least amount of unnecessary effort.
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I like to think that the bit about saving time is true for me as well, but it's surprising how easily it is for me to rationalize things that consume time as having educational value. For a while, I was making my own unattended Windows install disks with my own preferred apps, drivers, and tweaks. I found a tool called HFSLIP that supported by habit along with Virtual PC, and even went as far as writing an AutoIt3 script to bulk edit INF files to help with driver slipstreaming. It became a time consuming hobby because I wanted to get everything perfect, when I went to Vista, which wasn't supported by HFSLIP, it gave me a chance to quit cold turkey, which I did. Recently I came to know that sadly the authors of HFSLIP had to kill it because they were getting harrassed by people demanding free support for use in their corporate environments! I'm going to give that a separate thread when I get around to it. I started making unattended install disks with HSLIP out of a desire to have one of those recovery disks the box store people had that would install my core list of apps instead of a bunch of things I don't need.
Deozaan:
I had a bit of a hard time locating it because I wasn't sure what to look for. Hint: Look for the New Egg logo.-Deozaan (June 06, 2010, 10:50 PM)
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Or you could have saved some time and just followed the link in my reply above, Deozaan. ;D
-Innuendo (June 07, 2010, 08:19 PM)
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Wow, I completely missed it! :-[
40hz:
I started making unattended install disks with HSLIP out of a desire to have one of those recovery disks the box store people had that would install my core list of apps instead of a bunch of things I don't need.
-daddydave (June 08, 2010, 08:25 AM)
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Unless I'm configuring multiples, I just do a clean install with all current updates. After that I tweak the appearance, settings, and menus just the way I like them. I've done it so many times I can almost do it in my sleep. It takes about ten minutes on a bad day.
Then I just take an image of the drive, label it GENESIS{DATE} and call it a day.
As long as I have that DVD, I can get back to right where I was when I first set it up.
I don't bother with apps since my list of favs is subject to change and updated constantly. Ninite takes care of installing the usual suspects quite easily. I also use Ketarin to keep my current preferred app installers folder up to date.
For post-GENESIS Windows 7 updates, I find AutoPatcher to be a major time saver. Info and link to download here.
:Thmbsup:
daddydave:
Ninite takes care of installing the usual suspects quite easily.
-40hz (June 08, 2010, 03:33 PM)
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I was using AppSnap for the same purpose. Unfortunately I think it has been discontinued, I think I caught this on the author's twitter feed. It had a huge database of apps, whereas Ninite seems to have only a handful. Now I use the FileHippo updater for this purpose and trying to figure out a way to make those kick off install automatically and then delete the setup file after installing.
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