I bought a laptop and i want to remove all the "bloatware" on it. I downloaded a copy of the windows 7 iso from here: http://techpp.com/2009/11/11/download-windows-7-iso-official-direct-download-links/ Do i just boot this iso from a usb the second i get my laptop? or should i do anything before the vanilla install? Do laptops normally come w/ a serial so i can activate the copy i dl? is this a clean copy? I want my laptop to be as fast and fresh as possible so i dont have to worry about anything when i start college.
how would i go about removing the crap of my computer then? Its fresh from hp w/ windows 7 home x64. They are notorious for the stuff they bundle(i had a few computers w/ them in the past, never attempted to clean...WAY too much work) but this time i want the job done, since this laptop is for school/work also.
go thru add\remove programs to uninstall the stuff you don't want then remove the shortcuts off the desktop. uninstall any programs in program files if they don't show up in add\remove programs.
i was going to do that, but how would i take care of any left over traces? (registry a mess, many files left on drive?)
If the WIn7 version you are installing is the exact same win7 version that came installed from the factory you will be fine. There should be a windows authentication sticker on the laptop that tells you win version and product key. If you are doing an upgrade of some type then you will need different key.