Tweaking out a Dell Computer

Hey Folks

Very general question...I just got a new Dell Inspiron laptop with Vista Business Edition SP1, and I'm looking to remove as much of the "Dell" stuff as possible. I'm not sure what is necessary or not for the running of this computer...and I don't want to remove something and have the system not work (I'm new to Vista, so I'm a little shaky on what I need and don't need). I usually do most of my basic computer stuff myself, and don't think I'll really use Dell's support services.

Some of the Dell stuff appearing in my programs list are:

Dell Dock
Dell Datasafe Online
Dell Webcam Center
Dell Webcam Manager
Digital Line Direct
Dell Getting Started Guide
Dell Support Center
Go To Assist 8.0.0.514
Media Direct
Modem Diagnostic Tool
Live! Cam Avatar Creator
Live! Cam Avatar 1.0
Quick Set

Anything I could safely remove would be good...also, any advice for general tweaking of Vista (for privacy/security concerns) would be much appreciated.

 

Aside from using Tweaking apps listed on majorgeeks.com check the blog in my signature for tweaks.

Those all look safe to remove but at the risk of losing features. Dell Dock is fairly nice, removing the cam stuff may cause your webcam to lose some, or all functionality.

 

First of all, make a backup to cd, from Dll's backup option- just in case.
I assume you have no oem discs with the laptop- so be careful to have a disc restorable on hand.
Then , as long as you do it , one at a time, and restar each time you uninstal, you should be o.k- I did similar with my Acer laptop, that I have for my other half.
Store your backup discs- you never know, over time.
Also set a restore point , before removing items, and when you have finished, and are sure you are running o.k, you can reduce the restore space to keep only the most recent restore points, restart , then reset more space for system restore.
Sorry, cross posted with Adrenalyne, but you can have a look at Adrenalyne's blog, for the safest tweaks.

 

Hey Guys

Thanks for the help...quick dumb question, what do you mean by oem disc? I got a series of discs packed with my computer, including a Dell utilities disc, and one labeled "operating system", plus driver discs for things like my DVD drive etc.

I removed a lot of the stuff with no noticeable loss of function...kept the web cam and Dell Dock stuff, but more or less removed the rest.

One more Vista question...I've been using regscrubXP as a registry defrag, but it came up as causing conflicts with Vista. Can anyone recommend a good registry defrag for Vista? Also, I've been using a regular defragmenter called diskeeper lite...did a FANTASTIC job with XP, but doesn't seem to work with Vista. Any recommendations?

J

 

Check out this link about Registry Defrag software: http://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20

Scroll down a bit.