Short answer: Don't bother. Just use the preinstalled Windows 7 and uninstall anything you don't need, unless you enjoy installing OSes, drivers, and programs as a hobby.
Long answer: My new W510 came with Windows 7 x64 and very little other stuff on it. It did include: * Lenovo utilities and hardware drivers. * AT&T and Verizon service activation utilities. * Microsoft Office 2007 trial. * Corel DVD MovieFactory 7 Lenovo Edition. * Corel Burn.Now Lenovo Edition. * InterVideo WinDVD 8. It did not have any Symantec or Norton software, nor the notorious Sonic DLA. I saw nothing there that worried me, or that I figured I'd have any trouble uninstalling if I didn't want it. If you really want to go to the trouble of getting a cleaner install than that, then I would use the recovery partition and select the "custom install" option. This lets you specify exactly which add-on programs you want. I did this on my T60p, which came with much more preloaded software. I assume this option is still available in the latest recovery partition/CD/DVD, but I didn't have any reason to look for it on the W510. One suggestion I would make if you take that route: When you get to the list where you can select which items to include in your custom install, leave everything selected that you're unsure of, and only turn off the things you know you don't want. Many of the items in the list have fairly obscure names; if you try to make the install too clean, you will just have to track down the missing items later. Regarding the suggestion of waiting until Windows 7 SP1 comes out: What would you run in the meantime? XP? Yuck. Besides, it would not be far from the mark to say that Windows 7 *is* the good service pack for Vista. -Mike On Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 5:51 AM, Scott Matthews <[email protected]> wrote: > In the past, whenever I purchased a new PC I would always wipe it and > perform a clean install -- as the manufacturers would always preload various > undesirable apps and other useless stuff. > > Am I correct to assume that a new Thinkpad (Win 7) will similarly come with > this sort of stuff? > > If so, is there a "best" way to purchase a Thinkpad, presumably with Win 7, > and then perform a clean install? > > Thanks kindly, -Scott > _______________________________________________ > Thinkpad mailing list > [email protected] > http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad > > _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad
