Purchased A New Laptop With Windows 11. Are There Any Advantages To...

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steve181

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#324303 25-Mar-2026 19:03

doing a clean install immediately? Is this something you'd do?

Or am I best to save time & just run with the copy that is already installed? I know how to re-install the OS but debating if it's worth the hassle?

Thanks.

richms

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#3473716 25-Mar-2026 19:20

Depends on how legit the brand is and what bloat is installed on it to me. HP/Dell business ones seem ok mostly, HP consumer one or Lenovo and you have a hell of a lot of crap on it.

Richard rich.ms

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#3473717 25-Mar-2026 19:20

Depends on the laptop. Some brands are worse for bloat than others. Also is it a consumer or business laptop ? Consumer ones will have bloat for sure, whereas business grade tend to be a lot lighter on it.

Personally Id blow it away and install from USB, removing the factory partitions as well - BUT - I have heard of some support agents refusing to assist in times of need if you have removed those. You break their scripted instructions :)

XPD / Gavin

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cddt

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#3473722 25-Mar-2026 19:44

I would do a clean install, but with a different operating system entirely. :)

MadEngineer

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#3473723 25-Mar-2026 19:44

If it's a Dell, absolutely.

Case in point: ‎Support Assist System restore is eating all my disk space | DELL Technologies

This will eventually completely consume all space on your drive.

HP is fine, just run HP Support Assistant to update everything but consider uninstalling HP Connection Optimizer

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

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#3473726 25-Mar-2026 19:47

steve181:

doing a clean install immediately? Is this something you'd do?

Or am I best to save time & just run with the copy that is already installed? I know how to re-install the OS but debating if it's worth the hassle?

you either clean install immediately or you never, at least that's my experience.

is it something i do? no. i am time poor. but when i was a student i did that a lot.

gzt

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#3473750 25-Mar-2026 20:59

steve181: doing a clean install immediately? Is this something you'd do?

If the current performance is good enough for me, startup, operation, etc then I would not bother.

In my experience it is a problem with nearly all consumer laptops and a common annoyance with many business laptops.

In practice you can spend so much time uninstalling all the crap and cleaning up the mess and partially working crap afterwards that it makes far more sense to clean install Windows. It's up to you if you feel the need for it.

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steve181

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#3473758 25-Mar-2026 21:07

gzt:
If the current performance is good enough for me, startup, operation, etc then I would not bother.

This is what I'm leaning towards especially when I remind myself that 90%+ of the time I'm inside Firefox.

A good middle ground I guess is to disable/delete all the unnecessary stuff & then just leave it at that.

The laptop is Lenovo.

Cheers.

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#3473774 25-Mar-2026 21:48

MadEngineer:

but consider uninstalling HP Connection Optimizer

150% agreed.

The amount of problems that freaking crap software causes.......

XPD / Gavin

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Rikkitic

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#3473895 26-Mar-2026 10:16

There are some pretty good debloat scripts on Github.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

lxsw20

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#3474002 26-Mar-2026 13:17

richms:

HP/Dell business ones seem ok mostly.

Long as you get rid of that HP Wolf security rubbish.

nztim

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#3474063 26-Mar-2026 14:25

lxsw20:

Long as you get rid of that HP Wolf security rubbish.

Its a pain to get rid of

I would go for a reinstall, direct to 25H2

I have had a lot of issues with sound not working on default HP images and a rebuild does fix it

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

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MadEngineer

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#3474165 26-Mar-2026 20:26

I've never had an issue with Wolf Security. I've uninstalled it a couple of times but honestly, it works fine even when another AV/endpoint protection is installed.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.