epic wrote:
No one? The official solution to clean installs is to clone the factory hardrive and uninstall bloatware - Chris
epic, yes. There are 2 methods, 3 actually, that work.
1) Use Asus Backtracker to backup the recovery volume onto a bootable flash drive you can use to restore to a new SSD/HDD with the original Asus Windows OEM install.
2) Use a cloning program like Macrium Reflect - well known here and used by many - to do a clone of the original HDD including the recovery volume - resized partitions to fit the new SSD/HDD. After cloning power off and put the new SSD/HDD into the original boot drive position - and leave out the original HDD so you will only boot on the new SSD/HDD. Put the original HDD into an external USB 3.0 enclosure to use extra space for backups, but preserve Asus Windows Install HDD for backup (checp $50 drive).
3) Use a Microsoft install image to create a Flash installer or DVD installer, and install generic Windows install. Find and install all the Apps / Drivers from Asus, install and figure out streaming order during install. For some reason no matter how many people try, the install doesn't support all the functions / hardware, there is always something to debug, fix, or figure out to get the generic Windows install as close to the Asus Windows install. That is the best one can hope for, to make their generic Windows install as good as Asus.
I recommend #1 or #2, and never #3 - there are too many people that come back and ask for a restore image of the original Asus OEM install so the can get back functionality to recommend #3 at all.
There are no advantages to #3, there are no improvements in performance, reduction in size, features, it is all bad - no advantage to recommend it.
If you decide on #3, be sure to backup your Asus OEM recovery partition with Asus Backtracker to a USB 3.0 flash drive, and make sre restore from it to another SSD/HDD works, and put the original HDD aside and do your Generic Windows install onto a new SSD/HDD and not your original media - don't blow away your only copy of the Asus Windows OEM install!
After Asus Backtracker restore or cloning original Asus OS install, uninstall the Asus tools you don't need. Here is the list of the ones I don't need on my G750JH, takes about 5 minutes.
I use the Asus Installer in C:\eSoftware to keep track of what I don't have installed, but I don't use it for installing.
Asus Splendid has ICC profiles in C:\eSupport that I do use, but I install them manually as Splendid uses other corrections that mess up the balance - at least for me.
Asus Live Update isn't of much use as Asus doesn't update the driver support areas for most products after release - only BIOS updates - or if the product is released just before a new Windows release - then Asus releases drivers for that new Windows release (like from Windows 8 to 8.1). Asus Live Update has also, in the past, done BIOS/vBIOS updates that have bricked laptops, so most people uninstall just in case.
Asus Power4Gear - I think Asus has stopped bundling this as of the G751, but if you have it, uninstall it and use the Windows Power Plans, they are what Power4Gear really uses anyway - all P4G does is swap power plans without notice and slows down your performance.
Asus Gaming Mouse - caused crashes for some during Windows 8 -> 8.1 upgrade, likely just useless now, even if you have an Asus mouse, as you should find the precise Asus mouse driver meant for your model mouse.
Asus DVD/Power2Go, old Cyberlink products, Asus/Cyberlink don't provide software in the OS any longer, but if you have it, uninstall it and get a new relesae from Cyberlink.
I use Leawo Free Blu-ray player for Blu-ray playback:
http://www.leawo.com/blu-ray-player/
And, MPC-HC for DVD and video playback
http://mpc-hc.org/downloads/
Asus Vibe - Asus market, check it out, but I don't use it.
Newer G751's have Gaming First III and Game Center, which conflict with Avast!/Eod/etc AV tools and block downloads - 99% hang during download, be aware.
Any others?
Next post, where to find driver/app updates 🙂
epic wrote:
Thanks for your detailed reply.
I am going to give #3 a try and hope that more drivers come out in the future.
I got this computer b/c it is beefy and b/c I can do forensic/graphic work on the go. Unfortunately, I can't use the computer per my companies policy unless I install a clean version of windows and know what programs are installed on it.
I have two other asus note books and installing windows couldn't be easier. I have never had so much trouble trying to get a fresh non OEM version of windows on a computer before. This is the entire point of buying PC, to allow future upgrades of windows basically seamless.
Thanks again for your advice, I will post my successes and failures.
-Chris
Chris, it looks like you are a special case, although I have been in that situation and made a forensic report showing all the software installed, and went with the original configuration, so you might want to check out that route - it would save you a lot of time.
For everyone, I recommend #1 or #2, and never #3 - there are too many people that come back and ask for a restore image of the original Asus OEM install so they can get back functionality to recommend #3 to anyone. And, even those that stand by the Generic Install, all let it out at one point or another that they can't get something to work again, and are asking for help finding the fix.
There are no advantages to #3, there are no improvements in performance, reduction in size, increase in features, it all leads to less - no advantage to recommend.
If you decide on #3, be sure to backup your Asus OEM recovery partition with Asus Backtracker to a USB 3.0 flash drive, and make sure to test restore from it to another SSD/HDD to make sure it works.
And put the original HDD aside and do your Generic Windows install onto a new SSD/HDD and not your original media - don't blow away your only copy of the Asus Windows OEM install!
If you did a bare metal backup of the Asus install, with all the partition weirdness, you should be ok to restore again and start over as needed.
BTW, after I restore from Asus Backtracker, or clone from the original HDD to a new SSD, I delete the recovery partition on the new SSD and the other partitions and combine it all into a single partition for best use on my G750JH - the RAID0 is only 256GB, so combining it all gives me 237GB, almost not quite enough.
Please come back and let us know how it works out 🙂
