Has anybody formatted SSD and clean installed Win 8.1?

[phositadc]

I learned yesterday, courtesy of this forum, that the SP3 has a "factory reset" option.

But, being the geek that I am, I like to do a completely clean install of Windows on all of my new computers, and I generally like to delete the recovery partitions larding up the SSD.

Has anybody done such a thing on the SP3? Is it as simple as cleaning the drive with disk part, re-partitioning using the Win 8.1 installer, installing Win 8.1, and then installing the latest Surface Pro 3 driver pack (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38826)? Or is there more to do it than that?

Would love to hear from anybody who has done it. (or better yet, if anybody has written a step by step guide, I'd love to see it).

 

[GreyFox7]

Read the documentation that goes with that driver pack.

 

[kundas1]

normally I'd agree with you when it comes to OEM brand PC's like Toshiba, Dell, HP ect ect as they come riddled with bloatware, malware, and other useless stuff that slows down the pc and/or makes it run badly... but for the Surface pro 3 I wouldn't recommend to do this as it DOESN'T come with any xtra bloatware on the device and quit frankly runs perfectly fine on its own...unless of course you find the SP3 running oddly and might have to restore to factory then I would do that to get out the gremlins and have the SP3 running properly.

 

[FlySwatter]

normally I'd agree with you when it comes to OEM brand PC's like Toshiba, Dell, HP ect ect as they come riddled with bloatware, malware, and other useless stuff that slows down the pc and/or makes it run badly... but for the Surface pro 3 I wouldn't recommend to do this as it DOESN'T come with any xtra bloatware on the device and quit frankly runs perfectly fine on its own...unless of course you find the SP3 running oddly and might have to restore to factory then I would do that to get out the gremlins and have the SP3 running properly.

Agreed! Doing a clean install used to be my default methodology as well, but with tablets in general, and the SP3 in particular, I like keeping the recovery partition right where it is and the factory installation is just fine.

 

[m98custom1212]

Yep, Surface Pro 3 comes bloat ware free can't complain

 

[kozak79]

I did it. It was simple, you just follow the prompts. I followed some advice on this forum about enabling Hyper-V and changing the wireless card settings to Performance, and what followed was constant bluescreens, even after turning Hyper-V. Also got a bunch of Thermal shutdowns with Hyper-V on. After doing a clean reset, no bluescreens, no crashes, no overheating.

 

[phositadc]

Thanks for the feedback. But surely it comes with some bloatware. For instance, if I plan to use the desktop version of OneNote, then the App Store version is duplicative bloat, IMO.

Also, if it's simple enough to do a fresh, clean install, then the recovery partition is nothing more than wasted space. I agree a recovery partition can be valuable if doing a clean install from Win 8.1 installation media is difficult. But if a clean install from Win 8.1 installation media is easy, then there's no need for a recovery partition.

Finally -- drivers. If I'm doing a "factory reset," all of the original drivers and such get installed, and then new versions are installed over them. Presumably a clean install using the latest driver pack would install only the latest drivers, and I would not have obsolete drivers floating around potentially causing problems...

So yeah, I guess I'm kinda OCD when it comes to fresh installs. Good to hear Microsoft hasn't really bloated it up. But unless doing my own, clean install is affirmatively a bad idea for some reason, I'll probably give it a go....

 

[phositadc]

I did it. It was simple, you just follow the prompts. I followed some advice on this forum about enabling Hyper-V and changing the wireless card settings to Performance, and what followed was constant bluescreens, even after turning Hyper-V. Also got a bunch of Thermal shutdowns with Hyper-V on. After doing a clean reset, no bluescreens, no crashes, no overheating.

Interesting, thanks. So after you did your clean reset, you did not re-enable HyperV, and everything worked fine?

Or when you use the word "reset," are you referring to the "factory reset" option on the Surface Pro, which would simply restore it to factory condition and presumably negate your clean install?

 

[GreyFox7]

It seems like I have installed a new DisplayLink Driver at least once a month maybe more often than that.

Anyway it will be good experience have at it.

 

[kundas1]

Thanks for the feedback. But surely it comes with some bloatware. For instance, if I plan to use the desktop version of OneNote, then the App Store version is duplicative bloat, IMO.

Also, if it's simple enough to do a fresh, clean install, then the recovery partition is nothing more than wasted space. I agree a recovery partition can be valuable if doing a clean install from Win 8.1 installation media is difficult. But if a clean install from Win 8.1 installation media is easy, then there's no need for a recovery partition.

Finally -- drivers. If I'm doing a "factory reset," all of the original drivers and such get installed, and then new versions are installed over them. Presumably a clean install using the latest driver pack would install only the latest drivers, and I would not have obsolete drivers floating around potentially causing problems...

So yeah, I guess I'm kinda OCD when it comes to fresh installs. Good to hear Microsoft hasn't really bloated it up. But unless doing my own, clean install is affirmatively a bad idea for some reason, I'll probably give it a go....

no it really doesn't come with bloat ware, and for your one note analogy it's NOT a duplicative bloat as they are different versions... and if that is your only gripe then I think you DO have OCD lol

I personally think your making this a bigger deal and might cause problems for yourself down the road.. also ontop of that I think your device is tied to a bitlocker drive protection that asks for a key when you reinstall win 8.. so what happens to that if/or when you re-install? you might get screwed.

 

[GreyFox7]

The Driver Pack and associated documentation is intended for Enterprises that want or must use the Enterprise Edition of Windows and make a deployable, manageable image. so its doable and its a marketable skill.

 

[Kif]

The Onenote App is far superior for tablet mode plus it will work in conjunction with the full version. Apps are installed in a bubble so you can add and remove them with ease. If you do a format/reload you're going to possibly limit your future support options. Just be careful before you reach the point of no return.