5 ms·

As I mentioned elsewhere, doing a clean Windows install is difficult if the only means of reinstallation you have is the bundled "recovery DVD" which puts all o

by jiggy2011 14y ago

As I mentioned elsewhere, doing a clean Windows install is difficult if the only means of reinstallation you have is the bundled "recovery DVD" which puts all of the shit right back on there. With regards an APT for Windows, I don't see how that wouldn't be possible to add to Windows as a third party thing. With a nice GUI and search and a default catalog of quality mainly OSS software with no toolbars or BS and have it also keep everything upto date. That way you could just install it on all of your relatives who use Windows's computers and tell them just to download everything from either that or the MS app store.

jmcqk6 14y ago
I haven't used it yet, but windows 8 has a 'reset windows' option that will basically reset everything to a fresh install of windows 8 without having to do a reinstall.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  Nice, does it allow OEMs to decide what to "reset" to though?
dbarlett 14y ago
A comment yesterday [1] led me to Chocolatey NuGet [2], a package manager for Windows built on PowerShell. The gallery [3] has almost everything I need to set up a dev environment. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4763895 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4763895 [2] https://github.com/chocolatey/chocolatey/wiki https://github.com/chocolatey/chocolatey/wiki [3] http://chocolatey.org/packages http://chocolatey.org/packages
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  I was thinking more as a way for installing stuff for more casual users. Now I think about it these just seems like such an obvious idea that I'm surprised nobody ever did it.
  - maxerickson 14y ago
    Ninite does a lot of what you are talking about.
    - randomchars 14y ago
      It allows you to install some software.
antidoh 14y ago
"doing a clean Windows install is difficult if the only means of reinstallation you have is the bundled "recovery DVD" which puts all of the shit right back on there." That's not a clean install. A clean install is buying a retail version of Windows and blasting it down on your HD. Recovery DVDs recover what the hardware vendor put there in the first place.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- what_ever 14y ago
  I think you can't buy a retail version on Windows anymore. Plus, when it was available previously, you had to pay for that.
  - danieldk 14y ago
    Actually, you can buy an update to Windows 7 right now for $39.99: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbpage.Windows_8_Pro http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbpage.Wind... You can wipe a Windows 7 install and do a completely clean Windows 8 install.
- philwelch 14y ago
  So you have to buy Windows twice?
  - antidoh 14y ago
    Unfortunately yes. The version that comes with your computer is relatively cheap, but you can't do much with it. The retail version gives you full flexibility, and you can move it to a new computer. Or you can buy a computer that doesn't come with Windows in the first place.
    - jeremyjh 14y ago
      That is incorrect. See eps's comment above. You can use your OEM key with a Windows 7 ISO that you can get from MS.
eps 14y ago
Microsoft provides official (clean) ISO of W7 flavours - http://www.mydigitallife.info/download-windows-7-iso-official-32-bit-and-64-bit-direct-download-links/ http://www.mydigitallife.info/download-windows-7-iso-officia... So, basically, burn respective .iso to a USB key, boot from it, install, enter the key from the sticker on the bottom of the laptop - done. Caveats are (a) limited choice of languages (b) lack of some brand-specific drivers, but if you run English version on a common laptop, it's very straight forward.
- lukeschlather 14y ago
  (b) is the big catch that will kick anyone. You want the hardware to work as designed, you have to start with the manufacturer install and work your way down.
  - firloop 14y ago
    You can easily download the drivers from the manufacturer's website but I understand that even doing that may be too complex for some users.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - sanarothe 14y ago
      keep in mind that some (most) manufacturers don't seem to give any craps about the users either, and provide shoddy bloatware drivers that are difficult to hunt down, take forever to install, often don't work with older or newer OS/hardware, etc. and then there might be a specific patch or workaround that's been applied by the oem that keeps the computer from exploding, but they sold it anyway because you can blow yourself up as much as you like AFTER voiding the warranty.
  - huhtenberg 14y ago
    Never had any problems with Lenovo, Sony, Acer or HP laptops. I'm sure there are some non-mainstream laptop manufacturers that don't maintain their support sites well, but that's be more of an exception than a rule.

jmcqk6 14y ago

I haven't used it yet, but windows 8 has a 'reset windows' option that will basically reset everything to a fresh install of windows 8 without having to do a reinstall.

jiggy2011 14y ago
Nice, does it allow OEMs to decide what to "reset" to though?

dbarlett 14y ago

A comment yesterday [1] led me to Chocolatey NuGet [2], a package manager for Windows built on PowerShell. The gallery [3] has almost everything I need to set up a dev environment. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4763895 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4763895 [2] https://github.com/chocolatey/chocolatey/wiki https://github.com/chocolatey/chocolatey/wiki [3] http://chocolatey.org/packages http://chocolatey.org/packages

jiggy2011 14y ago
I was thinking more as a way for installing stuff for more casual users. Now I think about it these just seems like such an obvious idea that I'm surprised nobody ever did it.
- maxerickson 14y ago
  Ninite does a lot of what you are talking about.
  - randomchars 14y ago
    It allows you to install some software.

antidoh 14y ago

"doing a clean Windows install is difficult if the only means of reinstallation you have is the bundled "recovery DVD" which puts all of the shit right back on there." That's not a clean install. A clean install is buying a retail version of Windows and blasting it down on your HD. Recovery DVDs recover what the hardware vendor put there in the first place.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
what_ever 14y ago
I think you can't buy a retail version on Windows anymore. Plus, when it was available previously, you had to pay for that.
- danieldk 14y ago
  Actually, you can buy an update to Windows 7 right now for $39.99: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbpage.Windows_8_Pro http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbpage.Wind... You can wipe a Windows 7 install and do a completely clean Windows 8 install.
philwelch 14y ago
So you have to buy Windows twice?
- antidoh 14y ago
  Unfortunately yes. The version that comes with your computer is relatively cheap, but you can't do much with it. The retail version gives you full flexibility, and you can move it to a new computer. Or you can buy a computer that doesn't come with Windows in the first place.
  - jeremyjh 14y ago
    That is incorrect. See eps's comment above. You can use your OEM key with a Windows 7 ISO that you can get from MS.

eps 14y ago

Microsoft provides official (clean) ISO of W7 flavours - http://www.mydigitallife.info/download-windows-7-iso-official-32-bit-and-64-bit-direct-download-links/ http://www.mydigitallife.info/download-windows-7-iso-officia... So, basically, burn respective .iso to a USB key, boot from it, install, enter the key from the sticker on the bottom of the laptop - done. Caveats are (a) limited choice of languages (b) lack of some brand-specific drivers, but if you run English version on a common laptop, it's very straight forward.

lukeschlather 14y ago
(b) is the big catch that will kick anyone. You want the hardware to work as designed, you have to start with the manufacturer install and work your way down.
- firloop 14y ago
  You can easily download the drivers from the manufacturer's website but I understand that even doing that may be too complex for some users.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - sanarothe 14y ago
    keep in mind that some (most) manufacturers don't seem to give any craps about the users either, and provide shoddy bloatware drivers that are difficult to hunt down, take forever to install, often don't work with older or newer OS/hardware, etc. and then there might be a specific patch or workaround that's been applied by the oem that keeps the computer from exploding, but they sold it anyway because you can blow yourself up as much as you like AFTER voiding the warranty.
- huhtenberg 14y ago
  Never had any problems with Lenovo, Sony, Acer or HP laptops. I'm sure there are some non-mainstream laptop manufacturers that don't maintain their support sites well, but that's be more of an exception than a rule.