Clean Fresh Windows on DV8P 32GB

[Fahid]

Hello Guys,
I am new to this forum, got here searching for any experiences about installing fresh clean copy of Windows 8/8.1 on DV8P 32GB.
Reason for wanting to do this is very little free storage. Yes I have a 32GB memory card installed as well but still built-in storage has its own advantages.

As per MS, Windows 8.1 requires 16GB to install
It takes about 5+ GB for recovery partition
I have only Google Chrome and Skype as desktop applications installed
no more than 10 metro apps are installed
and yet only due to Windows Required/ Recommended updates, I only have less than 2GB remaining.
I do use CCleaner to clean off my extra space.
CCleaner and/ or all other small tools/ utilities are kept as portable apps in SD card

I only use my tablet for browsing, skype and watching movies, stored in SD card.

I am good with computers/ tablets in general but my DV8P is my first windows tablet and has been very useful for me so i dont wanna mess it up without knowing anything.

I am planning on re-partitioning my DV8P and install a fresh copy of Windows 8.1 downloaded/ created through MS Installation Media Creation Tool. I wonder if someone has already tried it how it ended up?

Plus if I create a recovery USB through My Dell application, will I be able to recover my tablet to factory dafaults even after having it re-partitioned?

any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Ed Boland]

Welcome to Windows Central!

Plus if I create a recovery USB through My Dell application, will I be able to recover my tablet to factory dafaults even after having it re-partitioned?

any help is greatly appreciated.

Yes, create a USB recovery and delete the recovery partition on the device. I did this on my Surface 2 and was able to free up a few GBs of free space. Also, you probably already have, but uninstall some of the stock apps that you may not use.. like "Finance" or "Food and Travel".

 

[Fahid]

Thanks a lot for reply Ed,
A few more questions,

1. What drivers I may possibly have to install manually?
2. Will Windows detect Touch Screen and work fine (onscreen keyboard etc. as maybe required) during Installation?
3. Did you delete the UEFI partition/ repartitioned? and did Windows installation created them correctly?

 

[xandros9]

Thanks a lot for reply Ed,
A few more questions,

1. What drivers I may possibly have to install manually?
2. Will Windows detect Touch Screen and work fine (onscreen keyboard etc. as maybe required) during Installation?
3. Did you delete the UEFI partition/ repartitioned? and did Windows installation created them correctly?

I would get everything relevant on Dell's support page.

2) I would definitely get a USB hub, keyboard and mouse just in case.

3) Windows is pretty smart in dealing with those things I think.

 

[pankaj981]

Well if you're adamant to go that route I would suggest reading tabletpcreview forums. They have detailed threads/posts about installing W8.1 with WIMBoot install, i.e. the entire OS (minus the current Office Suite) would fit in less than 4GB of space. WIMBoot is an OS feature for low disk memory devices (< 16GB drive space) and is documented on MSDN and TechNet.

Again, read the threads thoroughly since it does require some tinkering and advance level knowledge.