A clean installation of Windows 11 or the pre-configured version by Acer Nitro 5 AN515-58?

chuck33
chuck33 Member Posts: 13

Tinkerer

edited August 2023 in Windows 11

Hello everyone,

I’m considering reinstalling Windows 11 on my Acer Nitro 5 AN515-58. I’m wondering if it’s better to do a clean installation without any bloatware (and then add essential Acer software like NitroSense, Care Center, Quick Access, and drivers from the Acer support website, and Nvidia drivers from the Nvidia website, and Intel drivers updated through Intel DSA) or should I keep the pre-configured version of Windows 11 that came with my Acer laptop and remove the bloat? Do you think the pre-configured version has better internal configurations optimized specifically for the hardware? I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Thank you!

[Edited the thread to add issue  detail]


Best Answers

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,768 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓

    I recommend keeping the OEM version of Windows with Acer factory default settings/drivers any time. but uninstall the bloatware, 3rd party AV programs and browsers, MS, Adobe trial versions and ACC, you don't need any of that, all available in Windows11. When you clean install Windows your boot drive will be reformatted and you will lose not only your data and all drivers but the OEM folders and ACER recovery volume as well, you will regret that later. Note after uninstalling bloatware, check Services and Task Scheduler as there will be remnants left that will try to reinstall and update apps. The registry will also have remnants of uninstalled bloatware, little you can do about that, don't download "Cleaners" as that will make the situation only worse. There are many posts with this topic but be wary editing the registry, make a full disk backup first: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-remove-leftover-files-after-uninstall-in-windows

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,342 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓

    I've been running a non oem Acer Win-11 with doing all my own updating of NVidia drivers and Intel DSA scans and running this laptops latest bios version and gpu firmware update, this is on an older 2021 Nitro AN515-56 - i7-11370H/RTX3050/32GB DDR4-3200MHz CL22 - 2x PCIe 3x4 M.2 1TB drives at boot drive PCIe 3x4 WD SN750 Black and salve at PCIe 3x4 WD M.2 1TB SN730 for 15 months and it runs perfectly, no BSODs, crashes within Win-11 and/or FPS drops in gaming, all gaming and high end software and video editing work perfectly. I can recommend updating the OS as that is what I did and always do with all these pre-installed OSs as they work much better.

Answers

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,768 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓

    I recommend keeping the OEM version of Windows with Acer factory default settings/drivers any time. but uninstall the bloatware, 3rd party AV programs and browsers, MS, Adobe trial versions and ACC, you don't need any of that, all available in Windows11. When you clean install Windows your boot drive will be reformatted and you will lose not only your data and all drivers but the OEM folders and ACER recovery volume as well, you will regret that later. Note after uninstalling bloatware, check Services and Task Scheduler as there will be remnants left that will try to reinstall and update apps. The registry will also have remnants of uninstalled bloatware, little you can do about that, don't download "Cleaners" as that will make the situation only worse. There are many posts with this topic but be wary editing the registry, make a full disk backup first: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-remove-leftover-files-after-uninstall-in-windows

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,342 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓

    I've been running a non oem Acer Win-11 with doing all my own updating of NVidia drivers and Intel DSA scans and running this laptops latest bios version and gpu firmware update, this is on an older 2021 Nitro AN515-56 - i7-11370H/RTX3050/32GB DDR4-3200MHz CL22 - 2x PCIe 3x4 M.2 1TB drives at boot drive PCIe 3x4 WD SN750 Black and salve at PCIe 3x4 WD M.2 1TB SN730 for 15 months and it runs perfectly, no BSODs, crashes within Win-11 and/or FPS drops in gaming, all gaming and high end software and video editing work perfectly. I can recommend updating the OS as that is what I did and always do with all these pre-installed OSs as they work much better.