HP/Compaq :: Want To Clean Up/format Presario C310 -- Use Recovery Disks Or Recovery Partition?

I’ve just done a clean install of my Dell Vostro -- reinstalling vista and removing the recovery partition in the process. Outcome = a ‘cleaner’ machine with none of the preinstalled bloatware/c**p from Dell. (first time I’ve done anything like this, but followed a brill guide in the Dell section of this forum ).

I’m about to tackle my Mums Compaq Presario C310EA. The aim is to remove all the rubbish she has accumulated over the years, incl any spyware/ adware she may have, and generally have a bit of a clean sweep…. hopefully resulting in a faster laptop. I’m backing up her data, and moving some of my Dad’s stuff somewhere else.

Basically I want to clean up as much as poss, but unfortunately she has no xp disk, just the recovery disks (cds) she burned when she first got the laptop.

As she has no xp disk I guess the best I can hope for is to reset the laptop to the factory settings (?) .. not ideal, but I don’t think the (factory set) bloatware is too much of an issue for her – she’s not a heavy user.

Should I use the recovery partition for this, or do I need to use the cds she burned? .

I’d like to know the best approach – and can’t seem to find a set of instructions to follow.