Best way to remove bloatware from new thinkpad?

I just received my R61 this afternoon and have a few questions to get started.

What is the best way to remove all none windows and ThinkVantage applications?
For example norton internet security and symantec internet security.

What exactly is the Windows anytime upgrade dvd for?
As far as I can tell Home Premium (which is what i asked for) is already installed.

Thanks,
Bryan

 

Do you have Windows Vista or XP?

 

Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

Also...
I'm assuming its quite normal for Vista to have 80+ processes running at startup prior to any sort of user configurations.

 

I would like to know this as well. I've been migrating over all afternoon. and just started to remove a lot of software I don't need.

Things I'm removing:
Microsoft Office (already put open office on here)
Adobe Reader (already put Foxit on for PDFs)
Picasa 2 (I'll put GIMP on here if I need any photo editing tools)

Other than that I've already loaded up quite a few apps

 

Have you removed the norton crapware suite?
If so, how can you be sure every aspect of the software is removed?
I tried the norton removal tool...

http://service1.symantec.com/support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039?Open&src=tranus_con_sl

...but after restart i still have an icon on my desktop for Symantec Install NIS (Norton Internet Security).
Will searching for symantec and norton separately and deleting all subsequent files rid me of all such software and add ons? Logic tells me yes. And is it safe to use this method?

Thanks

 

Arguably, it's easiest to do a custom factory default reformat. (Accessible via Rescue and Recovery.)

Of the three - fresh install, manually remove crap, and custom factory reformat, I have found the latter easier/quickest. Therefore, I'd suggest taking that approach.

Windows Anytime Upgrade is Microsoft's way to begging you to upgrade to Vista, or, if you already have Vista, a more expensive version of it. In your case, I'd expect Microsoft wants you to upgrade to Ultimate...

Matt

 

Are you willing to restore your system to Lenovo default? Just press the thinkvantage button during bootup to get to the Lenovo utility, and from there you can perform a custom restore. You can select what applications to restore including the thinkvantage software.

I personally just removed the norton, perfect disk, pc doctor, and kept all the Lenovo stuff since I find them useful.

Hope that helps

 

Thanks Matt

Will a factory default reformat retain the Norton add ons and the trial version of Office 2007?

 

I believe you are able to choose whether or not you want that installed. It should give you a list of preloaded software, and you simply check what you want. I know for sure you can avoid installing Norton that way, and Office should be the same.

If not, Office isn't too difficult to uninstall, right?

Matt

 

Before I hit next on the custom system recovery I would like to know what a few of the options actually do.

Diskeeper Home
Maintenance Manager 3.0
PC-Doctor for Windows
Presentation Director
Productivity Center Supplement

Does Diskeeper have any notable advantages over the windows disk utility?
What does Maintenance Manager 3.0 actually manage?
Is pc-doctor beneficial in anyway?
What does Presentation Director do?
In what way does Productivity Center SUpplement the Productivity Center?

Thanks a bunch,
Bryan

 

1) Well, in Vista, you are not able to see the defragmenting actually taking place... it simply says "Defragmenting", which is quite worthless, and honestly unsatisfying. So, for that reason, yes. Functionality-wise, I doubt it.

2) According to Provider Notes, it "allows somewhat integrated access to various Windows maintenance utilities and scheduling of their use." Basically, I doubt you need it, since it looks like it just organizes the utilities that already exist...

3) I never used it when I had it installed, however, it is useful when determining whether or not all of your hardware is working.

4) Unless you give PowerPoint presentations often, you don't need it. I believe it just optimizes the screen to give presentations...

5) Not sure if I understand this one. Mind rephrasing?

Matt

 

you can watch the actual defrag taking place if you really wanted to. all you have to do is hit the "drive map" tab.

 

One of the options is Productivity Center Supplement.

My question is...what does this option do/add?

 

You're talking about Diskeeper, right? I don't see this option in Windows.

Ah. The Productivity Center is basically a ThinkVantage control panel. It simply provides shortcuts to ThinkVantage software. By default, the Productivity Center loads when you press the ThinkVantage button up by the volume control buttons. It's pretty much useless, but slightly handy.

Matt