Which Bloatware should I remove?

Hey guys, just got my new ATIV Book 9 and now my question is - which bloatware should I remove?

What's left:
- Adobe Photoshop Elements Trial
- Norton Internet Security Trial
- Samsung SmartAdvisor
- Bitcasa
- AllShare Framework DMS
- ColorEngine
- ETDWare (TouchPad Software)
- Geneysy USB Mass Storage Device (SD Card Reader)
- Help Desk
- Intel Experience Center Desktop
- Intel Engine Firmware Recovery Agent
- Intel PROSet Wireless
- Microsoft Office
- Oasis2Service
- Phone Screen Sharing
- Samsung Link
- Settings (Controls function keys)
- SideSync
- SW Update
- User Manual

Could you guys help me out? I'd be really grateful!

Thank you in advance

EDIT:

Blue = Keep
Red = Remove
Green = Optional

Thanks to go45cvi, John Ratsey, Dannemand

 

Check this post and follow the links in it. For more extreme trimming, check this thread, but do note that it is was written with Win7 in mind, although much advice in it (such as that for Intel WiFi) still applies.

Also check the Samsung forum sticky list for relevant threads and posts.

 

Yeah but this is for Series 7 not ATIV Book 9
None of the apps, except for Norton, are in any way similar
I have totally different Bloatware!

 

Definitely keep:

-ETDWare (no idea what that is) Touchpard software
-Settings (no idea what that is, it's like a different Settings from Samsung?) Controls function keys, other notebook settings
-Geneysy USB Mass Storage Device (no idea what that is) Card reader

 

Alright thanks

What about the others?

 

In addition to go45cvi list above I would also keep:

- SW Update (the route to getting driver and software updates)
- Intel Engine Firmware Recovery Agent (seems a good idea)
- User Manual (people should be encouraged to read these)
- ColorEngine (but not sure what it does)

Run SW Update and make a note of what it offers. If you remove something it doesn't offer then you will have to reinstall the factory image to get it back, but SW Update gives the route to getting back anything else.

John

 

Got it. I just now noticed your earlier post in the Owners Lounge, where you mentioned you had already checked the old bloatware lists.

I suggest we turn this thread into our updated bloatware reference for Win8.1 models, now that you are already listing and color coding the items (and thanks for doing that).

In addition to the comments from go45cvi and John, I would say make sure to lose the bloated Intel PROset drivers (which are latency hogs) and install the Driver Only package instead. It's covered further in our WiFi Remedies thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/727499-wifi-remedies-samsung-laptops.html

As for the Intel Engine Firmware Recovery Agent, I have previously recommended replacing Samsung's bloated Intel Management Engine driver (so-called HECI) with the much slimmer one from Windows Update. But this one sounds a little different, like something I would want to keep -- at least till proven otherwise.

 

I updated the list with your idea Dannemand!

I'll tell you now which of the apps are in SW Update and what the description says:

ColorEngine: "Improve video playback quality"
Samsung Support Center: "Program designed to diagnose performance, security and status of your computer and fix problems it might have. +FAQ and Search"
Samsung Help Desk: "Easily set up and use the system"
SideSync: "Shares your PCs keyboard, mouse and screen with your smarthphone"

I'm not sure about colorengine, no one seems to know what it does

 

From the description I would expect that ColorEngine might improve brigntness and contrast for video playback. Samsung's Settings probably has an option for automatically tweaking the video playback and ColorEngine might do the work.

You can quickly run Samsung Support Center, Samsung Link, Samsung Help Desk to see if they look useful. I've never tried them. And if you think you have a use for SideSync then keep it but I can't recall anyone reporting that they have used this program.

If you don't want Microsoft Office now then uninstall it. If you buy it later then you'll either get a disc or a download link.

Oasis2Service seems to be a Sony messenger program. I'm surprised to see it pre-installed on a Samsung notebook.

John

 

Samsung Link seems to share content with your other Samsung devices, I uninstalled it
Samsung SideSync is for phones, I uninstalled it
Samsung Help Desk is a program that allows you to update, backup, diagnose, restore and ask for assistance; I think it's best to keep it, but I think most of the functions you can access outside of the program as well

So we are left with ColorEngine - is it necessary to make the QHD+ Display work properly or is it just a gadget for media players?

 

Play a video and see whether the colour rendering changes when it starts / ends.

On my older Series 9s there is a switch in Settings to enable / display the video enhancement. This should enable you to see what a video will look like with and without the enhancement.

The other way to look at any potentially unwanted program is whether it is a resource hog, either on accound of the storage space it occupies or the CPU and RAM used both when waiting for action and when in use. If it's benign on these tests then I would leave it in place.

John

 

I don't notice much difference and it only uses 0.6MB of RAM, so not much
I'll leave it for now.

 

I added this thread to the Samsung forum sticky list. Thanks again for making it into such a nice resource

 

You're welcome