Removing Bloatware Questions

Hey everyone. I bought an asus u45jc laptop from xoticpc.com and probably would get it in about 3 weeks. Many people say to remove the bloatware since most new computers come with a lot of it. My question is how do you do this and how long does this process take? Is it true that after you remove all the bloatware, you then need to format your computer again or is this false?

The reason i ask this is because i bought a brand new dell xps 8100 desktop earlier this year with an i5-750 processor with 4gb ram 7200 rpm hard drive and this laptop always seem to run slower than my neighbors dell desktop which is 1 year older than mine and a slower processor. He told me that he removed all the bloatware etc and i used his desktop before and it is BLAZING fast compared to mine even though mine is much newer than his.

My question is can i still remove the bloatware now? Is it too late? What programs would be considered bloatware? My neighbor told me he removed all the bloatware FIRST when he received his computer and i never did this earlier this year. Its been about 6 months that i used this new desktop already and its much much slower than my neighbor's even when i first got it.

If i remove the bloatware, does that mean i have to format my desktop as well for it to run really fast like my neighbors desktop even though mine is suppose to be much faster than his?

Can someone give me advice on what site shows you to remove bloatware step by step because i am pretty bad with computers? This has to be the reason why by desktop never ran fast correct even when i first got the computer 6 months ago?

 

Create recovery media first. If you start removing crap usually recovery discs fail.

I use PC Decrapifer very good for removing useless programs. Just google it. Or you can do a fresh image after but ASUS generally doesn't have as much bloatware like HP.

 

The whole idea of removing bloatware is to gain speed and some space,no need to format after doing this.

 

I suggest downloading Revo Uninstaller Pro (I believe there's a 30 day trial for the full version, use it since you'll only need it for the day) and uninstalling any programs you won't be using. Revo will clean up the computer better than any other program. I've used the "advanced" option for it a thousand times and never had a problem but it backs up your computer with a registry backup and a restore point just in case.

Just go through every program and see what you need. If you aren't sure you can just google it.

Also, command prompt "msconfig" without the quotes. Disable and services or startup programs you don't need. I suggest looking some of them up before you disable them, I personally had a problem because I didn't realize that disabling one of them would effect my windows update. It was an easy fix but difficult to diagnose.

 

I disagree (because even after you remove all of the bloat, there's still a possibility the boot and responsiveness will be slow - it will be better, but not like when you do a clean install).

I would sooner do a clean format (doing a backup of necessary files first without bothering removing the bloat at all) and install just Windows using the OEM key you got.

It will create far less hassle.

 

I did a clean reinstall for my friend the other day. Her computer is a basic Dell i3 desktop which is about 5 months old. I just used a Dell recovery disc and a driver disc which came with her computer. No bloatware in the recovery disc. Windows 7 update was like less than 200MB, so that didn't take long.

Since her entry level i3 Dell came with recovery and driver discs, I bet your XPS came with them too?

 

To remove bloat-ware, all you're doing is un-installing programs that you don't use. While this is a good and worth-while thing to do (continuously, not as a one-time event), it does not compare to a clean install of your O/S with the latest, specific drivers your system hardware needs.

I would guess that depending on the system, you would gain up to 10% over simply uninstalling unwanted programs with a clean install. What is more the point of a clean install (for me) is that the clean install will remain stable far longer (with less of a 'have to' need to re-install the whole O/S + apps again).

To do this 'right' the first time:

Copy your data to a safe place - off your notebook. Verify that the copy is accurate and error free!

Download (from NBR) the same version of Windows you have on computer now (to simply use the key on the bottom to activate it once installed).

Download all the specific drivers (not the 'original' software - that's the 'bloatware'!) for your model and save to an external drive or USB key.

On your manufacturer's website, note any specific order the drivers are recommended to be installed in.

With your current data safe, do a full 'restore' of your system if you don't have Restore Disks provided by the manufacturer.

Let the restore procedure (off the HD, I'm assuming) complete fully. Do not connect to the Internet at anytime (there is no need to at this stage).

With the restore completed and your system at factory shipped defaults, burn the Restore CD's or DVD's as prompted by your system.

Is the above a waste of time? Depends on what a backup plan is worth to you.

Now - you can do the clean install.

When we set the system to factory defaults we ensure the best chances of burning a working set of Restore Disks. These are worth more than their weight in gold if a clean install leads you to discover that not all the drivers are available for download for your machine. (You can simply use the disks you created to at least go back to what you had).


Important steps of the clean install:

Ensure you are not connected to the internet.

When installing, choose advanced installation, remove all partitions from the HD and let Wiindows create the partitions for you. Not only will the alignment be correct guaranteed, but this will ensure that you are using all the disk's capacity and also using the fastest part of the disk (if the hidden 'restore' partition is at the outer edges of the HD in most shipped, pre-built systems).

After Windows is installed, install the device drivers you downloaded in the correct order.

With no yellow exclamation marks in Device Manager, and having verified that all hardware is working on your system (camera, Fn shortcuts, etc.) now connect to the internet and do all Windows Updates available (keep checking after a reboot until no more appear).

Now, install the latest java, adobe reader, adobe flash, quicktime and your printer.

Finally, install your programs. Make sure you check if each needs any updates as you are installing them.

To 'finish':

Open up a command prompt with Administrative privileges and type:

Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

and hit enter. This will run Windows optimizations 'now' for your system.

In the same command prompt, type:

defrag c: -b

this will optimize the boot files so the computer boots as fast as possible.


The last thing you want to do is install an anti-virus program.

I highly recommend MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials). Free, effective and light on system resources. What more could we want?

Do a full scan and a quick scan of your computer with your A/V of choice.

Now, copy your data back to the drive.

If you just 'use' your computer, and not tinker with it: this will be the last time you should have to do the above on this system. That's how rock solid and stable it should be.

Enjoy!

 

+ 1 for clean install with the best drivers.

I don't advocate removing bloatware.

 

You could easily remove bloatware just by selecting the apps you want to unistall in the control panel. I usually just reformat the whole computer so i'll know for sure i didn't miss anything.

 

Certain brands don't have that much bloatware so people not comfortable reformatting their laptop.

HP is pretty bad, that Quick Web crap is terrible, you can't even enter safe mode, you have to boot up first and disable it in the boot.ini or change your boot order ONCE in Windows.

Dell has less of the bloatware, Acer/Gateway/Emachines have a fair amount, Toshiba doesn't but it's audit mode start up is slow as hell.

As for reimaging the computer, you sometimes cannot install the latest drivers, especially video drivers. If you use a manufacturer branded disc, official GPU forceware drivers almost always fail, especially ATi ones. nVidia you have better luck, but even that's with using an OEM disc to reinstall Windows. Also certain manufacturers may use a standard chipset but it maybe so proprietary that you MUST use manufacturer drivers.

 

Brands that don't have much bloatware often use outdated drivers like for Intel chipsets, controllers and graphics. That's why I'd rather do a clean install with the right drivers.

 

I have done both removing bloatware one by one, and numerous clean installs. I didn't see any performance gain/ difference in both the cases.

 

+1 for a clean install.

I did it on my vaio which originally came with Windows Vista (oh dear) and TONS of garbage.

Also did it with my recently bought acer (a desktop) which came with two (!!!) anti-virus softwares: norton and mcafee, among other sh*tty trial bloatwares. In other words, I had an awesome crippled computer.

Windows 7 is pretty good when it comes to installing drivers. Once you've got you backup disc, it's piece of cake .

good luck!

 

On a Win7 machine, if your 'bloatware' doesn't auto-start anything it's not going to affect performance. It may use up disk space and present you with a load of start menu entries you don't like, but it's not affecting performance.

'bloatware' was much more of a problem with XP because of the way the OS handled the registry (as a memory mapped file). A huge registry full of unneeded entries really did slow your machine down. Additionally, the practical upper limit for an XP registry is approx 32 Mb although the system technically supported sizes up to 64 Mb (or as little as 12 Mb if you started up with the /3Gb parameter). This was the case until kb292726 in 2007 when absolute limits of registry sizes were removed for both XP and Server 2003. However, this required that you have 4 Gb of ram installed to allow for enough system shared pool memory to support large in-memory mapped files (like registry hives).

Also remember that in 1997 the system registry was new and even the MSFT tools didn't support it properly until SP2. That led to all kinds of software filling up the registry with unneeded entries and, more importantly, failing to remove all of those entries when the software was deinstalled.

This in turn created a market for registry cleaners which are their own problem for people who use them blindly.

MSFT used a memory mapped file in XP because the hardware of the time (1997) was pretty slow in loading the registry. By keeping the registry in memory 100% of the time MSFT was working to compensate for the slow disk drives then available.

Win7 treats the registry as a simple file accessing portions of it **only** when needed and never loading it 100% into memory. This improves system reliability (vastly reduced incidents of corrupted registries) and overall responsiveness.

Yes, disk i/o and chipset i/o has really become that much better in the past 10+ years.

And, although no one likes to talk about it, having the registry as a standard system file pretty much eliminates the performance-oriented need to have registry cleaners.

Yes, registry cleaners as used on XP machines are not needed in Win7.

Cleaners still have a place for those who crave a clean registry (assuming that they have the expertise to determine what that might be) and to pick up after old software that doesn't deinstall cleanly.

But the use of registry cleaners for performance reasons and the 'fear' of bloatware is something that is rooted in a single piece of MSFT technology that is almost 15 years old (the XP registry) which doesn't apply to current generation machines.

 

I have.
I removed every piece of bloat and checked the start-up entries, not to mention registry and whatnot.
The boot time was reduced but not by much.

I did a clean install after that, and noticed my boot times went down considerably (before/after the necessary updates to the OS and installation of various programs).

 

Just measuring the boot times at random times is not a good way of determining a system's performance.

 

In theory with a SSD the entire drive is fast with no slow downs. So long as the bloat does not run/launch the system should boot nor perform any faster or slower so long as you are not pressing disk resources. With hard disks removal and optimization of the drive can affect system performance somewhat.

I have no issue with bloat removal over fresh install as actually I prefer some of the bloat. I like the eye candy and some of the nick nacks the OEM's offer. On my systems I also boot with RocketDock, Rainelander and with the U81a Virtuawin and Windowblinds.

I also use sidebar gadgets, auto switching backgrounds and all the available eye candy. I know these all are resource hogs but oh well, to me they make things just a bit more pleasing and usable. What is the sence of having all this power in your system and not using it?

 

Real scientific there Howie...What is a 'whatnot'?!#$???

 

Unless you're able to do a clean install right after you get your computer you're not going to want to do one after. I sure as hell am not going to perform a clean install when I have 270GB of data on here.

 

that much user data without a credible backup target is a disaster waiting to happen.........

 

I say, what exactly was the point of that?
By 'whatnot' I meant aspects that relate to the bloat in question.

As for measuring 'random boot' times... well, when your boot speed drops from 90 seconds (after bloat removal) to around 45 seconds and remains as such (after doing a clean install), I think it means I found at the very least a sure-fire way to eliminate the garbage in it's entirety (and that simply removing bloatware through uninstall would not always result in performance increase), further ensuring that no problems would arise as a result of the possible left-overs (sometimes the bloat integrates itself deeply into the system and the devices end up not working as a result of removal - and since I have 0 need for the 'bells and whistles' that comes with the bloat, I simply do a format of the HDD, repartition to my needs and do a clean install to make sure I do things MY way).

I tested a theory, and it worked (for me).

 

For people with no computer knowledge, that do not feel comfortable doing a reinstall;

Welcome | The PC Decrapifier

 

Okay i will not do the format of my desktop.

I dl both the pc decrapifier and the revo. But what am i suppose to remove?

 

With Decrapifier, you choose which programs you want to remove, it's up to you. Just check the "crap" you do not want and let the program take them off.

 

How do i know which crap i do not want? I just went through it and it looks like i could remove the programs the same way using control panel?

 

You can, Decrapifier just makes it easier, you see all the programs on one page, some that you may not notice. It's up to you.

 

Hey, is there a way to know which files i should delete? Or should i delete everything that i don't think i need. I see dell database backup and alot of other things.

 

You will need to look at each program, and see if you will use it, most of the programs that come with new PC's are trial versions of programs. If you have McAfee, get ride of it, go far a better AV, like the new Norton, or a free one like AVG Free, or Microsoft Security Essentials.

 

Go over to the Asus forums, and read the thread on Asus bloatware. It will tell you what all of the preinstaleld software does so you can decide which are useful to you and which to remove.