How to Banish Bloatware from Your PC and Smartphone. You're never going to use the borked trial versions of all these programs that came preinstalled on your new laptop or smartphone, so why should they continue taking up precious hard drive space? Here's how to cut the deadweight out of your operating system. Bloatware is installed your device for the manufacturer's benefit (read: cash money), not yours. These programs, often a trial version or other hobbled iteration, are essentially paid advertisements by software developers to get you to buy the full program. Paid ads that can compete with your preferred programs, slow system performance, and generally take the fun out of getting a new device. Luckily, there are plenty of simple solutions to removing them. PCTo get both of the preinstalled Norton and Mc. Afee programs competing with your preferred installed AVG off of your system, you've got a couple of options. You can always uninstall them individually from the Programs manager in the Control Panel. To do this, click the start menu in Windows 7 - > Control Panel - > Uninstall Programs. Then work your way through the list of installed programs, uninstalling them as you go. But, since most new PCs come with a lot more than two bloat programs (it's closer to a dozen), removing each individually can forever. On the other hand, you could go the opposite route by wiping the drive and reinstalling a clean build of Windows using a store- bought copy. To do so, first backup your drive. Then insert a store- bought Windows install disk and reboot the system (or run the downloaded copy you bought from the Microsoft store). From here, simply follow the install wizard and the onscreen guide (it's pretty intuitive, but you can head here for a fairly comprehensive walkthrough). But this will cost you both an afternoon and extra cash for the clean OS copy, which is a bit of a kick in the face seeing as how you just ponied up for the laptop itself. There is a third option, however: CCleaner. Simply install and run it. Choose the programs you want to get rid of from the menu and let CCleaner do its thing. Obviously you'll want to get rid of all the Demo and Trial programs, but also keep an eye out for third- party media programs, antivirus suites, and anything else that you don't need. Once it's run its course, restart your PC and restart CCleaner. Run it once again to clean up the system registry and you're ready to start installing your own programs. These programs do little more than take up storage space (as much as 6. MB on the Galaxy S4) and demand full system access (which is for totally noble reasons, I'm sure) but they can be removed with a bit of work. Since most pre- installed Android programs will allow you to either disable or freeze their functionality but will not allow you to uninstall them outright, you'll need to take more aggressive measures. Like installing a fresh copy of Windows on the PC, your primary nuclear option is to install a custom ROM. By doing so, you'll also eliminate the bloatware; however, this method takes a bit of technical know- how and isn't right for everyone. If you do decide to go that route, however, Cyanogenmod is a popular, customized, open- source ROM. The install process is somewhat akin to the PC wipe and reload, but each ROM is designed for its specific phone model. The Cyanogenmod Support wiki is an invaluable source of information regarding the installation process, so be sure to read through it a few times before you start hacking your pocket computer. Program To Clean Bloatware RemovalYou could also root your phone and forcibly delete the offending programs, but this too should be reserved for those sufficiently proficient. Perhaps the easiest method, though requires little more than some intelligent cutting and pasting. XDA Developers member Broadways have assembled this slick little bloatware removal script (. Be cautious though; delete the wrong program and you'll brick your phone. Head over to the XDA Developers forums for a full set of instructions. Remember: bloat's annoying, but you don't have to put up with it. ![]() And zapping it can actually be kind of fun. Lenovo's Superfish debacle has thrust bloatware back into the limelight. Here's why PC makers intentionally make your PC experience worse, and how to blast the crap off your computer. Blowing away bloatware: a guide to reinstalling Windows on a. Not every program included on a new PC is useless, though. Applications; Nvidia; Brad Chacos — Senior Editor. Blowing away bloatware: a guide to reinstalling Windows on a new PCDoes your new PC's desktop look like this, or worse? It doesn't have to be this way! Getting IT Done. View more stories. We recently reported on a new service offered through Microsoft Stores: for $9. Windows on any new PC, wiping out all of the bloatware that shipped with the computer and installing a few basic productivity applications in their stead. We ended up with nearly as many comments on that story as it had words. The discussions included whether $9. PCs come with so much pre- installed software in the first place. Whichever side of these various arguments you came down on, the general consensus was that bloatware brings down the price of PCs—but is otherwise supremely terrible and should be nuked from orbit. This guide aims to address all of these points in one big, sweeping go, both for home users and for smaller businesses without dedicated IT staff. ![]() ![]() Program To Clean Bloatware AndroidPeople who have never tried this before will learn enough to be able to download Windows installation media, hunt down drivers, and reinstall their own operating system. Technical users who have done all of this before can pick up some information about how Windows installation media and the Windows activation process have changed since the Windows XP days. And everyone should come away with an idea of what goes into installing Windows from scratch on a new PC, and just what that $9. Decrap My Computer allows you to easily and safely remove all of the bloatware that comes pre-installed by the manufacturer on a new Windows PC. Which HP Bloatware and Trialware can be removed? HP like most PC manufacturers engage in the pre-installation of various types of bloat and trialware. Recently, HP released a new service when purchas. Dolla dolla bills — Microsoft will remove the bloatware from your PC, for a price $99 and a trip to a Microsoft Store will get you a clean Windows install. Andrew Cunningham - May 16, 2012 3:38 pm UTC. Before you start. For the purposes of our guide, we will begin with a new PC that has just been taken out of the box and hooked up for the first time. Before we get started, you're going to want to download a few things, so don't reformat that hard drive just yet—turn on the PC and walk through Windows' first- time setup process. All you need to do is get to the desktop, connect to the Internet, and fire up a Web browser. This guide isn't going to walk you through preserving any personal data on the PC you're reloading, so it would be best to not yet do anything on this computer you'll want to keep. Getting Windows install media. ![]() Bloatware—also known as crapware—is more than annoying, because it actively consumes your computer’s resources. It’s worth your time to clean it off a new PC so you can use it to its full potential. How to Banish Bloatware from Your PC and Smartphone. This mass uninstall program is built to clear the crap from. Bloatware: What it is and how to get rid of it. However, a small program inside SW Update called Disable After you've booted the PC to its bloatware- infested desktop and clicked through the various EULAs and pop- up boxes for software you'll never use, the first thing you're going to want to do is get a copy of the vanilla Windows install media—most new computers these days don't come with that sort of thing, and the restore functionality they do include is just going to restore all of the bloatware, too. It used to be that getting Windows install media without actually buying a retail copy of Windows required you to visit less- than- legitimate sites and hope that whatever you downloaded wasn’t infested with viruses. No longer: you can now download your Windows media from Digital River, the company Microsoft uses to supply ISOs to people who buy Windows online. These downloads are identical to the “full install” versions of the Windows install media. You'll want to download the media for the same edition of Windows that came with the computer, so check the Windows sticker on the bottom or side of the computer or the System control panel to see what you've got. Most new consumer PCs will come with Windows 7 Home Premium, but Professional and Ultimate sometimes show up on mid- and high- end machines. Checking the Windows edition in the System control panel. You can also find this information printed on your Windows license sticker. This should go without saying, but note that these downloads do not include a license or a product key to install Windows—you'll still need a valid . ![]() They are, however, a convenient way to get new install media if (1) your computer didn't come with generic Windows install media, as is almost always the case these days, (2) your original Windows media has become lost or damaged, or (3) you want to replace your old Windows install disc with one that has the latest Service Pack integrated already, especially useful since Microsoft has made the service pack slipstreaming process much more difficult since the XP days. Once you’ve downloaded the ISO for your Windows edition and bit- ness, you can either burn it to a DVD using Windows 7's built- in DVD burning tool or copy it to a USB drive using Microsoft’s Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool—our guide will help you through it step- by- step. At this point, we run into one of the most common misconceptions about reinstalling a clean copy of Windows on a new computer: that install media bought in a store (or, in our case, downloaded from Digital River's servers) won't work with the OEM license key printed on the computer. This was, in fact, true back in the days of Windows XP, and that operating system's longevity and popularity is why this belief persists—Microsoft's OEM partners are given special Windows media and license keys that are used to install Windows en masse on new PCs. This Windows media checks for a special string in a computer's BIOS to verify that the computer was from one of Microsoft's OEM partners, and would not require additional action to activate if that string was found. This whole process is called System Locked Pre- installation (SLP), and it's still in use today—for example, the Dell- branded Windows install media included with my Dell Latitude does not require activation after installation because it knows to check the BIOS for the requisite text string. The difference is that the OEM versions of Windows XP install media would not accept a product key for an off- the- shelf copy of Windows even if that key was valid and vice- versa. Volume license customers had yet another variant of install media for use with their product keys (one of the reasons this whole mess existed was to prevent people from using leaked volume license keys for Windows XP Pro to activate commercially available install media). Getting around this limitation was possible if you were willing to copy your install media to your hard drive, fiddle with some of the files, and re- burn it, but this was a hit- or- miss procedure that didn't work consistently and was well out of most users' comfort zone. Due in part to changes in Windows volume licensing, this is no longer the case. Retail Windows 7 DVDs will happily accept OEM license keys as long as you're using . You may have to use Microsoft's phone- based activation process rather than the more convenient Internet activation, but there are no other technical roadblocks and there's nothing in Microsoft's EULA that prevents it as long as you're using the same edition of Windows and you're not using your OEM key to install Windows on multiple systems (Microsoft didn't respond to requests for clarification on the issue). You can even switch between 3. Windows if you'd like. I’ve also been asked whether wiping out the installed copy of Windows will have any impact on the computer’s hardware warranty—the short answer is no. The warranty terms for all the major PC vendors (I checked HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, and Toshiba specifically, and a Lenovo representative confirmed for me) separate hardware and software pretty clearly, meaning that wiping out the factory- installed copy of Windows with a fresh copy (or even another OS) will invalidate any sort of software support provided by that computer’s manufacturer, but if the hardware fails within the warranty period they’re still obligated to fix the problem. Downloading drivers and software. The next thing to do, and one of the most important, is download the drivers for your hardware. Doing this before installing our fresh copy of Windows on the computer isn’t necessary, but if you have the computer’s fully populated Device Manager window to guide you, it makes it much easier to identify and download the drivers you need. For a broad overview of the Windows installation and driver hunting processes, this part of last year’s “How to build your own computer” feature is a great place to start. Since you’ll be installing Windows right off of the DVD with no extra drivers or customizations, the process will be identical to installing the OS on a computer you built yourself. Enlarge/ A list of drivers on Dell's download site. Most manufacturers make it relatively easy to get the drivers you need. The good news is that OEM support pages are typically a bit easier to navigate than your average motherboard manufacturer’s, and it’s a bit simpler to remember and search for something like “Dell Latitude E6. GA- H6. 1N- USB3.” Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, Toshiba, ASUS, and others all have pretty good support pages into which you can type your computer’s model name or serial number and operating system and get back all of the drivers you need for a new Windows install. The three most important types of drivers you’ll need to get a clean Windows install off the ground are graphics (or video), networking (both wired and wireless), and sound (or audio), so make sure you grab those first. If there are multiple drivers available under each entry, you can check the Device Manager to see what kind of hardware you’re using, or you can just download all available drivers to make sure your bases are covered. The other drivers you need will depend on the equipment installed in your computer, and this often varies from manufacturer to manufacturer—Lenovo laptops use a custom power management driver that you’ll need to look out for, and HP laptops often need a driver for their Quick Launch buttons to function properly. Fingerprint readers, USB 3. Bluetooth, chipset, hard drive free- fall sensors, and SATA drivers are other common components (though specialized USB 3. Bluetooth drivers should be rendered mostly unnecessary by Windows 8), and trackpad drivers (while sometimes not strictly necessary) can make trackpads more reliable and enable advanced functions. This is especially true of the multitouch trackpads shipping with most Ultrabooks. Once your drivers are downloaded, copy them to a USB key for later.
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