Dear Computer Guy: I am learning new things about the computer everyday, but I still consider myself to be a bit technologically-challenged. I've come a long way from 20 years ago when I was afraid to hit ESC for fear of losing everything and a very long way from programming in Basic B using punch cards. I figured that anything loaded with my computer must have a value and had been afraid to remove any of it, despite the fact I don't play games on the computer and haven't figured out how to use an MP3 player, yet. But, finally I removed Symantec myself because I was so sick of it popping up all of the time.
- Hp Pre Installed Software Windows 8
- How To Remove Preinstalled Software
- Recover Pre Installed Hp Programs
I sure wish I had found your site a long time ago. Thank you very much!
PCMag reviews products, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. A brand-new Windows computer should be pristine out of the box. After all, you haven't gummed it up yet with software, right? Leave that to the computer manufacturers. They'll gum it up for you with 'free' software you don't want.
It goes by names like crapware, bloatware, or shovelware because computer makers shovel bloated nonsense by the barrelful onto new PCs. There's a reason for that—crapware offsets the price of on retail shelves, even if it's only by pennies. I'd never had major problems with it in the past when buying via mail order. But in retail, it's a whole other world of crap. For example, a couple years ago, my technophobic father, then age 75, got a new PC to replace his dying Windows Vista system, which he mainly used to print pictures. I couldn't really recommend spending a lot of money to get it fixed. 'Just go find an off-the-shelf for under $400, it'll be fine compared to what he's got,' I told my mom (aka Dad's IT person in residence).
Hardware-wise, the Acer Aspire X (Model AXC-605G-UW20) they purchased at Walmart was sufficient. The specs all qualified as an upgrade. To get that price of $399, however, Acer sold out my parents and wasted hours of my family's lives to fix it. Using remote control software, I could see the system was a mess, and all Mom had done was install the software for Dad's beloved Kodak printer.
The desktop was awash in at least 15 icons for needless, worthless crap. Opening up the Uninstall a Program control panel revealed even more in residence. Mom had already tried to uninstall the obvious things, but they seemed to persist. With many of the uninstall routines, the dialog boxes had giant buttons that would say 'Uninstall and Get PC XXXXXX' or something similar. If we just wildly clicked where the button was, the uninstall might work—but something else got installed in its place. We had to carefully look for the fine print on the dialog boxes that said 'Delete Only' or similar. Tricks and traps abounded.
I turned to from Slimware Utilities. It keeps a database of crapware, and helps you identify it on a new Windows PC. Select all the crap and it steps you through the uninstall routine for each. It helped me dump several less obvious but still unnecessary programs.
Another option is the excellently named. 'Potentially Unwanted' PUP Crap Perhaps those programs were on the Acer to start, or perhaps the crapware uninstall routines put them there (in all likelihood providing the crapware developers the same kind of kickback as Acer), but now the new Acer PC had actual malware infections in the guise of 'potentially unwanted programs,' or PUPs. The programs don't call themselves that.
The anti-malware companies, like, use the term. It describes programs you probably didn't install on purpose, don't want, and probably find unusable—but they have to say 'potentially' because, sure, it's possible you wanted to install a toolbar for your browser called 'Search Protect' by a company named, or a search engine for your browser called Binkiland. In reality, it's about as likely as wanting to be set on fire.
Both of those 'programs,' among others, were on my dad's PC. They exist only to take over your browsing experience; each appears on a list of on Wikipedia. Others you may see and should eradicate immediately: Taplika, SwiftBrowse, BetterSurrf, CrossRider, WeDownload, OpenCandy, OptimizerPro, and DoSearches. The list can and will go on and on, as the hijackers make new threats.
It's telling that searching for 'Search Protect' or 'Binkiland' brings up absolutely no link for people to get those programs—only to remove the damnable hijackers' files. The hijackers did a number on my dad's PC. I couldn't get the installed browsers (IE and Firefox) to go to a Web page to download new tools to deal with these threats. I had to download the clean-up software to my workstation, then use TeamViewer to do a remote file transfer of the EXE installer to dad's desktop.
Also note that at this point we uninstalled McAfee Security Suite, which came free with the Acer as well. You may not consider as shovelware, but it certainly is. Acer didn't put it on there to be altruistic; McAfee paid for placement. Plus, McAfee was likely to 1) slow the PC more than smaller AV products we could install later and 2) would eventually cost $79 after the trial was over. Here's a rundown of the tools we used to clean the hijacking PUPs:.: The free version comes with a trial of the Premium version, so it's worth running on every fresh installation of Windows.
Plus, the scans take a lot less time on a new Windows install. After 14 days, you lose things like real-time protection and anti-ransomware features, but it's worth running up front.
Remember after that two weeks, get some.: Donationware that does the trick for Windows XP on up.: Piriform's excellent Windows clean-up tool will do something unique: it'll uninstall apps that are built into Windows. I'm not talking shovelware crap, but actual apps that Microsoft created to work with Windows—so consider it OS-sanctioned crapware. Click on Tools, then uninstall, and you'll get a list of possibilities to delete.
We ran all the tools multiple times, MalwareBytes in particular. It kept finding instances of the PUPs, so we turned to the Internet (which we could finally surf again) to find for manually deleting the PUP files.
Which we did, with glee. After cleanups were run.well, the system wasn't totally bug-free. But it was certainly better than it had been hours before. Don't Do What We Did Let me make it clear: I do NOT recommend going through this. If we bought that computer today with on it, we'd start with a full reset of the OS using the. It's the first thing anyone buying a new PC at retail should do after they take it out of the box.
It sets the PC back to a pristine state—without crapware (except for the Microsoft supplied crapware, like the ). If you actually want a piece of that shovelware, you're going to have to get it separately, but that's not difficult. Better yet, vote against crapware with your wallet.
Buy a PC from a maker that either guarantees a clean Windows install, or at least offers it as an option. Microsoft, naturally, also has a clean version of Windows on its and —again, clean as defined by what Microsoft thinks is best. If you go to one of the few Microsoft Stores, they sell ' from makers like HP, Razer, Sony, Toshiba, Dell, MSI, Asus, Acer, and Lenovo.
Custom-build manufacturers that promise you a crapware-free installation of Windows include, and. Another option: go with a local reseller. Or, buy a or a. If you want to save money, install Linux on your old PC.
That wasn't really an option for my father. If you're wedded to using an older version of Windows, the only sure-fire way to get the same result is re-install Windows completely, with a totally fresh, clean configuration. That's not possible with most retail PCs that had Window 7, 8, or 8.1. Whether the operating system installer is an image on a partition of the hard drive or a DVD disc, it's going to most likely install Windows with all the crapware, fresh as an outhouse, as well.
If you can't keep a retail copy of Windows 7 or 8 around for reinstalls, it makes the update to Windows 10 seem even more advantageous. You can even do the refresh and not lose your data files on well-used PCs. You can always download ISO files of Windows 7 and 8 and even 10 at the. But you need a 25-character product key from a retail version of Windows to fully activate the operating system.
Keys from computer makers—called OEMs, or original equipment manufacturers—won't work. Why Is This Happening?
You might be wondering, why exactly are big-name PC makers and software developers allowing all this crapware with extra 'Internet wrappers' PUPs to happen? Money, of course. As PC sales dwindle, so do software purchases, and everyone is scrambling to make up for any losses.
For proof, look to, which examines programs from every single major download site, including CNET's Downloads.com, Tucows, FileHippo, Softpedia, Snapfiles, and more. Every single one had crapware bundled right into their programs. That's not even taking into account that some of those sites have multiple download 'buttons' (actually ads) on every page, just to obfuscate and confuse users into downloading the wrong thing. Always download software from the original site (if you can find it). Unfortunately, even Google search results tend to default to download sites like those listed above. Pundit Ed Bott has to force the PC manufacturers to tell users what's pre-installed. It's an excellent idea that probably won't happen.
Drivers for Turtle Beach Headsets. Generic drivers will install. (If your headset is not listed in this table. - Z22 - Z300 - Z60 - PX24.
Hi all, I recently build my new gaming pc and my turtle beach z22 headset wont install the drivers to function the mic, i can hear through the headset fine but the PC. Hi people!I'm having a massive drama after upgrading my Motherboard, CPU and RAM as of 2 days ago. Just prior to purchasing my new rig, I purchased a Turtle Beach Z22.
It would be nice if the download sites, some of whom, would do the same.
Tips for better search results. Ensure correct spelling and spacing - Examples: 'paper jam'. Use product model name: - Examples: “laserjet pro p1102”, “DeskJet 2130”. For HP products, enter a serial number or product number. Examples: “HU265BM18V”, “LG534UA”. For Samsung Print products, enter the M/C or Model Code found on the product label.
Examples: “SL-M2020W/XAA”. Include keywords along with product name. Examples: 'LaserJet Pro P1102 paper jam', 'EliteBook 840 G3 bios update' Need help finding your product name, number or serial number?
Where Is The CD/DVD? First, it was the industry giving out image CDs rather than physical CDs for all the software. Now the industry is not including any physical media at all with new systems.
Part of this is because more and more systems are now not shipping with. As a result, companies use a separate partition on the hard drive that holds the image along with an installer to rebuild the remaining portion of the hard drive back to the original setup. Users have the option of making their own restore CD/DVD but have to supply the blank media themselves and this is only if their system actually has the drives to make them. This actually has a huge effect on the consumers. Restoring the system from an image means that the hard drive must be reformatted.
Any data or other applications on the system must be backed up and then reinstalled after the image is restored. Additionally, it prevents the reinstallation of a single application that came with the system if it is having problems. More Is Better? There has been an explosion of applications that come preinstalled on computer systems. Typically this is the result of marketing deals between software companies and the manufacturers as a means of either getting a larger audience of users or getting funds because of the use of the software. One example is the WildTangent gaming application that is generally marketed as a Games system from the manufacturer.
All of this has its problems, though. The best example of how out of hand it has become is to look at the desktop and the taskbar after a new computer has booted for the first time. The typical Windows installation has between four and six icons that reside on the desktop. Compare this to a new computer system that can have as many as twenty icons on the desktop.
Hp Pre Installed Software Windows 8
This clutter can really detract the user from a good experience. Similarly, the system tray on the left hand of the taskbar next to the clock will have around three to six icons in a standard installation. New computers can have as many as 10 or more icons in this tray. (Windows sometimes will mask the number of tray icons if there are too many.) Budget systems can experience major slowdowns as well with the new. One of the new features is Live Tiles. These are dynamic icons that are animated and can pull up information. These Live Tiles take up additional resources in terms of memory, processor time and even network traffic.
Most budget systems have limited resources and a large number of these can really impact performance. The most frustrating part about this is that 80% of the applications that come preinstalled on new computers can be downloaded and installed by the users for free. In fact, I generally recommend that new users go through their system and that they do not use. This can save a lot of system memory, hard drive space and even boost performance. Trialware Trialware is one of the latest preinstalled software trends with new computers.
Typically it is a full version of a software application that is installed on the computer system. When the user first launches the application, they get a temporary license key to use the software from anywhere from thirty to ninety days.
At the end of the trial period, the software program then disables itself until the user purchases a full license key from the software company. Usually, this is the full application, but sometimes it might be only parts of the program that can be used indefinitely with advanced features that can only be unlocked with purchase. In many ways, trialware is both good and bad. On the plus side, it allows the user to see if they would like or need the application before they want to purchase it. This can give the user a good insight into whether the application is functional or not.
If they do not like it, they just remove it from the computer system. The big problem with this is how the manufacturers label this software.
Often times the trial software is either listed without the notice to the buyer that it has a limited license or the conditions of use are printed in very small text as a footnote making the user think that they are getting the full software when they purchase the PC. What Can A Buyer Do?
There is little that can be done before purchasing a system. Almost no companies are offering the application installation media, so it is best to assume that it does not come with it.
How To Remove Preinstalled Software
Also, look at the full specifications of the software applications to determine whether the program is a full version or trialware. This is the limit of what can be done before the purchase.
Recover Pre Installed Hp Programs
Another option might be to go with a system integrator instead of a computer manufacturer as they tend to provide the application CDs. The drawback to this is the limited amount of software and typically higher prices. After a computer system has been purchased, the best thing to do is. Find all of the applications that are included in the computer and test them. If they are not applications that you think you will use, remove them from the system. Also, if there are programs that you will use infrequently, try to that can use up system memory.
This will generally help to clear up the clutter on the computer system and can help improve system performance.