Microsoft slams OEM crapware
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The top offending OEM's for Crapware that I would say......My own opinion and not based off of anything more than what have seen in the past and present.....and in no certain order, well sort of, but is subjective......
1. Sony - Worst offender for not providing downloadable drivers for some parts of the system and only included in their restore images,, namely the (so called) Programmable P1 and P2 buttons. Or atleast they used to be. But still have garbageware that can kill a system.
2. Acer - Worst Offender of Garbageware that might ahve been developed by them that really kills their garbage systems.
3. HP/Compaq (er. Comcrap) - Just bloated garbage
4. Toshiba (or Toshitba) - ehn, you know.
5. eMachine / Gateway - Gateway is not that horrible I think and can be cleaned up pretty easy. The eMachines are just garbage.
To be perfectly honest, Dell systems actually do have a bit, but it is not as horrifying as the ones listed above, and generally easy to get rid of. Especially since they do include a clean OEM Install disk and a seperate bloatware/drivers disk (which you can throw away) and download the drivers from on-line to get the latest anyway.
Instant Clean install on a dell. As well as blowing away their Restore partition which also contains the bloat.
But this may also depend on where you buy the Dell from. I did get mine from Best Buy on a lark cause I didn't have much time. Check yours before attempting anything.
Anyway. That's my thoughts.
Those thoughts are appreciated too.
Thanks for taking the time to add to this News item....
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The top offending OEM's for Crapware that I would say......My own opinion and not based off of anything more than what have seen in the past and present.....and in no certain order, well sort of, but is subjective......
1. Sony - Worst offender for not providing downloadable drivers for some parts of the system and only included in their restore images,, namely the (so called) Programmable P1 and P2 buttons. Or atleast they used to be. But still have garbageware that can kill a system.
2. Acer - Worst Offender of Garbageware that might ahve been developed by them that really kills their garbage systems.
3. HP/Compaq (er. Comcrap) - Just bloated garbage
4. Toshiba (or Toshitba) - ehn, you know.
5. eMachine / Gateway - Gateway is not that horrible I think and can be cleaned up pretty easy. The eMachines are just garbage.
To be perfectly honest, Dell systems actually do have a bit, but it is not as horrifying as the ones listed above, and generally easy to get rid of. Especially since they do include a clean OEM Install disk and a seperate bloatware/drivers disk (which you can throw away) and download the drivers from on-line to get the latest anyway.
Instant Clean install on a dell. As well as blowing away their Restore partition which also contains the bloat.
But this may also depend on where you buy the Dell from. I did get mine from Best Buy on a lark cause I didn't have much time. Check yours before attempting anything.
Anyway. That's my thoughts.
Pretty accurate assessment. I would add that Lenovo has been the only manufacturer I have never had a problem with getting clean drivers and install media and belongs near the bottom of the list for bloatware. If I needed another laptop THIS is what I would get:
ThinkPad T410 laptop with Automatic Switchable Graphics
Sale price:$2,104.00
Check out the preload options:
Attachment 104940
Only manufacturer you can get a laptop with an i7, an SSD and a GPU that can handle most current games but comes from the factory with nothing on it but the OS for less than $3000.
Also, the best thing you can do with a factory restore partition is wipe it clean and replace it with a system image backup after you reinstall windows 7.. best feature microsoft ever offered IMO
If money were no object.. this is their top end w series for $6K, no bloat included:
System components
Intel Core i7-920XM Processor Extreme Edition (8M Cache, 2.00 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
17" WUXGA RGB-LED-BL
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M 128-core CUDA parallel computing processor 1GB (dedicated)
16 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (4 DIMM)
Ultranav + Number Pad + Fingerprint Reader
Camera, 2.0 MP
Internal RAID - Configured by Lenovo
Dual 128GB RAID Enabled Solid State Hard Drives, Serial ATA
Multi Recorder Optical Drive (12.7mm)
Express Card(54mm) + Express Card(34mm)
9 cell Li-Ion Battery
Country Pack North America with DT Line cord & 230W AC adapter
ThinkPad bgn Wireless
Last edited by madtownidiot; 26 Oct 2010 at 09:02.
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I concur and forgot about Lenovo.
They are ones I do recommend and I love working on their Laptops.
They are a breeze to tear down and put back together.
They are the simplest laptops to tear down, next to that would be Dell's.
I often recommend Lenovo to those wh can afford them. They are a bit more pricey, but they are IBM's after all. Which were some of the most solid systems (minus some very minor issues) that have ever been built.
But as always, some models are worse than others. Everyone has a bad line every now and then.
My top 2 recommendations are Lenovo and then Dell.
Can't believe I forgot about them.
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Just received my new Dell Studio XPS. First thing I want to do is wipe the drive and install Windows 7 clean and fresh. Uh, no Windows 7 disk. I post a note on their support forum, get steered to another web form to request the disk. Get an e-mail from rahjid in India that I can use the system restore image program. I say no, I need Windows 7 disk so I don't just get a factory re-install of all crapware. He senses my getting a little testy, and says he'll make a "one time exception" and send the disk. Thanks rahjid. 
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Just received my new Dell Studio XPS. First thing I want to do is wipe the drive and install Windows 7 clean and fresh. Uh, no Windows 7 disk. I post a note on their support forum, get steered to another web form to request the disk. Get an e-mail from rahjid in India that I can use the system restore image program. I say no, I need Windows 7 disk so I don't just get a factory re-install of all crapware. He senses my getting a little testy, and says he'll make a "one time exception" and send the disk. Thanks rahjid.
Yeah,, that is why I stated that I think it depends on where you purchase your system. Just hope that what they do send you is a clean OEM disk.
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If money were no object. I would have something similar.
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Dell does send relatively clean OS disks when you can get them to give you one. The drivers and bloat come on a 2nd disk, but it is possible (pretty simple actually) to separate the drivers from the bloat, or you can download specific drivers from the dell website. Run the unzip utility and copy the extracted folders to a flash drive or make a custom iso by adding the folder to an image of the install disk. You'll get a slightly better setup if you install is load the chipset, sound and display drivers after booting from the install disk by using the load drivers option and pointing it to the location of the drivers folder(s)
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iBuyPower does not put any crapware into their machines. I know this because I have a desktop and a laptop from them which only included the OS, Office Starter, drivers, and a CyberLink DVD Suite.
For that matter, they left it up to me to install the stuff they sent me. This is how I like it and this is why I've been buying from them. They send you what you need for your PC. Nothing more. Nothing less.
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My definition of crapware includes any software with an expiration date, anything with obviously limited or disabled features that will only be available with a purchase.. especially if you are reminded of their limitations at every opportunity, anything that includes advertising, and anything that duplicates a feature already available with windows. Cyberlink and office starter both fit into one or more of those categories.. but good try.
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Well, I guess there is "crapware" that I like then because neither of the two have caused any problems and have actually been useful. Also the CyberLink software is not a free trial and does not pop up advertising of a full version in my face (which I hate). I will say though that Office Starter is basically crapware that often costs money. Fortunately, I did not pay for it as iBuyPower had a sale and was giving it away free.
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Some people like preloaded stuff.. the cyberlink dvd suite doesn't do anything you can't do with WMP 12 and windows movie maker.. but I guess that proves crapware is in the eye of the beholder...
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