How to completely remove preinstalled software?

[Sher]

I bought a new sony vaio laptop Win 7-64bit that of course came with preinstalled software which I would like to delete. Norton Internet Security and Microsoft Office 2010. The Norton is just a 30 day trial which looks like it got installed somehow the first time we took the laptop online. No idea about the MSoft Office but I'm sure it's just a trial also. Can anyone tell me if just going through the normal windows uninstall will be enough to remove this stuff from my system or will I still need to get special removal tools from their sites? Thanks in advance.

 

[IggyAZ]

I bought a new sony vaio laptop Win 7-64bit that of course came with preinstalled software which I would like to delete. Norton Internet Security and Microsoft Office 2010. The Norton is just a 30 day trial which looks like it got installed somehow the first time we took the laptop online. No idea about the MSoft Office but I'm sure it's just a trial also. Can anyone tell me if just going through the normal windows uninstall will be enough to remove this stuff from my system or will I still need to get special removal tools from their sites? Thanks in advance.

Get a copy of this and you can select all you want to remove.
Crappy PC No More! | The PC Decrapifier

The PC Decrapifier is Free for personal use.

 

[Sher]

haha, thanks but how trustworthy is that software? I have tried to download the norton removal tool from symantec 3 times and it never gets the full 898kb file. First time it stopped at 434kb and said it was complete and 2nd time at 551kb, 3rd time at 300+ kb. No idea why I can't d/l the full 898kb file for the removal tool.

 

[santer]

Another option is Revo Uninstaller, there is a free and pro version, there is a free trial of the pro version, both can create system restore points before uninstalling

Revo Uninstaller Pro - Uninstall Software, Remove Programs easily

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

 

[MilesAhead]

haha, thanks but how trustworthy is that software? I have tried to download the norton removal tool from symantec 3 times and it never gets the full 898kb file. First time it stopped at 434kb and said it was complete and 2nd time at 551kb, 3rd time at 300+ kb. No idea why I can't d/l the full 898kb file for the removal tool.

I was going to suggest you run norton removal before decrapifiler.
I used decraipifier on a new HP. It did a farily good job. No mass unintall is going to be hassle free. But I think it saved me some time. You could try Major Geeks for the norton download

|MG| Norton Removal Tool 2012.0.0.19 Download

I ran norton removal on my new HP 3 or 4 times and rebooted and it still left calls to drivers in the registry that were no longer on the machine. The boot would time out as it waited for each file to load. I forget if I used CCleaner or erased the stuff from the Registry manually. But I had to look through the boot log to find out what files it was waiting on. A reboot took over 2 minutes on the machine until I cleaned the Registry out.

Any time you dabble in mass uninstall I would do some back ups first. At least back up your registry with ERUNT and do a restore point. Best would be to image back up to an external USB.

If you look around here you'll see discussions of free imagine programs.

 

[Bill2]

Stop being lazy and uninstall unneeded programs via the Control panel-Programs and Features route. You can clean up left behind junk and obsolete reg entries with CCleaner. IDK why people want fancy tools for doing simple things.

As for that Office version that came preinstalled, check- it might be Starter edition, thats a full version which does excellently for everyday use of Word and Excel. Once you uninstall it, factory recovery is the only way to reinstall.

 

[Sher]

As for that Office version that came preinstalled, check- it might be Starter edition, thats a full version which does excellently for everyday use of Word and Excel. Once you uninstall it, factory recovery is the only way to reinstall.

I've not even clicked on the MSoft Office icon yet as was afraid it might fully install it but then again, maybe it's already installed. Please bear with me but how could I tell if it's the full verion of Word and Excel (starter edition)? Under ProgramFiles I see just Version Text which says it's 201004220 and under ProgramFiles (x86) I have Option14 when I click that I see several folders that are numbered from 1025-3082 and 2 exe files (MSOO.exe/OOBESTUB.exe)

Thanks all for the suggestions. I had to call Symantec and let them connect to my system remotely and THEY downloaded the full removal tool (898kb) to my system through their secure file share. I bet anything the tool will not get rid of all the clsid files in my registry though. I don't know if ccleaner does either but I will manage. Thanks again.

 

[Golden]

Hi Sher,

You can double check on the Norton removal by following this link :

Download and run the Norton Removal Tool to uninstall your Norton product | Norton Support

I trust you plan to uninstall another ant-virus software application in its place?

For the Office, simply Click Start Orb, then click All Programs. Now find the Microsoft Office folder - what sub-folders do you see under that?

I agree with Bill : in almost all cases uninstalling via Control Panel will get the required result. You should follow that route first before trying anything more complex.

Regards,
Golden

 

[Sher]

Hi Sher,

You can double check on the Norton removal by following this link :

Download and run the Norton Removal Tool to uninstall your Norton product | Norton Support

I trust you plan to uninstall another ant-virus software application in its place?

For the Office, simply Click Start Orb, then click All Programs. Now find the Microsoft Office folder - what sub-folders do you see under that?

I agree with Bill : in almost all cases uninstalling via Control Panel will get the required result. You should follow that route first before trying anything more complex.

Regards,
Golden

Thanks for the response but if u read my post above, I stated all what I have under the program M Office under both programfiles folders. And as I mentioned, I did try to d/l the norton removal tool from their site but it would not fully download so the symantec peeps connected remotely and got it d/l for me. I do have a list they also gave me for several reg entries that I should delete to be sure the norton is totally gone.

Yes, I plan to install the Microsoft Essential which I've heard great reviews on and am already using on 2 other computers I have.
Thanks Again,
Sher

 

[Golden]

Hi,

OK. From what I understood, is that you browsed to the Microsoft Office folder under program Files (x86) using Windows Explorer. Thats not what I am suggesting.

I'm suggesting you look at the Microsoft Office folder and sub-folders under the Start Orb > All Programs - the reason is that there is often an option for Activation there if your version you have is a trial version. This is just a simple way to see what type/version of Office you have, so you can make a decision on what to do.

Regards,
Golden

 

[Bill2]

Office Starter can be distinguished from a mile away. Reason? Its ad supported. Open any Office app say Word- you'll see an ad at the bottom right portion of the screen. Office starter also creates a tell tale Q drive on the hard disk which is a virtual drive used by its click to run tech. You'll also see several virtualization services in the services console.

If you dont have this, you likely have a trial version of Office 2010. In Office 2010, you can check the activation status by clicking Help on the File menu. On the right side of the dialog box, under the Microsoft Office logo, you will see a message that says, "Product activated" or "Product requires activation."

 

[Golden]

Excellent - thanks Bill, thats a much easier method.

 

[Sher]

Okay, I clicked Start\All Programs\then the msoft office... I see 3 choices...
1. I already purchased office 2010
2. Go online to purchase office 2010
3. Use office starter 2010

You're saying this will create an extra "Q" drive, it will run ads all the time, it doesn't sound like too good of an app to run. Also it will use a lot of room on my laptop hard drive which is only 640 gb to begin with. Perhaps I could try the Starter and then delete if I find I don't need it.

 

[seavixen32]

I bought a new sony vaio laptop Win 7-64bit that of course came with preinstalled software which I would like to delete. Norton Internet Security and Microsoft Office 2010. The Norton is just a 30 day trial which looks like it got installed somehow the first time we took the laptop online. No idea about the MSoft Office but I'm sure it's just a trial also. Can anyone tell me if just going through the normal windows uninstall will be enough to remove this stuff from my system or will I still need to get special removal tools from their sites? Thanks in advance.

I have a Sony Vaio I bought very recently to complement my desktop and removed Norton, MS Office 2010 trial and various other bloatware using Microsoft's uninstaller with no problems whatsoever.

 

[Bill2]

Okay, I clicked Start\All Programs\then the msoft office... I see 3 choices...
1. I already purchased office 2010
2. Go online to purchase office 2010
3. Use office starter 2010

You're saying this will create an extra "Q" drive, it will run ads all the time, it doesn't sound like too good of an app to run. Also it will use a lot of room on my laptop hard drive which is only 640 gb to begin with. Perhaps I could try the Starter and then delete if I find I don't need it.

Actually its not as bad as it sounds. I used it for a while cos it came preinstalled, then reverted to Office 2007. But if you have to shell out money for an Office license and dont need to do anything exotic, Starter does pretty well. It has only Word and Excel, so if you need to make ppt presentations, this is not for you.

The ads are not obtrusive, the Q drive is a virtual drive, not a real one (it doesnt take up hard disk space). For viewing ppt, you can download the free ppt viewer from MS.

 

[Sher]

Yes, I understand the Q drive would be a virtual drive but the MSoft office program itself will use a lot of space for all the nonsense it will install. I always used office up until about 4 years ago when I realized I really didn't need it because Wordpad was sufficient for my needs. I do have the ppt viewer so really no need for office I guess but we'll see.

I ran the norton removal tool on my new laptop and it only took a minute. At first glace, the norton internet security appears to be gone but I will do a thorough search of my system plus the registry to be sure. Now I guess I need to get the Nero removal tool as trying to remove that through Programs and Features on windows7 did not fully remove it. But that feature does that commonly (never fully uninstalls something).

Thanks to everyone for ALL your responses.
Sher