Programs not needed?

[Chiumiento]

I would like to know if there are any programs that came with my computer that I could delete and get rid of? I have read that HP always fills there computers with a bunch of bloat ware. I would like to keep my video editing stuff. My music stuff. But if there is anything that anyone could maybe think of and know that I could get rid of. Please post it here. If you could just post everything I could get rid of. I will just choose what I want and do not want. It would really be a big help. I would like to keep my huge hard drive as clean as possible. Also I have a bunch of computer programs on here. I do not think I need them all. With ones should I get rid of and witch ones should I keep to know all the info I would need about my computer? I have Device doctor, Belarc advisor, PC wizard 2001, HD tune pro, Tweak GDS, Driver view-64, Cpuid-CPUz, I have the restart time thing to tell my restart time. I also have a thing called cleanup. It came with my PC tools firewall plus. Is it a trusted program? or do I not need it? I have Ccleaner. Also I have revo uninstaller pro for 30 days. should I get rid of these programs also? please and thank you.

 

[MilesAhead]

You might want to look at this:

Remove Crapware with The PC DeCrapifier from new Windows PC

It basically just does the uninstalls in an organized way. For stuff like Norton av that comes preinstalled on HP machines, download the Norton removal tool before you even start. It will drive you crazy if the Norton is half on and half off your system. Also once you've uninstalled everything try running CCleaner to clean the registry. I ran Norton removal tool 2 or 3 times and there were still entries in the registry trying to load driver files no longer on my system. Makes for a very slow boot as each attempt times out during boot.

Before you start make sure you have a way of restoring your system that works. No fun if the Restore CD is for a different model desktop, or the restore from the restore partition doesn't really work. Check it out as much as you can before assuming it will restore the system.

 

[Chiumiento]

Ensure that boot defragmentation is enabled, so that files used during start-up are clubbed together. Start Regedit. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Dfrg\ BootOptimizeFunction . Select Enable from the list on the right. Right Click on it and select Modify. Change the value to Y to enable and N to disable. Reboot.

I do not see enable when i go into this file. should I make a create a new value and name for this and put it in? if so what do I put exactly? it sounds like it works good.

 

[Chiumiento]

I want to go ahead and get rid of all the HP stuff that is on my computer. Is that okay to do. I want to get rid of everything hp support manager HP advisor All the Mediasmart stuff. Will I still be able to watch and burn DVDs/CDs If I do so? I am trying to clean as much as I can out of my computer. I used that PC-Decrapifier. If I delete everything that is in there that I do not want to keep. Will my PC still run fine? I was told that Microsoft has it's own version of all of this stuff. Is that true. I mean the DVD/CD burner program. Also will I be able to burn img's still? I know I have a lot of space. But I want to get rid of all the bloat ware that is on my PC. I do not want any of it.

 

[Bill2]

Chiumiento, nobody here knows exactly what HP bloatware is on your system. Please go to Control panel->Programs and features, then make a list of programs that start with "HP" plus programs you dont recognize. Google for each, you'll get tons of info, you can then decide whether you want to keep it or replace with a native windows utility or 3rd party tool. If you cant figure out something, ask here.

Trial versions of programs will naturally need to be replaced, so look around for free alternatives, unless you prefer the paid versions. For cd/dvd burning there are lots of good freeware like Imgburn, cdburnerxp and nero essentials. The inbuilt windows burner is a bit limited.

 

[swarfega]

You could certainly remove all the HP stuff. But with a 750gb hd, you wont need to worry about space for a while.

 

[MilesAhead]

The other thing to watch is check out the stuff in Task Scheduler. Some of these uninstallers may not be smart enough to remove the scheduled task. I'd read up on cleaning that out first. There's a lot of stats gathering that goes on even in you disable the stat reporting. Also HP may have some maintenance stuff in the scheduler. If you try to turn it off after it's removed you might get dumb errors and not be able to get it out of there.

Might not be a problem but I'd try to turn stuff off before removal as a general principal.