Asus Utility and Bloatware Guide

You can disable CLMLsvc.exe in your msconfig. It should be under the startup tab and labeled "CLMLServer" under the startup column.

As for the PML Driver HPZ12, this is a driver service for a HP printer. If you have a HP printer, this is a driver that is needed in order for your printer to work and you must have installed it previously because Asus does not include it on their laptops. If you don't have a HP printer, you can delete the driver safely.

 

thank you david. Your prompt response is very much appreciated.

 

Thank you for this wonderful guide but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I did a fresh install of 64 bit 7 and the buttons above my keyboard (G72GX) do nothing. The two I care about are the one that overclocks the CPU (I do have Powergear installed.) and the one that shuts off the mouse pad. (This is the one I really, really want.)

Did I totally miss which applications/drivers make these buttons work?

Thanks again.

 

if i remember correctly you need ATKPackage

 

Can't seem to locate ATKPackage. It's not on my disk or under the software section at asus' site. any ideas where I can get it?

 

ATK Package 1.0.0004

 

Do you know what the v1.0.0004 package improves over the stock v1.0.0001 ATK Package?

 

It's .0003 better, duh!

 

Thank you Chastity.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot that higher numbers are always better.

 

Don't know really offhand, but they must have updated something, right?

 

Wish I could set Turbo Gear to default at 15% instead of 5%. Irritating having to open the program and change the configuration every time I turn on my computer to play a game.

 

Yeah, I suppose they did changed something, but was it a good change or a bad change or a change that makes no difference at all. Unfortunately, what they didn't change was the G73JH download area, as this version is not included.

 

I got a question about the fastboot. So is it recommended to delay the startup items in fastboot then? Or keep them off?

What does it mean exactly when it says delays?

 

If you don't have a lot of startup programs, I would just disable or uninstall Fastboot entirely. When it says delays, that's exactly what it does for certain programs. So instead of your system trying to load all your startup programs all at once, some of the programs will be loaded later (delayed to a later time). This will give the user the impression that your system has booted and loaded windows faster.

 

Thanks. I usually do a clean install but figured I would go this route for now on some laptops for the family instead of playing w/ the SLP keys and reinstall fun.

 

Hi, I got troubles with Multimedia Control Pad (separate media buttons) on my new Asus N73JN in W7Pro/64. The "volume down" and "mute" doesn't work, although the ATK media (1.0.0004) is properly installed (no problems with Fn shortcuts too). The "play/pause" button launches the Windows Media Center and does it's job in Media Player well, the "next", "previous" and "volume up" are also fine.

 

I just bought an N61JQ-JX002V and have been uninstalling stuff thanks to this list. However here seem to be a few new additions:

Syncables Desktop SE - some kind of file synching app
ASUS Access - looks like just a link to an ASUS website
ereader - just loads the correct user manual (PDF) for your language in Acrobat
CyberLink apps - A whole load of Cyberlink apps (MediaShow, LabelPrint, PowerDVD) - I'm only keeping PowerDVD
Times Reader - online reader app?
Google Chrome - browser
Google toolbar for Internet Explorer
ETDWare PS/2-X64 - unknown (touch pad software?)
ASUS_N_Series_Screensaver - screen saver presumably
ASUS edriver - looks like it installs a whole load of the bloatware apps
ebay - desktop web link
Welcome Kit - Desktop link to a Flash video (looks like an advert for ASUS)

Plus Webstorage was installed (the guide says this is only on EEE PC's).

Anyone know about the ETDWare?

 

Is there an official way to uninstall pieces of the 'ATK package' without
uninstalling it all? ATK package appears as one lump in the installed programs.
Unofficially, I assume we could just rename or remove the individual files
in question to stop the tasks from running.

Another completely unrelated question (other than being bloatware related).
I plan to install ZoneAlarm and block all unauthorized web access. Will the
starter version of Office 2010 that uses advertising work if I deny it web access?
I not, I might as well wipe it now too, in favor or Open Office.

 

There's a spelling mistake in the main/first post. The ControlDeck application
is listed in big bold letters as ConrtolDeck. I wouldn't care except that
this leads to searches for ControlDeck to fail and I thought it had been missed.

 

I usually find Google offer a spelling correction when displaying the first search results, which can sort that out...

Brilliant thread David!

Thank you for posting it, I just bought the G51VX best buy and dropped in an SSD to boot from. Doing a clean install of Windows 7 was made so much easier due to the info posted, I registered to say thanks from down under...

Regards,
Dave

 

Got an ASUS K50I today. Loaded with additional apps not listed in the first post (and renamed apps):

ASUS Screen Saver
Cyberlink LabelPrint - CD/DVD label printer. Uninstall if not interested.
ETDWare PS/2-x64 7.0.5.9_WHQL - touchpad driver. Don't touch.
Google Chrome - Keep it. Use it. Love it.
Google Toolbar for IE. Non-IE users or Bing users can uninstall.
Microsoft Silverlight. Adobe Flash competitor. I kept to play with it
Microsoft Office Outlook Connector - Uninstall if not planning to user outlook to manage your email account.
Microsoft Office Live Ad-in 1.3 - Uninstalled if not a user of Microsoft Live
Times Reader - New York Times reader. Uninstall unless a NYT subscriber
Windows Live Essentials - photo organizer, movie maker, messenger, email, writer, family safety utils. Nuke if uninterested
Windows Live Sign-in Assistant - support app for said app.
Windows Live Sync - support app for said app.
Windows Live Upload Tool - support app for said app.
Wireless Console 3 == Wireless Console Utility

 

Thanks very much for this thread. I just recently purchased a K50ID from Newegg (weekly special). I'd read about the bloatware in the reviews there. My intent was to just nuke and pave with a fresh Windows 7 install. When I got it though, I realized that about 1/2 of the bloatware was actually Asus utilities and programs. Some of those are just fluffware, but it was hard to tell which ones did what from their names. This guide helps a lot with figuring out which ones to keep, so thanks!

I did discover a non-standard, but useful way to navigate the site looking for the latest drivers.

Go to the support site: ASUSTeK Computer Support as you would normally.

Pick your notebook and choose the OS you're interested in from the pop-up just as you normally would.

Go to the list for any of the drivers you are interested in upgrading. For example, the ASUS Wireless Switch (Wireless Console3) Utility. For my laptop, the K50ID, the latest listed there is Version V3.0.14.

Mouse over the Global or China download link, but don't click on it. Note the link location. In this case it's: javascript:global_click(this,'K50ID','nb/Apps/Wireless_Console/Wireless_Console_3_XP32_Vista_Win7_3014.zip','3','188','0','7', 'Wireless_Console_3_XP32_Vista_Win7_3014.zip','0','0');

After the "Apps" path, note the next text segment in the path, which is "Wireless_Console" in this case.

Edit the URL:

Code:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?modelname=<put text segment here>&SLanguage=en-us

Continuing the example above, we put

Code:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?modelname=Wireless_Console&SLanguage=en-us

in the address bar. (Case matters.) If the pop-up to enter your OS comes up before any results are shown, you've hit a valid link. Otherwise, there are zero files returned, so guess again. In this case, we get a list of all the Wireless_Console drivers on the site and find there is a Version V3.0.17 available.

Warning: Just because it's newer does not imply it's backwards compatible.

Other examples:

Power4Gear Hybrid's link:

javascript:global_click(this,'K50ID','nb/Apps/P4GHybrid/Power4Gear_Hybrid_WIN7_64_z1137.zip','3','188','0','7', 'Power4Gear_Hybrid_WIN7_64_z1137.zip','0','0'); is at:

Code:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?modelname=P4GHybrid&SLanguage=en-us

Nvidia Graphics:

javascript:global_click(this,'K50ID','nb/Drivers/VGA/VGA_nVidia_Win7_64_816118836.zip','3','188','0','7', 'VGA_nVidia_Win7_64_816118836.zip','0','0'); is at:

Code:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?modelname=VGA&SLanguage=en-us

although in Nvidia's case, there are newer drivers at the Nvidia web site. Items like "VGA" and "Audio" return a lot of files; you'll need to know what hardware you actually have. I found out that almost all of the drivers that Asus recommends for my laptop have updates available. That doesn't mean they'll all apply to my laptop, but the majority of them probably will.

Apologies if this is repeated info or there's a simple way to find this out. I haven't run across it myself.

 

i have a question, which program is Fn+C and Fn+V key for? one looks like screen saver? the other is probably the webcam, what do i install to make the 2 buttons work


also another problem the webcam is flipped on my UL30vt, but i remember it being ok when i ran one of the asus apps before the clean install, how do i fix that? thanks

 

Fn-C = Splendid profiles, same as the 3rd button on top
Fn-V = The Webcam app Life somethingoranother...

 

I've seen yet another utility on Asus's download called "SmartAssist". SmartAssist is not on the list and is not mentioned anywhere in this thread. What does it do?

 

Asus Smart Assist is a small program that detects your notebook's model name, operating system, BIOS version, CPU, total memory, total hard disk space, and ODD type. Pretty useless if you ask me since all this information is already readily available in your control panel or listed on sticker on the palm rest.

 

Thanks, David. I didn't have SmartAssist installed from factory on my laptop and was wondering if I need it or not. Now I know that I don't need it.

 

Amazing thread, thanks for this. I never know what is junk and what is possibly important. This will help speed my computer up a lot. Cheers

 

Guide updated with additional apps/programs suggested by Ouka

Thanks for the heads up. Typo is now corrected

 

great thread, just got one of these laptops and this helped a lot with the bloatware cleaning process.

just wanted to ask:
is there a list of startup processes we can turn off in msconfig?

 

There's not much you need to do in the startup tab of msconfig once you've uninstalled all the unnecessary bloatware. However, you can still further optimize your system by following Les's Windows 7 optimization Guide found HERE.

Personally, I'd do the following from the guide:

1. Disable Remote Registry, Tablet PC Input Service and Windows Error Reporting from services.msc. (Win key + R, then type services.msc)

2. Remove unused fonts. (under control panel -> fonts)

3. Decrease your shut down time (regedit -> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control -> WaitToKillServiceTimeOut -> enter value of 2000

4. Disable all/some of the Windows visual effects. (Win Key + pause/break -> Advance System Settings -> Advance tab -> Performance Settings)

5. Disable Aero. (right click on desktop -> Personalize -> select a non-Aero theme)

 

thanks for the link and info.

 

I suggest you change your headings to
"ControlDeck" -> "ControlDeck / Configuration Utility"

When I installed "ASUS Configuration Utility" it is "Control Deck".

I also suggest you to write/edit

"Net4Switch" -> "Net4Switch / IP Switch Utility"
Same thing here. Discovered this while installing these on ASUS UL30A.

Looks like ASUS want to rename these utilities.

This guide is superb.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

One that is on my new computer (U35JC) that isn't mentioned is 'e-driver', any clue what that is?

 

Thanks for this post!!

 

How about Adobe AIR? This came installed on my U35JC - any reason I should keep it?

Thanks & great thread! (rep headed your way)

 

e-driver is whr all the driver needed on ur u35jc...
its not the latest version tho..

 

One more comment as I review this thread. I have a U35JC and it bricked using EasyFlash... this was a trend for many users. Talked to Asus and they recommended STONGLY AGAINST using EasyFlash as it bypasses all safety measures to ensure the flash works. I got a new laptop, tried WinFlash and it worked great. Many on the U35JC thread had the same issue and none had any problem with a BIOS update via WinFlash. Recommend altering your writeup (you suggest using EasyFlash, not using WinFlash) to support WinFlash

 

As a new owner of ASUS laptop K50AF, this Post was soooooooooo helpful, this was such a helpful read. I thank u kindly for all your time & effort, 5 *****

~Paul
"GO PATS"

 

I'm having a big problem with this bloatware and I'm at the end of my rope... I'm actually considering calling tech support *shudder*.

Before I do though... does anyone have any idea why I can't uninstall any of these programs? I go to the Windows Installer and when I try to uninstall (in this case SmartLogon) I get an error message like this:



That .msi package doesn't exist anywhere on my computer (I did a search), making it essentially uninstall-able. Why the hell does ASUS not have an uninstaller come along with their crapware? ARGH!

 

Try downloading it or use the driver disc to reinstall it, then you should be able to remove it with the uninstaller.

 

Thanks for the quick reply ALLurGroceries. I did try the driver disc but the problem is it lists all the crap that is currently installed, and these items are grayed out with checkboxes that don't function. The only checkboxes I can tick are the ones next to software I don't already have... it gives me the option to install that stuff but I can't uninstall nor can I re-install anything using the driver disc.

Are you suggesting that I can download the .msi files from ASUS? Would that allow me to uninstall the programs even if it's not the same package originally used to install them?

 

Just browse the disc and find the installer in its folder... or download it from ASUS. If you download SmartLogon, it should remove the old version first. If it doesn't, you may have to manually remove its files and any registry entries it made.

 

You know, I forgot to mention that I had tried browsing to the installer file on the disc and it gave me an error message that the resource was unavailable... but copying the .msi file to my hard drive and doing it from there finally worked.

Thanks - call to tech support (i.e. the 7th Circle of Hell) averted! Whew.

 

Well, three hours after purchasing my K52F, I found this thread.

It's amazing, many thanks for your work, David

 

Thanks much for this thread. I think it is worthy of a sticky - it also took me a long time to find this.

 

My G53JW came in today and this thread proved to be very very valuable.

 

Great!

I was just about to reinstall window 7 again and needed a guide like this!