Removing Bloatware from an Asus

I just got a G1S and a quick run of msconfig shows all sorts of programs running there, Asus and other. Is there any guide which explains what these do or which programs can be safely removed? I had XP Pro installed on it. Although I am very happy with the performance of the G1S out of the box, the goal is to get the graphics performance up as high as it can reasonably go. Thanks!

 

There are several guides. Check for instance the Vista guide in my signature.I know you have XP, but the bloatware is pretty much the same.

Furthermore, take a look at my Windows XP guide to find out how to configure your OS with a good ratio of performance and free resources versus features.

 

Well as long as you don't remove any Windows files, or drivers you will be safe. Anything that's not related to the operating system or components can be removed.

So simply put, remove anything that you do not use. If you have no use for a certain program, there's no need to have it installed. So go thru that list and remove anything that's not windows/drivers and that you never use.

Bloatware is defined as unnecessary programs/files installed. Thus if you don't use them, then their unnecessary. Those can be easily identified knowing wha t programs you use.

 

I wouldn't be so bold.

For an unexperienced user it's sometimes difficult to tell between useful software, and bloatware.

I'd suggest go through the lists I mentioned, remove what's obvious to remove, and then keep the rest for a while, try to use it and see if you find it useful. If so, keep it. Otherwise, remove it.

But if you do not recognize the executable on the msconfig list, keep it there. You don't want to disable the antivirus or something similar.

By the way, get rid of that Norton crap. Install a lightweight AV like AVGfree.

 

you know - after going through a few of the guides and removing a bunch of software i didnt want, i was still having a few problems here and there and the notebook still suffered from what i felt was "sluggish" performance (it wasnt VERY slow - i just felt like it didnt perform the way that it "should")

if you havent installed too many of your own programs, i would suggest doing a completely CLEAN vista install (its what i did and the computer performs a lot better AND it boots up in literally half the time it did before)

basically - download a few of the necessary drivers to a flash drive or a disc (wlan, for example - once you get your wifi up and running, you can download the rest of the drivers you need from the asus site)

boot from the vista disc, do a full restore - and when it asks you to put in the drivers disc - just shut down the computer - start it back up and let vista install most of the drivers for you - then go to asus' site and download the latest drivers for everything you want (and you dont have to install most of the pre-installed "utilities" - although i kept lifeframe because thought it was neat - and i might use it once or twice in the next year or so - lol)

i basically downloaded the wlan, bt, camera, video and audio drivers - the system is as clean as could be and it now runs like i think it should

EDIT - this way, windows installs everything it NEEDS to have (no need to fret deleting something you shouldnt) - and you can just disable stuff like uac on your own

 

I agree that a clean install is always better from a performance standpoint.

But sometimes the performance increase is not so great (with respect to a well-managed, cleaned-up OS) to make it worth the time. On top of that, some manufacturers (e.g., HP) do not provide any way of making a clean install with the OEM OS. Not even ASUS provides it, technically, it's just by chance that removing the driver CD during system recovery from the optical disks allows for a clean install.

And paying an extra 400 dollars or whatever the price of Vista is, just for the sake of a clean install -- well, in my opinion, it's very much not worth it.

 

oh i definitely agree - and i by no means am suggesting that the op should go out and buy a new vista disc (that would be ridiculous - lol)

but we are talkin about a g1s here - and that method works with the op's particular notebook

 

Sure. The consensus is then that the OP will decide for her/himself whether it's worth it to go through the clean install. By the way we are spending much more energy than her/him on this thread.

 

While I agree that someone less experienced than us might have some difficulties, it's really not hard to tell the difference between useful software and not useful.

I mean seriously, go down the list and look at the name. If you plan on using that keep it, otherwise don't. Like say you see Quickbooks installed. You think to yourself, do I ever use it? If you know for a fact that you will never touch any financial stuff in your life, why keep it. Or if you see google earth. You think to yourself, do I ever need to look at a map of the world? If you could care less about maps, then take it off.

So even for a unexperienced person it's not hard to figure out what stuff you use and what stuff you don't.

 

Arguable.

Say you look at ASUS Splendid. What is it? Probably related to the LCD or GPU, but what does it do? It might be a completely useless piece of garbage which is full of bugs. Or it really might improve viewing on the LCD. In actual fact in my opinion it is neither (not a useless piece of garbage, but not really useful, either).

Better example: Wireless Console. Wow, sounds important. Should keep it. Answer: WRONG. Wireless console is doing nothing but switching Bluetooth and Wireless on and off. There are hardware buttons to do that. => Wireless console: completely useless.

A different example. ATK. What is that?!? I have no idea what it is, but doesn't look too important. Answer: WRONG. It is necessary for things ranging from the (non-essential, but important for usability) hot-buttons, to the absolutely essential fan control.

So you see, it's really quite arguable that it's easy to decide on the first look.

I stand by my statement that there are some non-obvious utilities that should be kept until proven useless. And that some research needs to be done before starting to remove things on a whim.

 

Right, some you might question on what they are and if you can use them or not. But a lot of crap like AOL, Earthlink, Google Search, McAfee/Norton trials are obvious, so those can be easily distinguished.

So at least even a novice can figure out a good amount of bloatware.