Dell XPS 17 Bloatware. What to Remove?

Here are all the things listed as what's inside my XPS 17. I removed the specs and tried to just leave stuff that people may think should be immediately removed. So what should go right away? What should only go for some people?


Camera Software 2.X, Factory Install
Skype VOIP Application
DataSafe Local BackUp
Windows 7 Label
PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
DELL WELCOME,Software Dimension/Inspiron
DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
Cozi-Calendar
eBay Webslice
Windows Live Wave 4
WHITEPAGES.COM,Webslice
Dell Support Center Software 3.0
Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 Multi-Language
Roxio Creator Starter, FI
McAfee Platinum, 30 Day, MUI
Microsoft Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word and Excel with ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online
DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
Software, DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks

 

1 410-9452 McAfee Platinum, 30 Day, MUI

^^that for sure...be rid of it..and use MSE & Win 7 built in Firewall

 

Set the regular MSE scan to Full Scan instead of Quick Scan though.

 

thanks. does MSE do just as well as norton 2011 or similar products? i know norton used to be hated, but the 2011 version got very good reviews. i want 'great' security, and if microsoft can do it, that'd be awesome, but want to make sure they can.

have a link for it?


what about the other stuff? what else would you dump the day you get it?

 

MSE is free & is light and does a very good job. I prefer it over Avira AV...I haven't had any problems with it. And, better yet..its free.

 

There was another thread here talking about this cleanup process. Although they were using the aggressive approach which I prefer as well - reformatting then starting with a fresh install of Windows 7. Someone mentioned you could use the Dell Recovery DVD for Windows 7. So I made sure to pay the $10 when I ordered my system. There is supposedly a way to get just the necessary drivers (bare bones) install and skip all the bloatware. I think there is an option to not take the original Dell default setup. That's what I plan to do to have a cleaner, leaner system and remove as much cr@p as possible.

As far as AV I have been very happy with Avast. It is very lightweight and free as well.

Derek

 

I couldn't agree more. I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials to everyone.

 

You can also order the backup discs..by going here ~ and they will mail it to you. (usually next day)

^^Me also.

 

i am a little confused. i have reformatted many times and it is a little bit of a hassle, and one i would rather not do with a computer i don't have any experience with. i don't really get why it is so important? is there more bloatware than what i have listed in the OP? if not, why can't you just easily delete/uninstall that cr@p without wasting time and energy with a clean install? is it just a mental thing for you guys?

 

^^You asked for suggestions from the forum members, and they are giving you their opinions....

And, mental thing? I think not...everyone has different ways of doing things.....

Oh yeah, and here is the MSE link.

 

It really depends what level of cleanup you are after. I want to get rid of everything unnecessary including hidden files, programs, registry settings, etc... While Add/Remove programs is the simplest approach to remove some things it is not the most thorough. I always like to start with a clean, bare bones install of the OS and drivers. That way there is no guessing. I don't have to wonder what other things Dell has added/changed without my knowing. Bloatware is their forte. But I'm sure everyone has different tolerances for how much they want to do. Some simply leave it as is, then wonder why it seems slow.

Derek

 

^^That I prefer a complete clean install. I like making the lappy "mine", not left with any Gifts Dell leaves me when they ship my lappy to me.

 

ugh, i think you read far more attitude into my question than what was really there. i honestly just did not understand why just uninstalling would not suffice.

thanks a ton for the explanation. makes sense to me but my biggest follow up is what do you NOT get with a clean install that you'd want right away? stuff like a DVD player (not sure if this is an issue with win 7) etc. if you do a clean install, do you still get the kind of basic software you might want? microsoft starter pack also comes to mind...

if i am not too well versed in this stuff, will doing a clean install leave me with any sort of wholes that you'd realize and fix right away but that i may be oblivious to and end up frustrated?

 

No worries..it's all good. If you do decide to try out MSE..you will like it (being fairly certain)

 

One DVD will be the raw OS with no bloatware. The second is just drivers and applications. Some recommend getting the latest drivers from Dell's website here: https://smartsource.dell.com/Web/Welcome.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fweb%2fmain.aspx

There have been at least a few threads on this lately. I've been reading them getting ready to do this myself. Dell is usually pretty good about providing all the drivers needed. I'll probably use the one's on the CDs, then perform updates as needed from their website.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/569975-ready-order-my-first-dell-xps-17-l702x.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/568301-how-clean-install-what-drivers-download.html

The only thing I'm debating is whether to wipe out all existing partions including the restore partion Dell places on it. I usually go with all new partions. But I may just leave that one this time. I don't think it takes up that much space. But I'll double check it before I decide.

Derek

 

Norton has been good for a couple of years at least. I can tell you as a hobby i do malware testing and norton is at the top of the scale definitely. MSE is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. If you look at memory usage MSE will actually use more memory than NIS 2011 eventhough NIS is a full sweet and MSE is not. I think kaspersky is turning into the old norton .

There are a couple things i don't like about MSE. One is you have to schedule scans for a specific time. Norton will just scan when your pc is not busy. Also a lot of extras like not allowing non-administrators to screw with virus protection are not there.

Mine is about to expire in a little over 30 days. I'm not going to purchase it again only because i can get a free version through comcast otherwise definitely would but i'm one of those individuals that goes hog wild on security:
NIS2011
Malwarebytes PRO
WinPatrol Plus
ShadowDefender

Anyways if you not wanting to spend any money on antivirus than MSE is what i would go with but if you are NIS2011 is excellent and i highly recommend it.

 

I guess it really depends on what one is looking for, in your case a full blown security suite - the works. While others like myself are happier with a lighter weight approach. That's where Avast really shines. I've never enjoyed an AV product more. Where Norton used to drag our systems down (old and new) Avast justs hums along in the background, consuming minimal resources, performing auto updates and catching most nasty stuff that comes along.

Derek

 

Removal candidates

Pretty much everything you listed can be removed. The XPS 17 is "certified" for Skype, whatever that means, so the relevant entry may have something to do with that. Keep DataSafe and PC-Restore if you didn't order the recovery DVDs. Adobe Acrobat Reader 9, especially 9.0, is obsolete and poses a significant security risk; get rid of it. It's hard to believe Dell ships such a thing, though they were shipping Flash 6 some four years past its prime. DataSafe Online might be okay. 2GB of web storage is 2GB of web storage. Personally I use DropBox. I haven't used Roxio extensively since the 90s, back when it was called Adaptec Easy CD Creator.

Antivirus

Like many others, I gave up on Norton years ago, but it has indeed worked its way back up reviews. However, as of 2010, AV Comparatives has placed F-Secure at the top, and NOD32 has been at or near the top most consistently over a 15 year period. For most people MSE will suffice. Even the best AV is only going to be about 75% effective, so preventative computing habits are more effective than AV solutions.

On Dell's imaging policies

I always suggest immediately imaging a new PC before first use with something like Clonezilla or Acronis True Image, but obviously that ship has sailed in this case. Still, I recommend taking an image as soon as possible. Something about Dell's recovery disks: while the upside is that Dell, perhaps uniquely, does indeed give you a clean OS plus driver disk, the factory state is deployed via "resealed" sysprep image, which isn't exactly the same thing. So while installing via recovery disc then driver disk basically nets you the same thing, there can be gaps. I can't say one way or the other with respect to the XPS 17, so YMMV.

An issue I had with a past model was that the disc(s) didn't include Windows XP hotfixes that were in the factory image along with an updated wireless driver. The result was constant bluescreens when using wireless. The fix was simple as Windows Update via LAN then driver update, but figuring out that wireless was the problem in the first place was a frustrating experience, especially when your first order of business is attempting to update the computer.

Another issue is that Dell tends to ship driver CDs that work for entire lines of products, so there may be gaps in coverage or versions that differ from the customized factory image. In the end, you'll be okay reformatting, applying the CD drivers, then updating to the online drivers. It's still recommended to apply the CD drivers so that there's something to roll back to if for some reason the online drivers malfunction, which does happen.

 

I held back on my post but since you said it...Kaspersky's reputation is undeserved. It was at the top for a year or two, maybe less. For some reason it's gotten fame based on that fleeting success, even though Panda, Trend Micro, Komodo, and others held the spot for similar (fleeting) lengths of time.

Agree. A downside of MSE is that you kinda need to hawk over its scanning habits. It's not that big of a deal since the notification area icon turns into an exclamation mark when it's unhappy, but if you missed the scheduled time it's not very good at figuring out Plan B.

However, the problem with Norton in the past was that it would perform a highly invasive scan upon every bootup and then scan excessively routinely, greatly taking away from the user's experience, so there is a balance here and Microsoft obviously sided, perhaps too much so, on non-invasiveness.

Malwarebytes Free is ironically a good product precisely because it doesn't even attempt to situate itself as a primary solution. It's the perfect companion to run one per month or when you think something strange is going on, after disabling MSE or whatever, of course. The downside is that it's so popular that malware now has hooks that look for and successfully suppress it.

 

Umm you are talking norton from 3-4 years ago. Norton doesn't drag does the system at all. Its one of the best on resource usage out of any av product.....go look at reviews or whatever...or try it out yourself (trial) if you don't want to take my word for it .

 

Yeah, I prefer looking at the test results from groups such as AV Comparatives. Again it depends what one is looking for overall. Peformance for me is a top priority as well as a small, unobtrusive footprint. That said the best defense is a good offense. If someone is opening suspicious emails, hitting all the p0rn and bittorent sites chances are more likely they will get infected even with heaviest weight AV suite.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/summary/summary2010.pdf

Fortunately for recent Dells and this forum many ppl have already done this work. So it takes some of the guessing out of it. If there are gotchas it will most likely get mentioned here, like the case with your older system. But even my Inspiron 1720 (Vista) was much easier to reformat than older systems of long ago (XP, 2000, 98, ...). It seems easier to find all the drivers now along with the most current updates right on Dell's website.

Derek

 

i know this is a weird thing to have put in % terms, but how complete is just uninstalling the stuff you don't want relative to a clean install? like how much 'worse' is it to manually get rid of the stuff? are there any added things to do after the uninstall?

if you do go with the clean install, can't you just have Dell remote connect with you to download the latest drivers? or would you not recommend that?

 

Don't know the answer to the first one in terms of a %. And since most ppl do one vs. the other it will be most likely be a wild guess. They both take some time, so who is going to do both then compare? Maybe you will be the first.

As to the second question, its always better to get the drivers before the clean install, especially for things like the wireless card so you can connect to the internet and get anything else if need be. Now if you already have the Dell OS and Driver disks then that should be fine to get up and running. Then all you have to do is go to the website and find any updates to those drivers. And of course you can call Dell and have then walk you through any part of it as well. You could even ask them for the steps to a clean OS install + drivers - extra bloatware.

Derek

 

Glad to hear my info is out of date. I have massive experience with 98-XPSP2 era Dells but have dealt with only a handful since Vista. However, reinstalling those was a much better experience as you said.

Something that's less likely of a issue with Dells but more for boutique brands like Clevo is that people skip ordering Windows and install a copy from The Pirate Bay or the like. The problem with this is that unless you're verifying the ISO hash against a trusted source (Microsoft), you really have no idea what you're installing and putting AV on afterward is too late.

Whenever you read an account that claims Windows has been instantly infected upon first boot or first connection to the Internet you pretty much have to assume the user installed a trojaned image. Unfortunately this misinformation scares many into thinking Windows is more of a liability than it really is and then they tend to overcompensate with inappropriate levels of protection. Ironically, this makes it easier for "scareware" fake AVs to get installed.

 

I never figured out why people download w7 from risky 3rd party sites instead where it can be downloaded from MS public distribution servers.

Well, that usually occurs as time progresses for installing with outdated windows install disc plus a combination of poorly configured firewalls.

I find newer routers with firewall whose defaults are much weaker than the models 11 years ago.

 

Maybe because its free like most pirated stuff. But yeah, in the case of the OS its an especially bad idea.