How big of an issue is Bloatware?

I ordered my SXPS 16 a few days ago. Is there really enough bloatware that it's that important to reformat once I get my laptop, or will simply uninstalling via the Programs & Features menu be sufficient to get rid of the crap I don't want?

Another question: When I get my free Win7 upgrade DVD in October, will it be advisable to reformat then (and can you reformat via an upgrade disk?) or will simply doing an upgrade install of Windows 7 be just fine?

I'd rather avoid the hassle of doing any reformatting, but if bloatware is that big of an issue, then I probably should. Thanks for the help!

 

It really depends how clean you keep your hard drive IMHO. I've had the same Dell Inspiron 6000 for four years and it still runs as fast as it did on day 2 (after I reformatted.)

I think it's just good practice to reformat every 6 months or so. It forces you to install the most recent version of drivers and software which is a good thing.
Keep two partitions, one for system software and one for documents/music/videos/etc.
Make sure your msconfig has just your antivirus running at startup. Everything else is unnecessary and slows startup time.

There are of course other things you can do but I am a minimalist and I like starting from scratch every once in a while to make sure there's nothing at all slowing me down.

 

I can't decide myself also whether to format or not.
What are the software which make the bloatware?

Do you have to register for the win 7 DVD? Or do they send it to you provided you've bought the laptop within the required period?
thx

 

I didn't format. Just deleted via the programs menu. TBH I didn't find too much bloatware, just some Dell Datasafe junk and Dell Direct.

 

Register via this website:
http://win7.dell.com/

Also, I have another question: IF I reformat as soon as my laptop arrives, will that negate any need to reformat when I get Win7 in October, or will I need to reformat again anyway? (If so, I may just skip the first reformat)

 

I also ordered a Studio XPS 16 recently and I find it hard to believe that I really ought to wipe the hard drive. For one thing, I don't have my own copy of Vista, so won't that mean that I will have to use the system restore discs from Dell following a reformatting? And then of course, all that crapware would go back on the machine just like it came from the factory, right?

And for those of you who do completely clean out the hard drive and start from scratch, how do you get the face recognition thing to work after deleting the program from Dell? Are there other features that you lose when deleting the Dell programs? What about LoJack?

I've seen some pretty nasty bloatware on older computers from Dell and I want to avoid that kind of crap. However, I want to be able to use the facial recognition software, LoJack, and perhaps other stuff (the Blu-Ray/DVD program that is included?).

 

The problem with a bloatware-free computer is that while it may be an issue for the end user, in the eyes of a large company it serves 2 purposes. First, it cuts costs for the end user because some of the costs are absorbed with trials and "freebies" that a company may think its user base wants, and secondly, a program that is included as a trial may bring in extra revenue to the program's company in "we, the end user, need this to work post-trial, so we'll splurge and get it to keep functionality. The $5 or $10 per computer that it may cost to put the bloatware in may yield a $400+ sale from that computer, which means that $390 gross profit per sale. Unfortunately for the end user, it results in pop-ups, slowdowns, programs that inexplicably stop working after a time (only to find out that to read mom's .doc-based recipe you opened up MS word ROM and activated the trial with implied consent, etc.) What we see as just happened, computer companies see as an advertising opportunity to squeeze a few hundred thousand dollars out of us.

I posted something in the vein of this answer in another thread, where I stated the following: Let's assume for the sake of argument it costs Microsoft $5 per copy per computer to install a trial license on a DELL of Microsoft Office Professional, and it costs $500 for a full license. Based on $5 / trial to $500 / full license ratio (1 : 100), it means that microsoft only has to have a 1% "full license buy rate" to break even. Let's say that Microsoft puts 100,000 copies of "MS Office Trial" onto Dell Hard drives. This means an initial outlay of $500,000 was given by Microsoft to DELL to put the trial software onto the hard drives. Now let's assume that Microsoft's investment only has a 15% trial to full-upgrade return rage. This means that out of the 100,000 copies, 15,000 end-users actually tolerated the trial and its nagging enough to buy the full professional version @ $500 per copy. Thus, we do $500 / copy (15,000 copies) and get $7,500,000 was generated. The $500,000 initial outlay comes out of that $7,500,000 and the gross profit is $7,000,000. $7 million made that simply is not something to cry about if you're a company. For the end user, this means being able to rationalize spending significant amounts of money for a license (that may only have a duration of x amount of time before the nags come back... like buying a long-fused timebomb) for that program, or being stuck with files that are completely unopenable, or finding an open-source alternative. (In the case of MS Office, OpenOffice.org is the first thing that comes to mind.)

Note that I only used the aforementioned example as what it is... an example representative of a well-known trial bloat. Other examples include art programs, anti-virus programs, movie-making programs, webtangent games, etc. To me they're no problem? Why? Because as soon as I go and start the system up, I put the system OS disk in, and do a full reformat and clean installation of Windows to ensure that I'm not bothered by undue bloat. Then once everything's installed in the right order, go look for the latest appropriate drivers, and then find open-sourced counterparts of the insanely expensive applications that most people blindly accept. Why spend large amounts of money on a time-bomb license, (unless the program is that good, such as Kaspersky) when for free I can get a better web browser, a better office application system (O ), a better and simpler media player that plays .flac files (VLC player), a more efficient .pdf reader (foxit), etc. that is less resource-intensive, works with greater speed, and has fewer problems / issues with the computer. When bloatware becomes so useful and so reasonably priced that its trial can sufficiently demonstrate that it's worth being a problem, I'll deal with it. Until then, the first thing I do with a new computer is give it a completely clean installation of a completely clean copy of Windows, and be done with it.

Jason

 

Jason, I agree with you for the most part.

If I could, I would wipe the hard drive clean and start over, but if my only copy of Windows comes from Dell, then I'm sort of stuck with the bloatware, right? Dell forces me to put that crap on my machine with the backup discs and then if I don't want it, I have to try uninstalling it, correct? I do have my own license for XP Pro, but there is no way in heck I'm going to buy my own copy of Vista. Of course, there are all sorts of illegal ways to get an operating system, but I won't be involved with that. What I'm hoping for is to get the free Windows 7 upgrade with little or no junk accompanying it. What are the chances of that? Is that even possible?

And assuming I can get a clean copy of the Windows 7 upgrade installed (which I sort of doubt), will it be easy enough to find programs online to download that will run the webcam and other features of the 1640?

 

As I understand it, the OS disc is clean, it is then your choice to use DELL modded drivers and supplied software or other provider's drivers and software.

My last Dell I wiped everything that came supplied and re-installed only what I wanted.

This time, I have just un-installed the stuff I don't need for now, until I get Windoze 7 and then it's format time

:O)

 

That's exactly what I'm doing.

 

Usually the copy of the disc that comes is a clean copy, unless dell has changed that policy without notifying anyone. If you have a netbook, then I would try and burn the iso to a USB drive and boot off that if its' possible.

Jason

 

It is clean, I did a complete reinstall of Vista and it took out all the Dell bloat. After that, you can choose to install whatever Dell programs you want. You will need Quickset and some others most likely, but it takes out all the crap.

 

it is huge... I just got my machine and it is no faster than my 3 year old toshiba core duo with 2gb of ram running windows 7 even after deleting most everything... my lowest vista experience score is 5.3 and it is 2.2 on my toshiba... I will be doing a complete wipe to W7 very soon