How much crapware on 1645?

Hi,

I have a 1645 coming and want to know how much crap/trialware is loaded on the system. I will upgrade it immediately to W7 64 Ultimate and prefer not to have to take a couple of hours doing a completed reload.

Thanks,

Jerry

 

It's got pretty much everything you need + mcafee and such. Run pcdecrapfier and manually choose to remove softwares you don't need.

 

Suggestion, remove McAfee and run MSE.
It's lighter and runs smoothly with Win7

LINK

If, you want to remove McAfee that is. I had that on my lappy before & had nothing but problems with it.
Personal choice, always though!

Also, see this thead that booboo12 made in case you need to refer to it. It's also "stickied" in the Dell Main forum: Dell System Recovery Guide

Cin...

 

I agree with cin on removing mcafee and install MSE. MSE is so far the best(in my case), lightest, and best of all, free antivirus I've ever used.

 

I had heard the new McAfee was quite good but after reading these forums, I may too give it the flick. Also I have Kaspersky which I have found to be a rather light, unobtrusive package but it does cost (I cant comment on Kaspersky IS 2010 until I use a bit more)... I think this may be the last year I purchase however based on the comments about MSE.

I am also a little worried by the other software that will be installed; all the Dell cr@pware; Roxio, Office 2010 Starter and the like.

I too will be performing a fresh install once my new laptop arrives but I have my concerns. I am assuming when I do a fresh install, format the HDD and create a partition; I will be deleting what is in the Dell Datasafe partition. Thus losing some functionality I may have found useful later on.

 

Thanks.

I will definitely replace any AV with MSE. Great program and system.

It sounds like going with pc decrapifier whould get me there. I don't want to spend all day loading drivers and such.

 

Great. Enjoy your new machine.

 

As an alternative to MSE, I like the free Avast AV program. I've been using it for almost a year now based on the recommendation of the guy who custom built a desktop for me. I've been pleased with the protection, and it is also not particularly intrusive. Another free AV program that has gained some popularity is Avira. I briefly tried it, but I was not nearly as impressed with the protection it gave.

With regard to software that comes pre-installed, my impression was that my 1645 didn't have nearly as much as previous Dell computers that I have bought, and I didn't feel compelled to do a complete re-installation of Windows. I selectively manually removed the pre-installed software I didn't want. For removing the McAfee, if you go to the McAfee site, there is a removal tool that gets rid of the traces of the program that are left behind with just using add/remove programs. Also, after removing unwanted programs, I find it useful to use a registry cleaner like the free CCleaner.

I'd also recommend going to blackviper.com. There, you will find a very detailed list of services that are unnecessary and that you can disable. Things like the Windows file indexing can be a constant drain on the computer's resources and they have very limited value.

By doing the above, I think I got my computer running about as efficiently as it can run without the need for a complete re-installation of Windows, and I saved myself the time and headaches involved with driver installations, getting everything working, etc. Perhaps, it would be better with a clean install, but, even without a solid state drive, my 1645 boots completely in 32-35 seconds, which is, I think, a fairly good measure of whether or not I have the computer running efficiently.

 

How did you measure the boot time? Was it from the second that you turned the machine on till you're logged in, connected to the internet with the busy cursor gone?

 

That is the time from when I press the power button to when the desktop is completely loaded. Then, it takes 4-5 seconds more before the wireless adapter has established a connection.

When I first got the laptop, it was probably closer to 50-55 seconds. Disabling unnecessary services per the recommendations at blackviper.com is what, I think, significantly reduced the boot time. And nothing that was disabled seems to have any negative effects whatever. Also, I keep the computer running pretty lean and clean. The two only things I have enabled in the msconfig start up are the AV software and the Dell Quick Set, which is needed to allow the media keys to function. I run several anti-spyware scans per week, and I maintain the hard drive with Diskeeper, which is continuously and automatically defragmenting the drive.

 

I use and love Kaspersky. Personally, I don't think that $80 is much for a 2 year, 3 pc license for the software (though I think it is only 1 year for $80 for first-time buyers). Besides the (best) anti-virus, it also has a great firewall.

That said, MSE uses the Kaspersky engine, so should be just as good, and free, but sadly without the firewall.

I also did a fresh install when I got my XPS16, like I do as a matter of course for any laptop. I couldn't tell you how bad the bloatware is, as I didn't even boot it before I re-installed everything, lol. It's the only option for people who like to control exactly what is on their computer.

 

I didn't know that about the MSE engine.

Seeker_moc, did you get the OS CD with your new computer? Or did you download from Microsoft in preparation? I think its the later if I remember some of your previous posts.

 

I've read that a few places (re MSE and Kaspersky), but I haven't been able to find anything 'official'.

Yep, I downloaded it. Worked fine, you just have to go through the telephone activation instead of the online auto-activation. Windows will walk you through the process when you go to activate.

 

You can also use Windows own built-in-Firewall for free along with MSE and be just as well protected, FYI. : )

Cin...

 

True. The Windows firewall isn't as configurable (at least not nearly as easily), but it does work, and is enough for most people.

 

Umm...I don't wanna be the outcast here, but I like me my Norton 360 v4.x . Symantec have really improved Norton over the years and I really think my growing love for the color yellow has stemmed from them.

Dell is actually selling a 1 yr subscription/1 user, 3 PC Norton 360 v.4 for 19.99 over HERE (hurry though, I think it's a limited offer). Either way, whichever you go with you can't go too wrong. The free anti-virus software out nowadays are on par/better than the purchasable ones.

On a crapware note, I'd suggest uninstalling Creative X-Fi Software if it's on your computer. Now they might have rectified whatever error was causing it to freeze my computer whenever a notification sound played, but I also noticed that it didn't improve too much on the audio front when it was there compared to when it was not. I'll never install that line of creative software again, that's for sure...

 

Geez. I think I paid AU$8 for that Creative software option ...

Feeling mighty ripped off at the moment ... and more of a reason to do a fresh install.

 

I'm pretty sure uninstalling Creative X-Fi improves your battery life a bit. lol

 

Cr@p on it!

Thanks for that Gloomy. You live up to your name.

Worst AU$8 I have ever spent.

 

It comes standard in the US version. I messed around with it but it made everything sound 'fake.' The speakers on this laptop sound best without any software messing with the sound imo.

One thing that keeps me from doing a clean install is the PowerDVD DX that's installed. Donno if I can get it back for free after doing a wipe. I like it because it has frame rate up-scaling and it makes movies run ridiculously smooth. Almost as if tiny, tiny people are trapped inside your laptop...

 

The version of FastAccess that came with the computer seemed pretty "crappy" because of high CPU usage, but after updating it, it works fine.

I've been enjoying the SoundBlaster. Just an opinion, but it seems to slightly improve sound, especially music. I have not had any issues / blue screens with it.

 

I think the soundblaster software is quite useless. The hardware is identical, so it's not like you're getting higher power output or a better SNR or anything. It's just software enhancement to the sound, which is generally undesirable, as the whole point is to be able to listen to whatever your source is in the purest manner possible.

Also, you can just download the free OpenAL drivers (just do a google search). They're only like .5MB big, and don't have any running process or services or anything to eat up your performance/battery. They enable all EAX extensions in games, just like the sounblaster software, but without the bloat.

 

Well I ended up doing a clean install. Prior to doing that there were 82 process running. After the clean install there are 61 processes. A pretty big difference.

 

Same, I just got my replacement today. After playing around on it for a bit, I did a clean format and process count was WAY down

 

That is interesting. I wonder how many processes people typically have running with a 1645. I just checked mine, and, without a clean install and doing the things I explained earlier in this thread, the number of running processes varies from one moment to the next, but it seems to generally be between about 52 and 58.

 

After a clean install, I usually run about the same as you. I disable all unnecessary services (about half are useless for non-domain networked people) in addition to a clean install, which helps a bit in Win 7, but doesn't make nearly the same difference that it did in Vista.

 

I just checked mine again, but this time I did the check when I had no programs open. With no programs open, the number of running processes for my system drops down to between 47 and 49.

 

Whats a good firewall you recommend? I am still using zone alarm, but it uses up quite some CPU.

Cheers

 

Why not use Windows built in Firewall its pretty solid? I use that with no issues. Just a thought..

Cin...

 

Yes like said about, Windows built-in firewall is good enough. If you browse smart, then you will usually never run into any problems.

 

Yup, I just like how it flows with MSE. Have you ever tried Commodo?

Cin...