E1505 'Clean-Up'

I've noted a couple of recent posts asking for some thoughts wrt 'cleaning up' Dell laptops without resorting to a complete reinstall of the OS. Hope this post will serve useful and solicit ideas/comments from other folks on the subject.

First of all these are not "Instructions"... Just my opinion on what could be removed. You must determine for yourself what deserves to remain on your laptop. This info is for an E1505. Can't speak obviously to other systems.

Before we get into the 'list', some related thoughts....

I'd suggest you make whatever changes you like BEFORE you get too serious about loading other applications or starting to rely on your computer for 'bullet-proof' operation. You may not get things 'quite right' the first time and something could 'break' leaving you to where you'll end up needing to start over by restoring your laptop to its 'factory-delivered' state. It's easily enough done and not a 'big' deal, but that kind of restore will permanently ERASE any additions/modifications you've made... to include any data files.

After you've used your computer a while [I'd give it a 5 day run] and performed some typical, but not sensitive, tasks then you can feel comfortable that nothing's too broken and you can proceed with loading other applications. Even then, I'd give it a good 'test-run' with your new apps before 'blessing' your new configuration. Kind of a crawl-walk-run approach that can take away from your 'fun' time with the computer, but can save you from a major 'ohh.... NOOOOO!!!!' moment.

My 'Notes' that are sprinkled in here are what I was able to determine from file descriptions and my best attempt to Google-search the web. Some applications are a bit 'thin' when it comes to getting detailed information.

Started with around 7GB on disk; Boot time about 1:30 from Windows 'splash' screen; Didn't make note of running processes though...

 

From Control Panel; Add/Remove Programs; Worked down in order of listing. [Note... I had McAfee disabled during all of this]

1. Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0.2 Update -- Left alone

2. Adobe Reader 6.0.1 -- Left alone

3. America Online -- REMOVED

After selecting "Change/Remove the computer searched for AOL versions on the system. Found AOL9.0; Had to 'Highlight' the AOL 9.0 entry; Also had to 'uncheck' "Downloaded files" and "Filing Cabinet files"; Uninstall was complete; Was prompted to let system reboot

It automatically removed the next two entries in the Add/Remove list which were...

AOL Coach Version 1.0

AOL Connectivity Services

4. Broadcom Management Programs -- Left alone

5. Conexant HDA D110 MDC V.92 Modem -- Left alone

6. Corel Paint Shop Pro X -- REMOVED fwiw... This is a 60-day trial version; Took a long time to remove; No reboot requested

7. Corel Photo Album 6 - Left alone

8. Dell Digital Jukebox -- REMOVED [Provides support for Dell's Digital Jukebox portable mp3 player; Appears to be tied to MusicMatch application and supports interface to a Jukebox device]

Was directed to select "Uninstall Method" [Automatic/Custom]; Chose Automatic; Was given an 'advisory' wrt removing a "Shared Component"; Message stated "... the following shared file is no longer used by any programs and may be deleted"; I selected "Yes to All' but by saying "No to All" it won't necessarily hurt anything, you'll just potentially end up with 'extra'/unused files on your system

9. Dell Game Console -- REMOVED [Front end for Dell games and interfaces to Dell web page for updates, new games, etc]

Straight forward; Just a simple message that the uninstall was complete

10. Dell Support -- REMOVED [Automated update/upgrade and notification system....]

Straight forward. No messages

11. Dell System Restore -- Left alone

12. Dell Wireless WLAN Card -- Left alone

13. Digital Content Portal -- Left alone

14. Digital Line Detect -- Left alone [The program is just for protecting your 56k modem from a digital line. 56k modems can not handle digital lines and will get damaged by them.]

15. EducateU -- Left alone Dell's on-line learning portal; Can be removed later after you've had a chance to look at what Dell is offering up in the way of tutorials.

16. ESPNMotion -- REMOVED [A 'snip' "....Every time new ESPN Motion video is published out to the company’s servers, an ESPN Motion component on a user’s computer automatically goes out and fetches the newest video..."

Straight forward. No messages

17. GemMaster Mystic -- REMOVED [From Microsoft.... "WildTangent is delivering gaming capabilities that will be playable with the Media Center remote control including "Otto" and "Gem Master 3: Mystic."

Straight forward. No messages

18. Get High Speed Internet -- REMOVED [Looks like an html-based advertisement for various Dell-sponsered DSL/Cable/Wireless ISP services

Received Confirmation dialog box. Unistall proceeded

19. Google Desktop -- REMOVED

Received Confirmation Dialog boxes; Second one asked "Do you really want to remove...." and had a checkbox selected for "Keep indexes in case I want to install... later"; Unchecked that box and selected "Yes";

Received message that "... need to close ... Windows Messenger.."; Selected "OK" for the uninstall to continue; Finished with a "Success" window;

After that I was presented an Internet Explorer window where it was attempting to connect to Google.com [Did not have an internet connection at the time so it failed with a "Cannot find server" message]; Some kind of page to collect feedback....; Closed IE window

 

20. Google Toolbar for IE -- REMOVED

Selected remove; No messages; Entry removed from Add/Remove list

21. High Definition Audio Driver -- Left alone [Microsoft... see http://support.microsoft.com/?id=835221 ]

22. Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Driver -- Left alone

23. Internal Network Card Power Management -- Left alone [Related to Dell QuickSet]

Description.... 'On battery mode, whenever the network cable is unplugged QuickSet will deactivate the internal network card for power saving. You will have to reinsert AC to reactivate the NIC. You can also change this default behavior by going into the QuickSet Power Wizard (Network Device Power Management page).'

24. Java 2 Runtme Environment -- Left alone

25. learn2 -- REMOVED [Installed by AOL 9.0 ??]

Got confirmation dialog box; Displayed a "Results" window listing deleted files [All files in Learn2.com folder and iestm32.dll file]; Was directed to perform a restart of Windows; Selected "Yes"

26. McAfee Uninstaller [McAfee 90-day trial] -- REMOVED [Note... McAfee is a big consumer of system resources and probably accounts for most of the boot-delay and general performance lag of the computer. That said... I DO NOT RECOMMEND going 'naked' wrt anti-virus protection. Unless you stay off the web and don't load any files/applications from un-trusted sources... get yourself something you like, get it loaded, and keep it up-to-date. End 'lecture'...

Presented menu to select products to uninstall; All checked by default; Continued by depressing "Uninstall"; Received a 'Confirmation' dialog box; Selected 'Yes'; Followed in a minute by "Uninstall Complete" message and restart request;

27. Microsoft .NET Framework -- Left alone

28. Microsoft Plus Digital Media Edition -- REMOVED http://www.anandtech.com/multimedia/showdoc.aspx?i=2240&p=2 [Includes "Windows Audio Converter" ['... will let you convert mp3, wav and wma files into mp3, wma, wma (vbr) or wma lossless formats'], "Windows CD Maker", Windows Dancer", Windows Party Mode"; fwiw... these appear to be on the Dell-supplied XP MCE reinstall disk, but cannot say for sure

Asked to Confirm remove action; Add/Remove entry removed, no other messages. Note: Be sure to see 'para o.' below..

29. Microsoft Plus Photo Story 2 LE -- REMOVED [Can be downloaded from Microsoft]

Asked to Confirm remove action; Add/Remove entry removed, no other messages

30. Modem Helper -- Left Alone [BVRP software v3.01; Description... " 'Stand alone' modem test and repair tool'] Unsure of how one would reinstall as I couldn't find a download or install files on the Resource CD Update: This application IS on the Resource CD and is listed as "Conexant D110 , HDA, MDC, V.92, modem" [R96600] under "Communications Applications". Alternatively, it can be downloaded from Dell

31. Musicmatch for Windows Media Player -- REMOVED

Asked to confirm remove; Prompted for Windows restart;

32. Musicmatch Jukebox -- REMOVED [Available for download from web] Free Version V10; Manage music on computer, burn/rip music CDs, transfer music to portable devices

Asked to confirm remove; Displayed Confirmation of successful uninstall

33. NetWaiting -- Left Alone [BVRP software a version of modem-on-hold {MOH}... Allows you to answer/ignore an incoming call or to place a telephone call and still retain your original internet connection]

34. NetZeroInstallers -- REMOVED [Associated with NetZero '3 months free']

Asked for confirmation; No messages; Add/Remove entry deleted

35. Otto -- Removed [See Item 17]

No messages; Entry removed from Add/Remove list

36. PowerDVD [Cyberlink DVD player with codec] -- Left alone

37. QuickSet -- Left alone

38. QuickTime -- Left alone

39. RealPlayer Basic -- REMOVED [V8 Basic; Available for download from Web]

Asked for confirmation; Received confirmation of successful uninstall

 

40. Search Assist -- REMOVED [Related to Internet Explorer Search Assist; By using "Remove" thru Add/Remove it will change you Search Assistant in IE from Google to http://ie.search.msn.com

Asked for confirmation; Entry removed from Add/Remove List

41. Sonic DLA -- Left alone [Sonic Drive Letter Access function for CD burner]

42. Sonic Encoder -- Left Alone

43. Sonic MyDVD LE -- Left Alone

44. Sonic RecordNow Audio/Copy/Data -- Left Alone [Associated with Sonic DigitalMedia LE v7]

45. Sonic Update Manager -- Left Alone

46. Synaptics Pointing Device Driver -- Left Alone

47. URL Assistant [????]-- Accidentally removed [Hard to get good info on this... I probably would have removed anyway.]

48. Viewpoint Media Player -- REMOVED [Loaded by AOL?? "....display interactive 3D models, Macromedia Flash animations and interfaces, as well as streaming video] Can be downloaded from web

Asked for confirmation; Entry removed from Add/Remove List

49. WebCyberCoach 3.2 Dell -- REMOVED [GTek Technologies application; Related to GTCoach, CyberCoach, AOL Coach; ADPBrowswer for AOL???]

Asked for Confirmation; Entry removed from Add/Remove List

50. WildTanget Web Driver -- REMOVED [Related to WildTanget games and web-based gaming??]

Received WildTanget Uninstaller screen; "The... Driver is a media player for your games."; Options to Cancel or Exit; Receive Uninstall Complete message; Item removed from Add/Remove

51. Windows Installer 3.1 -- Left Alone

52. WordPerfct Office 12 -- Left Alone

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

C:\Program Files clean-up

a. BAE -- Includes BAE.dll which is identified as "Browser Address Error Redirector" Copyright Dell Inc -- Odd file, but Left Alone; I believe it is used to direct IE to a Dell 'branded' Google search page

b. Common Files/AOL -- Deleted folder

c. Common Files/Nullsoft -- Left over AOL possibly.... Appears related to Nullsoft Streaming Video ActiveX Plugins -- Left alone

d. Common Files/Real -- Left over RealPlayer files -- Deleted Folder

e. CommPlus Applications -- Empty, but Left Alone [Anyone know what was in here originally??]

f. Dell/Digital Jukebox Drivers -- Deleted Folder

g. Dell/McAfee -- Deleted Folder

h. Dell/JBSeries2Drv -- Appear to be drivers for Creative Technologies Nomad Jukebox MP3 Player -- Deleted Folder

i. GemMaster -- Empty; Deleted Folder

j. Google --Deleted Folder

k. McAfee -- Deleted Folder

l. MusicMatch -- Left over files; Deleted Folder

m. RGB -- XP Media Center related; Left Alone

n. SearchAssist -- Used to modify default search service in IE; Deleted Folder

o. Windows Plus -- All sub-folders and files still present/functioning even after removal via Add/Remove Programs; To delete, look under Add/Remove programs; Add/Remove Window Components; Open 'Windows Digital Media Enhancements'; Uncheck applications as desired; Select "OK"; Then "Next"; Uninstall proceeds; "Finish"


End State: Approx 6.5GB on Disk; Boot time 40 Sec or so; 44 Processes post boot

 

better i think would be a thread on what should be put back on after a format, and a guide to making sure you can still use media direct after a format
that's what i'm interested in.
despite "uninstalling" junk, it doesn't really speed up much
a full format is much better

 

My intent is to perform a 'clean' OS install using SG's guide and reload everything. If someone hasn't posted anything by then, I'll be glad to post whatever I 'learn'

vr

Mark

 

When I try to remove Dell Digital Jukebox Driver, I get the error message that it "Could not open Install.log file." Does anyone have a solution? Thanks.

 

Try to reinstall it from the CDs you got or from Dell's website and then try to uninstall it again.

 

I don't see it under Drivers and Downloads and I don't have the CD either. :-/

 

I don't know then, sorry.

 

and people say it's harder to do a reformat/reinstall?

 

Mark,

I'm Numb!!!

Reading most of the list [I couldn't take any more past #50] I am awestruck that Dell would put all that bloat on a system.

Thanks for doing that, if for no other reason, a fresh install doesn't seem so bad now.

Hermit

 

Even if you uninstall every bit of bloatware they have on there a fresh install is still a bit better, it's also less annoying and someone with the attention span of a flea could get through the installation.

 

don't you lose the meda control buttons if you do a clean install?

 

A clean install is always better for performance... that said I dont plan to do one on my e1505. I did a clean install in my 600m after a HD crash and never got the drivers to recognize that teh bluetooth card was there anymore. I figure ill wipe it again and try to get all the drivers on there clean before I sell it... but not thrilled about possibly loosing functionality on a new computer after the reinstall.

Im usually a purist... clean installs... using the command line alot instead of GUI... but just not thrilled about the possible frustration of getting it setup right this time around.

 

You shouldn't lose control of the buttons. The media buttons do not have any software but are tied into the BIOS. If you have to, you can reflash your BIOS if by some chance your buttons do not work, but I haven't seen very many user complain that their media buttons were not working.

 

My sentiments exactly. If it's a sure bet that I won't mess up my computer, ie. Music Direct, then I would do it. But since people are getting mixed results, I'm a little hesitant.

 

My buttons weren't working after I did the repair. But the jury is still out on this, Dell is sending me a new HD. As it is I can't even boot Windows anymore.

While I agree the buttons go to the BIOS, the BIOS can only interpret the button push like any keystroke and issue a software call.

Hermit

 

Beautiful post mark, appriciate it. Not everyone like myself wants to or can reinstall (which is I'm sure better) so this is a decent alternative if you don't want to mess with fixing media direct.

This is what I wanted to avoid because I'm sure my lack of computer knowledge would make things even worse than this. I'm sure the benifits/speed of a clean install vs this method are noticable, but how noticable? Any idea?

 

Yeah, i remember seeing that you had that problem with it. I honestly don't know what would have caused the buttons to stop working. One thing with the media buttons is they are set to work with WMP and PowerDVD since that is Dell factory software. You can enable them to work on WinAmp and iTunes, but I'm not sure about any other software.

 

2 hours and my e1505 was squeaky clean with nothing on it but what I wanted. SG's instructions were spot on. There was a little confusion as to which partition to axe, but things seem fine. Media direct works like it did out of the box. Question? What is so great about media direct? itunes for music...guess it's good for dvd's. Pictures are best handled with other software...

Anywho..back to the subject. A clean install was much easier than going through the add / delete function and guessing what stuff to remove.

I've never had a 100 percent clean computer and it runs like a top.

Thanks SG.

 

I should be receiving my 6400 soon (with a beautiful matte screen I may add!). I’m sure I will not resist the temptation of reinstalling it once I see all that junk on there.

Could someone post a link to the guide by SG mentioned above?

Thanks,

 

Did you get the beautiful matte screen with the low resolution? I wanted matte but could not accept the lower resolution. If you got the higher resolution without the shiny screen, let me know.

 

I saw a post on here somewhere that showed an "out of the box system", a "bloatware removed / optimized" system, a "fresh install", and a "Fresh install / optimized system". Although I don't know how to interpret his results, he did place percentage quantifiers, and the "bloatware removal / optimized" system was about 4% slower than the "Fresh install / optimized" system. I doubt it'd really be noticed by an average user (Power users, probably). Besides, I don't want to take away all the things it takes to make a system optimized" (read minimalist) i.e. I like the Win MCE look, and optimized system has Win2000 look. Little things like that. I did it on my older PC (partially) because it has only 256 ram, and I've done it at work, but not on my new laptop. So I just did the add/remove programs, change what starts up with windows, close one background task (don't know what it did, but doesn't seem to have hurt anything), and run ccleaner.

 

Here you go....

Mark

 

I am ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO MARK MCK FOR THIS THREAD!

Hello 05Edge: I agree more with your philosophy - easier really to unistall and change startup via msconfig. My E1505 runs pretty great but there is a lot of space taken by bloatware that I've removed so it was definitely worth it. I did what you did and I think I'd like to attempt a registry cleaner - is ccleaner a registry cleaner? Do you have the link? My only annoyance now is every time i start up (takes about 20 seconds) I get the annoying message that I've changed settings and have to click Ok to this dialog box and then cancel on the msconfig screen. Not too bad but i think if i got a registry cleaner, then these annoying dialog boxes on startup would go away. Can you post link or email privately if you have it? THANKS!

One more thing - i'm about to post a new thread on this. Does anyone experience a faded line at the top of every website in the blue, menu bar area? It's not exactly dead pixels, but maybe light leakage? Or maybe this is perfectly normal and I've just never noticed this before. I have also noticed a bit of light leakage in the upper/upper left corner of screen - only on windows startup - for now. My 21 day exchange period ends on Wednesday or Thursday. Just curious if anyone has noticed this.

 

you can make it look like whatever you want. Being optimized either way can look like 2000 or MCE. Leaving all the bloatware you can make it look 2000 if you want

 

Next time it comes up take a look and see if there is a 'check box' labeled "Don't show this message...."

If so, check the box and give it a go...

Mark

 

Thanks Mark for the great information. We just got my daughter's e1505 last week, and this weekend we discovered that we couldn't even install the Maxtor OneTouch II external hard drive or backup software until we uninstalled the McAfee junk! Then I found your post last night, and your information saved us several extra hours of figuring out what could go. We didn't remove as much as you did, but your information was most helpful. Thanks again.

 

I'd recommend trying this registry cleaner: ToniArts EasyCleaner http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm
It has worked well for me, and it's free!

 

I know that, what I meant was that the "Optimization Guide" says to turn off all the frills, one of which is the "pretty" GUI. That's all I meant.

I'm sorry I let this thread get away from me. I used it because a few others on here had recommended it. Be careful what you let it clean because some of the stuff it cleans you may want (cookies for certain sites, internet cache). If you google ccleaner, it comes up pretty easily. I'm going to look into using Durango Dave's cleaner also, and see if I get anything else that needs to go...

 

I would take a look at CCleaner. It does an exellent job and is free as well.

 

How's it going MarkMcK,
I just received my E1505 the other day and just completed your 'clean-up'. I guess the current models are loaded with even more programs, since you didn't mention these in your list. What do you recommend about these additional ones:

Broadcom Management Programs
Consumer Complete Care Services Agreement
Macromedia Shockwave Player
Microsoft Works Suite Add-in for Microsoft Word
Qualxserve Service Agreement

Thanks in advance. I'm not knowledgeable at all when it comes to computers.

 

Dell Digital Jukebox
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=ca&cs=CADHS1&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R71064&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=92266

 

hth

Mark

 

Mark,

Mine came with Trend Micro Pc-cillin Internet Security 12 on it. I assume that since I didn't get McAfee, this is a substitute and it should be deleted like McAfee. Is this correct? I'm going with Avast for AV and Adaware/Spybot combo for malware.

 

Looks like you're right.... As you have identified an alternative, I'd say to go ahead and remove it.... I take it that the PC-Cillin software is a 'trial'....

Mark

 

No, I think it's a 15 month service from Trend, Dell gave me 15 months of mcafee for free, I'd keep it since Trend runs pretty light and it's less bloatware than mcafee.

 

Mark - thanks for this guide! I just received an XPS M140 that's going to my daughter. I used your guide to quickly remove the bloatware - thanks again.

 

Bless you, Mr. Mark, Dittos, etc.

I am about to do a image restore (from partition, ahem), and this was exactly what I hoped to find.

Q: My initial system boot/setup/etc, I had nearly 50 Windows Updates from Windows update site (turned off AU to do those), also many programs wanted to be updated. Any recommendations about this? (i.e. update first, or remove bloat first -- I tend to guess the latter). Note: a simple dial-up is my connection for the time being (don't mind the time)

Q: Your Item #6 (CORAL PAINT SHOP PRO X), you mentioned difficulty. Any more advice?

The "Program Update" Install Shield, s control panel item, (which Coral & Sonic were embedded in), when I first tried uninstall of Coral somehow damaged that item. I don't see a mention in your list. I associate it with Coral, although I recall Sonic was also... (haven't seen since the damage).

Thanks heeps!
Michael

 

Good Luck... and 'You're Welcome'...

Mark

 

This may be a little off topic, but it's just a suggestion. Before I even boot up for the first time, I plan to use Acronis True Image to "Image/Backup" the entire HD (partitions and all) to a portable drive. This way if anything goes afoot during 'Clean-Up', I can restore to the dell factory configuration.

Once 'Clean-Up' is completed I'll make another "Image/Backup." This will save me from having to re-install Windows, drivers, etc. if I ever had to re-format again. It's a great time saver.

BTW, excellent post!

 

If you do the clean up and follow the post, then you should not have no need to create a image backup

 

Thanks to the OP for this thread; got a Dell e1505 and didn't want to wipe everything and reinstall windows. This topic was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks again for your detail and personal experience on removing those programs.
nilesong

 

Yeah, I was all set to use this when I got my new comp, but I guess Dell doesn't put that much crapware on the Precision. I only uninstalled like 4 programs (two were Google stuff). This did come in handy however, cause I almost unistalled things that I sould leave alone! Thanks for the thread.

 

This is a great thread! I just received my e1405 and I am hoping I can use this instructions. Couple of comments

My e1405 came with Cineplayer which seems to be very lame. I wish Dell had given me PowerDVD at least. I have older version of PowerDVD install CD which I had purchased but I am always weary of messing with DVD player software as it invariable leads to player failing with "unauthorized" access. If anybody knows a quick way to turn on sub-titles, I would be grateful.

I want to kill the McCafee startup application via msconfig but since there are too many McCaffe executeables, can somebody tell me which one is the annoying one? The one which never goes away and and has to "X" button and keeps itself planted on the desktop until you ctrl/alt/delete and kill the applicatioin. I will leave with rest of the McCaffee for a while until I get mine AVG and SpyBot installation image on the new laptop. but I really hate that McCaffee startup application :-(

 

Try www.sysinfo.org to figure out which McCafee exe's you can turn off.

 

Anyone here also have Creative MediaSource software in their laptop? I don't seem to be using it at all. Did anyone remove theirs or did you keep them?