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    How to get rid of Earthlink, Netzero and other Junk in Vista Welcome Center

    Discussion in 'Gateway and eMachines' started by thinguy, Feb 21, 2009.

  1. thinguy

    thinguy Newbie

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    Picked up a 7805-u yesterday and it didn't come with a Vista disk and the restore disks install the bloatware.

    One of the most annoying is a bunch of ads in the Vista Welcome Center.
    After some Googling I found how to clean it up and I thought I'd share.

    Use notepad or some other simple text editor (not wordpad) to edit the oobe.xml file located here:
    C:\Windows\System32\oobe\info

    Remove everything labeled "tasks" including the task beginning and ending tags
     
    thinguy, Feb 21, 2009
    #1
  2. Robosauce

    Robosauce Newbie

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    Removed all of that but can't save my changes. Any idea why?
     
    Robosauce, Feb 22, 2009
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  3. thinguy

    thinguy Newbie

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    Probably a rights issue since the file is under system32.

    Run Notepad "As Administrator" then open, edit, and save the file.
     
    thinguy, Feb 22, 2009
    #3
  4. catttman

    catttman Notebook Consultant

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    thanks... worked for me :)
     
    catttman, Feb 22, 2009
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  5. husky55

    husky55 Notebook Evangelist

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    @thinguy,

    Thanks man, I have been wanting to get rid of those guys for a LONG time. Finally got rid of them!!!

    :)
     
    husky55, Feb 22, 2009
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  6. Maverick79

    Maverick79 Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks mate. Was wondering the other day on how to remove those crap and you just answered the question that i forgot to ask. LOL
     
    Maverick79, Feb 22, 2009
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  7. JohnWhoTwo

    JohnWhoTwo Notebook Deity

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    Of course, this only gets rid of the little icon in the Welcome Center.

    You still must either uninstall or delete the files off of your HD.

    I know, you all knew that, but I just thought one of us should say it.
     
    JohnWhoTwo, Feb 22, 2009
    #7
  8. lostmongoose

    lostmongoose Notebook Enthusiast

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    you can also just flat out delete the info folder as all it is is just the gateway crap. a fresh install from a vista disc does not have that folder :D
     
    lostmongoose, Feb 22, 2009
    #8