The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    HP Bloatware?

    Discussion in 'HP' started by Miller, Nov 21, 2006.

  1. Miller

    Miller Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    6
    Messages:
    108
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I know HP computers come with some bloatware. The last HP I dealt with was my wife's Pavillion desktop that she bought some years ago for college. I dealt with the bloatware there by reformatting and installing WinXP Pro over the OEM XP Home.

    Now that my laptop is coming in, I'm wondering if there's anything useful that I can salvage from the preinstalled programs. I kind of like the idea of having power management software to increase my battery life. I don't like the idea of having all of those "helpful" programs running, asking me if I'd like to do this or that, and running processes in the background.

    For you HP owners or prospective or even hypothetical HP owners, what bloatware do you keep and what do you axe right off the bat? And if you cut some, how do you go about doing it without a reformat and reinstall? (I think my HP nw9440 will be coming with an OEM WinXP Pro, no media :( )
     
    Miller, Nov 21, 2006
    #1
  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,857
    Messages:
    16,212
    Likes Received:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    466
    Well, in all honestly the business class notebooks do not come with preinstalled bloatware. You might want to uninstall something like the ProtectTools suite if you'll never use it, but I've spent most of my time trying to install included utilities that I actually use.
     
    Greg, Nov 21, 2006
    #2
  3. Miller

    Miller Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    6
    Messages:
    108
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    This is what it says it comes with:

    HP Backup and Recovery Manager
    HP Help and Support
    HP Mobile Print Driver
    HP ProtectTools Security Manager:
    BIOS Configuration for HP ProtectTools
    Embedded Security for HP ProtectTools
    Credential Manager for HP ProtectTools
    HP Quick Launch Buttons
    HP Wireless Assistant
    HP OpenView Radia Management Solutions (nc8340)
    HP Performance Tuning Framework
    Sonic Digital Media Plus:
    RecordNow! (for optional DVD+/-RW and DVD/CDRW drives)
    MyDVD (DVD Authoring for optional DVD+/-RW drives)
    Synaptics Touchpad Driver
    Symantec Norton Internet Security with complimentary 60-day live update
    Intervideo WinDVD - DVD Player (for optional DVD+/-RW, DVD/CDRW and DVD drives)

    HP Client Manager Software
    Smart Card Security for HP ProtectTools
    Device Access Manager for HP ProtectTools

    I likely won't need the HP Help & Support. Does that auto-run in the background? I've not used ProtectTools, so I guess I'll have to play with that a bit first.
     
    Miller, Nov 21, 2006
    #3
  4. HP Fan

    HP Fan Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    21
    Messages:
    413
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    reinstall and keep quickplay. quick launch. blue tooth. and the neccessary drivers.
     
    HP Fan, Nov 21, 2006
    #4
  5. HP Fan

    HP Fan Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    21
    Messages:
    413
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    which reinstall are u gona do. slipstreme?
     
    HP Fan, Nov 21, 2006
    #5
  6. Miller

    Miller Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    6
    Messages:
    108
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Do these laptops come with the OS media or are they OEM installs? I've never done a reinstall without the media.
     
    Miller, Nov 21, 2006
    #6
  7. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,857
    Messages:
    16,212
    Likes Received:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    466
    I'm bolding what you need to remove, if anything. The business notebooks do not come with QuickPlay. Some of the software isn't installed to start with, so if you do not see it in the list then you do not have to worry about it.

    HP Backup and Recovery Manager (Make recovery discs first)
    HP Help and Support (Keep, this doesn't run in the background and can give you info when you start it that might be useful when you call HP)
    HP Mobile Print Driver
    HP ProtectTools Security Manager:
    BIOS Configuration for HP ProtectTools
    Embedded Security for HP ProtectTools
    Credential Manager for HP ProtectTools
    HP Quick Launch Buttons
    HP Wireless Assistant
    HP OpenView Radia Management Solutions (nc8340)
    HP Performance Tuning Framework
    Sonic Digital Media Plus:
    RecordNow! (for optional DVD+/-RW and DVD/CDRW drives)
    MyDVD (DVD Authoring for optional DVD+/-RW drives)
    Synaptics Touchpad Driver
    Symantec Norton Internet Security with complimentary 60-day live update
    Intervideo WinDVD - DVD Player (for optional DVD+/-RW, DVD/CDRW and DVD drives)

    HP Client Manager Software
    Smart Card Security for HP ProtectTools
    Device Access Manager for HP ProtectTools
     
    Greg, Nov 21, 2006
    #7