Worst Bloatware offenders

I am getting my T60 soon and although I am usually the type that re-formats a system right off the bat, it seems like doing that might be more trouble than it is worth with the Thinkpad, especially since a lot of the programs that come with it seem to actually be pretty useful.

This thread is for people to share their opinions about the pre-installed software on their thinkpad. What apps are truly useful and which deserve to be removed completely right away?

 

After going through this process on countless Lenovo laptops, I would have to say the google desktop, norton anything, and the picasso are the worst things.. and really need to go. Everything else isn't really that bad. Access connections might be a pain for some, and power manager depends on the user.

How about the list of stuff you want to load after a clean install?

Lenovo Care (nifty interface for all the Lenovo programs)
Rescure and Recovery (awesome with network backups)
Lenovo Update (lets to find out about new bios's and all that fun stuff easily)

Those have become extremely valuable to me, and dont run in the background when not in use.

 

Actually I've been pretty pleased with the minimal bloatware that came preinstalled on my T60. When I first got my T60 I was ready to reformat too, but then I decided to hold off and just remove the really offensive software. I removed Google Desktop, the Disklite hard drive utility, and the MSN stuff. My machine's been running great, and I keep an eye on the processes and firewall just to make sure nothing's running in the background or trying to phone home. I'd say don't re-format; the Thinkvantage utilities are really useful and a pain (to me) to reinstall.

 

I was appalled at the amount of crap that came on my T60. For a business machine, 80 processes on boot is ridiculous. I promptly formatted the drive and reinstalled windows.

 

Can you format and reinstall using their OS discs? As in, their discs won't reinstall the crap? Or did you use your own license?

I'm debating on using my Windows 2000 license on a z61m thats coming. I really don't like XP SP2 just cause of MS's native bloat but it offers some management tools that are hard to pass up.

 

I used my own XP Pro disk. The one thing you have to watch out for is the hard drive setting in the BIOS. Set it to compatibility mode to install windows, and then install the driver for it once windows is set up. If you don't it'll blue screen every time you boot up, and the windows installer won't see the drive.

 

The recovery discs are not OEM Windows discs meaning they will restore your machine to its original state. You can use an OEM disc. Microsoft should validate for as long as you have a valid COA which you obviously do.

 

You would need to "find" a IBM OEM XP install disc to use the code on the bottom of your laptop. Normal generic OEM discs haven't seem to work.

 

I normally run a very lean windows XP installation (about 34 processes after I install all my programs) so I will probably end up not being able to stomach the default settings. There is a thread on the thinkpad support forums where someone claims:

"I just went to reset my new T60 back to factory specs and found a VERY cool new option called "Custom Restore" which allowed me to uncheck all of the Lenovo crapware that is typically installed. "

"after pressing the power button to turn the machine on, press the blue thinkvantage button, which will take you to a screen with a bunch of options on the left side. choose restore my system to factory settings, and you'll see the option to customize the restore by unchecking all of the programs that you don't want installed."

Anyone here have any experience with this?

 

Bah okay that makes it harder.

 

If that's true, it sounds cool -- and if it works it's exactly what I'll do when mine arives.

 

Well, I think I can use a Retail disk and have it accept OEM keys through modifying the setupp.ini hopefully that works. Then I can install what I want from Lenovo's site.

 

I am just downloading a ISO of the sp2 OEM disk and will see if my legit key works with it...

 

Can't find one on Usenet so *shrug* this should work though. Setupp.ini controls what type of setup it runs and hence the type of keys allowed to be entered. I always keep ISO files of my software anyways so wasn't a big issue of editing it.

Everything lenovo offers is downloadable though right? Not sure what they offer, most likely I'll just run their Fingerprint security software. I like to keep up on updates manually.

 

I've heard Norton remains (in hidden file form) even after 'uninstall', and that it in turn will continue to affect other programs.

 

I remember reading a study of the programs that slow down windows the most and norton antivirus was easily #1. That plus it is notoriously difficult to get rid of. I am definately gonna do a clean install.

 

Just wondering if T60 still comes with a hidden partition where all the original install software is located? That is what they had in T42. If so, that is one good reason to nuke and to reinstall XP right off the start Before doing that, you can back up the original restore/recovery since I believe IBM/Lenovo no longer send it to you for free. So, back it up, download a wireless driver of the Lenovo support site (the minimum you need to get on the web), and nuke the partition with reformat and reinstall of XP. Than, just download off the Lenovo driver site whatever programs you need. IMHO its the only way for a clean start.

 

Seems like there could be a few flaws for beginners, or even relatively experienced people who aren't 100% certain of all the technical drivers ect a computer requires. My question would be then, this backed up disk which is to be made before clean installing, will include everything that the machine came with? So if this were inserted during a crash, the machine will be restored to original state?

Does the machine come with a licensed copy or OEM of Windows to install (after format) as well as all the ThinkVantage Utilities? I'll assume one can then go onto the Lenovo site and like Microsoft updates, the wizard will identify what is still needed to be downloaded onto the machine. Correct and add more.

 

True, does anyone know if Lenovo's System Update only updates packages you have installed or does it allow you to install new packages? There seems to be quite a bit of Thinkpad utilities that seem tasty to have so.

 

Yes, I did this on the day I received my T60. It works pretty well, although some things are not listed on the custom install list so you still have to uninstall them normally (i.e. the media suite thing that comes on it).

 

Too much junk, not even worth tweaking. Symantec stuff is almost impossible to uninstall without manual deletions. Anyway, what I'm doing is copying from a new T60: DRIVERS, SUPPORT, SWSHARE, SWTOOLS, VALUEADD. This is "just in case". Than, just went to Lenovo site and downloaded every single driver for my machine type. Will nuke the hard drive and do a fresh install of XP Pro from another personal install disk. I personally prefer McAfee and Spyware Doctor as the only two protections on my laptop. I also feel Omega ATI drivers will be much better than original ATI drivers.

Overall, new 15" T60 is SOLID!!! The design is much better than my T42 (cpu heat pipes around the corner, fatter power connector, runs very cool, solid construction, 1 USB port on the left side and 2x USB ports on the right side, 2x battery life in comparison to my T42).

 

McAfee is worse than even Symantic as far as junk left behind. I prefer AVGFree 7.5.

But, I'll give the ThinkVantage reinstall a shot, otherwise I'll probably do a fresh install too.

 

It seems that Avast and AVG Free are the preferred free antivirus solutions while PC-Cillin seems to be one of the few non bloated commercial ones. I have used AVG for a long time and have never had a virus related problem.

 

McAfee VShield Corporate Edition we get at work is the "lightest" and most effective. Personally, I'm worry more about spyware, and Spyware Doctore is #1 rated and the best program. Have been using it for 3 month already (save my T42 from complete reformat). It cost $29 plus $19 every year for updates, and worth every penny!!!

 

If you search google for "uninstall symantec", you can find several guides on how to get rid of all the symantec stuff completely. Don't these methods work on the t60? I'll receive my t60 soon and I don't have a WinXP Pro license, so I don't really like the idea of doing a complete format/reinstallation...

 

jackz, new versions of rescue and recovery (which came on my very recently arrived t60) can do a customized restore to factory defaults in which you can pick and choose which programs to install. It takes awhile for it to reinstall windows and then run the oem setup scripts, but it works fine. I did that immediately after burning some recovery CD; there was no need for a XP Pro disc or license.

I only left out a few programs and lightened the initial process count by about 20...

 

Yes, that's what I was planning to do anyway, I just thought I read somewhere in this thread that you can't remove all the bloatware this way.

 

I removed everything I care about, but I'm not as picky as some. I like most of the ThinkVantage crap, and my laptop is plenty fast even with it running. (It was plenty fast with Symantec installed, too, but I wanted to get rid of it anyway)

 

What's your process count now?

Mine is 54 (still a bit high, I know)

 

Around 57. I would care except that it doesn't boot slowly or run slowly, and it doesn't use all that much RAM at boot. I like presentation manager, access connections, password manager, and all that other crap.

If I wanted to spend the time on it, I could pare it down some more, but it seems like a waste to me. Windows itself is bloated enough to begin with that I don't notice the difference..

 

I just got my Z61t, and I have about 85 processes running. If I go and do the boot-up reinstall option (pressing thinkvantage button while booting), I can customize an install? Before doing this, I'm assuming I should make recovery CD's right? That is done internally while in windows? And these recovery CD's will allow me to always reinstall everything, like it was the day I got the computer right? As for the hidden partition, my understanding is that you can install from there too, so the recovery CD's are just a precaution, incase you screw up the hidden partition? If things go well, and you just do the custom install, via the thinkvantage button on booting, and if you mess it up enough, start all over by reinstalling from the hidden partition again? I agree it's probably smart have recovery CDs anways, but just wanted to clear this up in my mind first.

I have McAfee and don't see the need for Symantec. Will the custom install option allow me to deselect Symantec? How about Google desktop and picassa? I'm like to slim down what's running, but still know I want the thinkvantage stuff, but prefer to get rid of what most people see as unnecessary. Can someone list out what else I might want to deselect while doing this?

If I can't remove via custom install, how do I do it in Windows? I understand that add/remove programs doesn't get everything, so do I just go searching in folders for things that seem related?

Thanks for all the help!

 

You do not need the recovery CDs to do a custom restore to factory settings. It pretty much has no chance of screwing up your hidden partition. I highly recommend this procedure. I restored now a second time and included only a few essential items because I can't stand a bloated XP. My time from hitting the power button to being at windows login is now only 33 seconds and from logging in to actually being able to use the machine there is almost no wait time, maybe 3 seconds or so. I boot with 44 processes and 235 MB of ram used. This is with AVG anti virus and Microsoft OneNote running in the system tray. I also have Diskeeper professional and Windows Defender. Of the thinkvantage programs I only installed:
Active Protection System
Client Security Solution
Create Recovery Media
Keyboard Customizer Utility
Power Manager
Rescue and Recovery
System Update
Thinkpad Configuration
UltraNav Wizard
I'm not sure if all of these are options or if some are force fed, regardless, they are, for the most part, useful.

Needless to say I also disabled some useless XP services.

 

What do you disable and how?

After successfully setting up my system into a lean, mean, running machine, can I make a backup that I can just restore from? Is there something in the thinkvantage stuff that does this? Thanks.

 

Although I don't do it out of laziness (and because I generally don't break my windows installations), you can make an image of your main HDD on an external HDD that you can restore from. You do not need the Thinkvantage backup tools for this and I don't think it's worth it to have extra processes running all the time just for that eventuality; use a program like Acronis True Image to make the backup if you feel you must. I personally just make a system restore point (remember to reduce the % of HDD space that system restore can use or it will eat up 12% of your available space)

As for disabling windows services, you can right click on my computer and hit "manage" then go into services. I would not suggest messing around with this unless you know what you're doing, and if you had to ask how to disable services then you probably should not mess around with them yet.

Unfortunately doing a custom restore does not give you the option to exclude every bit of crapware from the system. You still get some media center / DVD burning programs that are no match for a decent program like Nero 6. I would uninstall all that Sonic crap. Even if you do it leaves some type of DRM software called macrovision on your system. I have not had any problems with it since I uninstalled what I could of it and disabled it's "FLEXnet Licensing Service" but it still bothers me that it ever tainted my hard drive.

Some services that I disabled that are not disabled by default are:
(google these if you wish to learn more about them)
Windows Time
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
WebClient
TVT Scheduler
TVT Backup service
Thinkpad HDD APS Logging Service
Task Scheduler
SSDP Discovery Service
Security Center
Routing and Remote Access
QoS RSVP
Office Source Engine
iPod Service (iTunes installs this but I do not have or want an iPod)
Infrared Monitor
Help and Support
ATI Hotkey poller

Additional Note: Without thinkvantage productivity center your thinkvantage button will not do anything. I think it's pointless since it does not do anything that you can't do from the start menu. Keep your start menu organized and it's just as fast and convenient as any of these memory hogging utilities.

Edit #2: I still am not sure whether Client Security Services is even worth it. The password manager does not work with firefox 2, it slows down your windows log-in time considerably, and it always has a few processes running. I do not have the fingerprint reader and I use a third party password manager anyway. The benefits are 1. Encrypted drive utility, although it's default configuration kind of stinks (read about it in the various thinkpad forums, it can lock you out of your own encrypted drive). There are also third party drive encryption utils but I have not tried them. 2. It also prevents too many failed log in attempts into windows.

Also, even without Access Connections you can still turn your wireless radios on or off with Fn+F5.

Just make sure you install System Update and you will be able to install any of the thinkvantage software later on if you change your mind.

 

If you decide to do the custom restore please do me a favor and let me know if you can get to the screen where it lets you pick what to exclude without being committed to the process. I can't remember if this is the case and I would like to go back in there to write them down and take note of exactly what I excluded for future reference.

 

I will give it a shot tonight or tomorrow. Will update when I'm done. Thanks.

 

Do you guys think PC Doctor 5 is useful? I unchecked that too on custom reformat.

I have R&R 3 and yes, you can uncheck the programs you want to exclude WITHOUT being commited to the process. There is a Back button. (I hope I didn't misunderstand the question)

It's actually quite convenient imo.

Summary of what I excluded:
Symantec anything
Google anything
PC Doctor 5

I still have 67 processes running on startup.

 

I was also underwhelmed by all the pre-installed stuff and also would like to format the drive.

However , as this is my first laptop , I'm worried about the synaptic pad and the red pointer after a format - do you have to save the drivers for these and re-instal them after a full format "wipe" in order for those items to work?

If so which are the files I need to backup ?

 

thenoo, given that this is your first notebook, why don't you wait until you are more familiar with its features before you reinstall the OS? Frankly, I see little advantage in reinstalling everything from scratch compared to uninstalling unwanted programs. The latter certainly takes much less time and effort.

 

Thanks Fred. That sounds like excellent advice and I'll probably follow it.

There is one aspect of re-installing the OS on a laptop which worries me . In my case , since the machine was supplied with XP Pro already installed and without any accompanying CD -(although I understand one may be provided if specifically requested) -if I did decide to wipe the drive I would be using an XP Pro Installation Disc which I bought and used on a previuos DELL machine which is now defunct.This disk was used to install the OS onto a desktop which used a mouse. If I used this disk on a laptop after a format , would the laptop's pointing devices work after such a re-install ? Does such a disk contain drivers needed to have the synaptic pad and the little red pointing stick work , do you know ?

 

im gonna bump this thread with a question...

when i get my t60 with vista im gonna want to remove all the crap out of it, so i have never reformatted a retail computer before so if i put in the vista dvd and format the disk, then install vista and use the key that is on the laptop,would that work? Or would the key disagree with the disk? and i also wonder about the questions thenoo asked above, with the drivers for the mouse pointing devices, also the fingerprint reader.

 

Bump for wardog21. I just got my T60/w Vista and removed Norton, Google Desktop and disabled several Vista services. I only have 1Gb memory. Gonna get another stick.

 

45, 65, 80 processes? Christ, anything over 25 is a lot.

 

Well, we will have to get use to that I guess...
For example one of the reasons is that MS is moving a lot of stuff from kernel to services. There will be more and more items in the task list also because of that. Win XP SP2 with the latest updates has more task items comparing to the original Winx XP...
And then more and more applications... Photoshop elements has a service, java updater too and so on and so on...

 

The Symantec site has software to fully remove the Norton product and registry keys. There is also a page for manually removing all the registry entries.

 

how do i get rid of the aol and earthlink crap.....they don't show up in add and remove programs

 

Vista can be thought of as just another service pack for the Windows XP that you already own. They made the updates only in Vista which they could have easily incorporated for XP but didn't.

There is nothing insanely useful in Vista except a few security updates, some change in the user interface.

 

I have 108 stinking processes running. Shoot me now!

 

i got a 3000 c200 a while ago. I hate all the junk that was installed by default! On first startup I was asked if I wanted to "activate" this and that. I unchecked everything. Still on startup I had 63 processes running. Including the installshield update manager that initializes itself and pops up to check for updates, with "nothing" and "never" selected in its configuration page! Ther is also the cute Lenovo trick of resetting my home page to the lenovo accessories page on startup. I finally killed all the junk and bloat and am now down to a lean 19 processes.
Oh BTW when I called tech support I was informed that due to their licensing a reg XP disc wont work with the COA on the machine, and they wont supply me with anything but system restore discs that just put all that bloat back on there. But they did send me a whole slew of system restore discs just for asking. No charge.

 

Hi,

After reading this thread (remove bloatware, Rescue & Recovery, Thinkvantage, clean install, etc), and trying some stuff myself, I am more confused than ever. If someone can help, please see thread posted below:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=1899246#post1899246

Thanks in advance.

Regards.

Van