Sony Vaio SR290 - BLOATWARE!

I used to own a Dell (2003 Model) which, minus my fan breaking down and causing my hard drive to crash, I hadn't had problems. The speed of the computer itself was amazing, but other horrible little things ($140 for the new HD, the CD case loose and rattling, needing an XP CD in everytime in order for Windows to boot up) made it clear I needed a new machine. My sister worked at Sony so I picked up a brand-new, top of the line SR290. Which is lovely, and light, and has a magnificent screen. BUT - it runs slower than my old Dell! How is this possible?? Could it be the unbeLIEVABLE amount of pre-installed software? I am going to list below what was included on my computer that I think is slowing her down (pls tell me if I'm just wrong) and if anyone could let me know what is OK to chuck and what I should keep w/o royally ing up my new baby, please let me know! Thanks to all in advance Oh, and I'm kind of computer retarded, so this list is just all the programs listed in "Uninstall or change a program" that I didn't know what they were or what they did.

[Note: I *have* read the other strings about getting rid of bloatware via semi-clean, but I'm scared to try it on a computer model it hasn't been tested for ...]

Microsoft Office Suite Activation Assistant (I've already uninstalled the pre-loaded free trials of Microsoft Office ... too $$)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (x64)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB954430)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 Parser and SDK
Setting Utility Series
Sony Picture Utility
Sony Video Shared Library
SupportSoft Assisted Service
Synaptics Pointing Device Driver
VAIO Care
VAIO Content Folder Setting
VAIO Content Metadata Intelligent Analyzing Manager
VAIO Content Metadata Manager Setting
VAIO Content Metadata XML Interface Library
VAIO Control Center
VAIO Data Restore Tool
VAIO DVD Menu Data Basic
VAIO Entertainment Platform
VAIO Event Service
VAIO Help and Support
VAIO Media Plus
VAIO Mode Switch
VAIO Movie Story
VAIO Movie Story Template Data
VAIO MusicBox
VAIO MusicBox Sample Music
VAIO My Memory Center
VAIO OOBE and Welcome Center
VAIO Original Function Setting
VAIO Power Management
VAIO Startup Assistant
VAIO Survey
VAIO Update 4
VAIO Wallpaper Contents
VAIO Wireless Wizard

 

You might not wanna take my word for it, but I'd delete everything except:
--The two C++ applications and the MSXML stuff
--Synaptics Driver (that's your touchpad)
--VAIO Event Service (if you like the FN buttons)
--VAIO Mode Switch (if you like those Mode Switch buttons)
--VAIO Power Management (allows you to set things like DVD drive auto-off)
Not sure about the Setting Utility or the "VAIO Content ....." ones, but I know I deleted pretty much everything that had a Sony or VAIO in front of it without too much consequence.

 

I don't have SR, I have a clean install FW but comparing your list with my clean system, you should keep the following:

Synaptics Pointing Device Driver (Needed for touchpad to work)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (x64) (They are needed for certain applications, such as ATI Catalyst. So, keep it.)
Setting Utility Series (Needed for Multimedia Keys to work)
VAIO Control Center
VAIO Event Service (Needed for FN keys to work)
VAIO Power Management
VAIO Mode Switch (Keep it if you like to use the mode switch).

 

Thank you guys! I think you both said to keep the same things, so I'll do it and cross muh fingers

 

Basically, look at something and if you don't need it remove it - you don'T have to remove all right away.

Get rid of the obvious stuff first, like "Vaio Survey" - what is that? Survey? No need for one I'd think.

 

Between R and W (WinDVD) These are what I retained on mine.