If your new PC seems slow, it could be the Bloatware on it

If your new PC seems slow, it could be the Bloatware

Like a lot of people this Christmas, I got a new laptop. As usual, it had several useless pre-installed software on it taking up resources and space. The only way to regain the wasted space and to make sure I had a clean, working system was to do a complete overhaul. I’ve had to do the same thing on my customers new Dell’s, HP’s, and Gateway laptops and desktops; all of them came with pre-installed software. Only about 10% of which was really useful, the rest was “bloatware”.

First, the definition of Bloatware:

Bloatware, or foistware, is also used to describe software that comes pre-installed on a computer when it’s bought, mostly consisting of time-limited trials or feature-lacking basic or “beginner” versions.

Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloatware>

The point is much of this pre-installed software on new machines can actually cause performance problems. This usually comes in the form of fake or useless diagnostic tools, game trial-ware, and 30-day limited antivirus programs. The latter is the biggest problem because so many people do not purchase the full antivirus product after the trial expires. Without the full product, they don’t get updates and sometimes the antivirus scan engines stop all together. Even though most of these software use a “pop-up” reminder to annoy you into buying the full version, again most people ignore these alerts for all kinds of reasons. The other types of bloatware are all the extra software, games, and tools that also come pre-installed. Again, most of that stuff is either trial-ware or useless ware and takes up resources and are just annoying.

In my opinion, the first task after getting a new computer and the best way to get rid of the bloatware is to do a complete reinstall if possible. If you have the know-how, do it yourself. It’s a good way to get very familiar with your system. Most brands come with either a “re-install” discs or have some way to either make them or download them. These discs should allow you to reinstall only the operating system (Windows 7, I hope) and there usually is another way to install applications, drivers, and tools. Do an OS install only and install the drivers after. Install your apps, run updates, and install/activate a functioning antivirus. When you’re done, you’ll have a clean, updated, and hopefully fast machine free of the garbage.

Although Macintosh users usually don’t have this problem, I’ve had to do complete rebuilds on Macs as well no matter what Apple says. Granted, its not as bad as PC’s but the concept still applies on Mac’s too. Check out this post on ars technica.