The Annoyance Of Pre-loaded Gadgets

I bought a new Lenovo Z710 laptop for the business a few weeks back and was a little annoyed when it came with lots of preloaded software which I didn't want, must have taken about two weeks to research online if the programs I was uninstalling were in fact needed by the operating system.

I also had a trail version of McAfee anti virus and a trial version of Microsoft Office. When these products are advertised it is difficult to decipher which programs are trial and which are not, as you all know, these programs are not cheap to buy once the trial is over. I don't like to buy something then find I have additional costs straight after

What happened to the times when you knew exactly what you were buying when purchasing a new gadget?

I think computers should at least all come with a basic version of Microsoft Office, a computer is pretty useless without it.

Some good pointers there Rob, I did consider using the online version of MS Office but I don't like the layout too much and need access while offline, I always use AVG free for my anti virus and have done for many years and it has never let me down touch wood. Its an interesting idea to erase and reinstall the operating system, I feel all the pre installed applications are almost an invasion of privacy.

What erasing the operating system and reinstalling it do?

I'm thinking about getting another laptop in the new year, probably get a refurbished one off eBay. Any pointers for a good basic laptop? Don't need anything special, it won't be used for gaming, just bit off office, Internet etc.

I remember the time when your computer just came with the OS discs, I wish we could revert back to that, at least you know what you're getting.

Ah ok and this can be done with disks off eBay can it? I was just looking at these chromebooks, look interesting.

Wonder why this doesn't happen anymore?

Many home users who get a computer for Christmas do not have the technical knowledge to download a media player, image viewer, etc, so they will continue to use the supplied applications.

Ignoring techie stuff, If I was setting up a laptop tomorrow I would remove the crap, then first load the following free software:

• Irfan View - Image viewer
  
• KMPlayer - Video Player
• Media Monkey + Foobar 2000 - Music players
  
• Adobe Acrobat - PDF viewer
  
• Skype - Phone calls
• CCleaner - System cleanup utility
• JDownloader - For downloading
• UTorrent - Torrent
  
• Winrar - to unpack zipped files

Certain there is loads that I have missed, any suggestions?

Because too many companies get the opportunity to push their products under our noses, don't know about you but I like to chose what I want to buy, not have it shoved under my nose on a computer that I've just bought.

I would add AVG Free anti virus software to the list, I've always used this and it has never let me down. Another gripe, when finding free software like AVG on the internet, you are often directed to sites that want to sell you something else, its a bit of a pain sorting the wheat from the chaff in this day an age.

Agreed AVG has a decent reputation, and a virus checker is important. I have AVG installed on one of my old laptops, however I got a 3 year McAfee license plan at a good discount with my last Dell laptop.​

You often need to ensure that you tick or untick the little box when downloading and installing software even from reliable sites like Adobe, otherwise you find that other unwanted software is installed and your homepage is changed to something with less relevance than that of the North Korean tourism ministry.​

You're right Dave, important to keep your eye on the small print and tick boxes and avoid changing your Homepage, recently with my new laptop I had a bit of a struggle getting rid of Bing as my homepage (I bloody hate it), didn't change it even going into internet options and changing my homepage to my preferred Google, I ended up having to uninstall something else to get rid of Bing.

I also use Adavnced System Care from 10bit. The free version of course.

Al.

The last 2 HP laptops I have had both had recovery partitions on their hard disks, Timmers.
Check yours to see if it also has the same.

This plus a good back up should help in an emergency.

Also, it is possible to get recovery disks from the manufacturers.
It costs a bit but it can also help.

When you turned your new machine on for the first time, did you get instructions to make backup disks immediately?

Hi Dave_E,
I would not be without:

Norton 360
Norton Utilities
Malwarebytes
Microsoft Office - 2010 was a very good price
Private Internet Access VPN - A virtual private network
VLC Media Player - I play all videos and movies through this.
WinAmp - I play all my music through this and it burns CD's too.
SnagIt - screen grabber, very useful
Bulk Rename Utility
Photo Mechanic - Image Viewer
Soulseek
FBReader - Book Reader for the PC
Adobe Audition - as an mp3 editor

You're right Mike there is a recovery partition on the hard drive.

Some good tips on this thread, I'm not really up on a lot of computer stuff these days but the things I use are:
AVG (free)
Exact Audio Copy for ripping CD's to FLAC
VLC or GOM player
Vuze torrent

and that's about it now. Hmm thought I used more. I'm interested in using a VPN, especially as I do a bit of torrent downloading. Does anyone have any ideas of a good / reasonable one?

Also one brand I wouldn't buy again is HP. I've had a couple and we use them at work and I got so fed up with the system analysis or updater thing going on. I currently use a 13 inch Asus I got reconditioned off ebay about 4 years ago. Its now only just starting to so its age when booting up, its takes aaaggggeeesssss.

Sounds like its time to visit eBay again Stu, is the Vuze torrent what you use to download movies?