Bloatware removal for morons: Please help

[wrxgolfr]

I bought a T60 a few months ago w/ Windows Home Premium. It performs poorly, to be honest. I called to return it but it was 31 days after purchase and was turned down. Been ignoring my unhappiness with it since.

I suspect a major part of my problem is the bloatware that came installed on the computer. Issues are: tremendously slow boot up and shut down times: programs opening slowly: wireless access issues; and more.

I am a computer novice. I've googled "how to remove bloatware" and found many, many hits. Some are brand specific. I found one or two here, but no instructions for the group of which I am a member: the technology ignorant.

I would be most grateful if someone could provide me with a foolproof set of directions on removing the junk.

Much thanks in advance.

[Kyocera]

There's some good info in reference to this question on this forum if you look around you can find more info. For me I just go to "add/remove programs" and start deleting what I don't want or need, which is a lot.

I'll see if I can find a list.

[pianowizard]

I bought a T60 a few months ago w/ Windows Home Premium.

Vista requires at least 2GB of RAM to run reasonably fast. Find out how much RAM you have. If you have 1GB or less, you should put in more.

[ZaZ]

If you are feeling ambitious, you can get the Anytime Upgrade disc and do a clean install of Vista which will have none of the bloatware. There's a guide here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=144783

Also you can make some tweaks to Vista which should speed things up a bit:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166532

Make the recovery discs and a copy of the SWTools folder before you start should things not work out as planned.

[ryengineer]

You can also perform Custom Factory Restore from Rescue and Recovery to remove any or all applications not required by you.

[carbon_unit]

That would be the best choice. You don't have to buy anything, you still get all the drivers and you get to choose which apps get installed and which don't.

[uberT]

You can also perform Custom Factory Restore from Rescue and Recovery to remove any or all applications not required by you.

This is what I've done to my brand new machine...it was time well-invested.

I still can't figure out what I've got the Integrated Camera S/W when the machine doesn't have the camera...

[alacrityathome]

Or, do all of the above AND go back to XP.

[tylerwylie]

Or, do all of the above AND go back to XP.

My pre-installed Vista was wiped, and I put Vista back on there manually and redid all my software and it was alright, but eventually Vista got supplanted by Fedora and XP, and then XP got replaced by VMware Workstation here.

Really, most modern hardware will run fine be it XP or Linux, though Vista may be a hog, it can be tweaked to usability. Or you can install another OS and be happier. Even if you're at 1GB of memory, I doubt it's a hardware issue.

[alacrityathome]

tyler,

Yes, but I think most folks are not at the tweaking level of Pc user capability to optimize Vista.....so, shouldn't be submitted to the painful process. Maybe wait for Windows 7.

But, I agree with everything you said. I find many Linux Distros to be great. I have used many including BackTrack 3 most recently.

And, I now access the Linux Distros via VMware 6.02 from XP. Very smooth and capable software.....which is one reason VMware just went public

A lot of great software out there these days.

And, a great PC with T61p to use all this great software. Just leave Vista in the closet (lol).

[tylerwylie]

What helps is if you have VMX(Intel VT) enabled in the BIOS and use a product that takes advantage of it, such as VMWare Workstation(VMware Server and other free products do not yet) and I have noticed such a big performance difference. You could also try some of the free alternatives like QEMU with KVM if you run Linux. VMware Workstation does include a free 30 day trial, so I'd recommend all those to give it a try.

I have noticed that running configurations like this allow great flexibility. I need Office 07 for work, but it'd be a cold day in hell before I let Windows get direct access to my hardware again. But if you need access to linux for work, (I know I can't do my job without linux), or if you like to fool around then VMware or other virtualization alternatives are available.

What were we talking about again? Oh yea Bloatware.

[mattbiernat]

You can also perform Custom Factory Restore from Rescue and Recovery to remove any or all applications not required by you.

too bad T60 doesn't have that option...

[esmail]

I suspect a major part of my problem is the bloatware that came installed on the computer. Issues are: tremendously slow boot up and shut down times: programs opening slowly: wireless access issues; and more.

Well, if you can't install and use XP instead here are some suggestions (they work for XP, not sure if Vista versions exist, but worth checking out).

Get ride of Adobe Acrobat reader, as someone said it only does one thing and does it badly: displaying pdf. I use FoxIt Reader, it's light weight and works wonderfully (and of course is free).

There is piece of software called (appropriately) pc-decrapifier, google for it, it helps get rid of some of the pre-installed crapware that comes with new systems. Not sure how effective it is, but I read at least one good review.

Watch for spyware, I use spybot and adaware regularly. I assume they have Vista versions by now, but you'd have to check.

I don't know that the equivalent of msconfig is under Vista, but if you have a way to checking what programs get fired up at boot time, you may be able to improve your performance that way too. Same thing for services that get automatically started -- for instance I noticed that my T61 had a couple of SQL services running. Totally unnecessary.

Hope some of this helps, good luck.

Esmail

[ryengineer]

You can also perform Custom Factory Restore from Rescue and Recovery to remove any or all applications not required by you.

too bad T60 doesn't have that option...

Not so, it depends on the version of Rescue and Recovery and image you've, not thinkpad...

[omays4430]

Thinkpads with bloatware? no way ever comparable to the gigs and nonsense on all other machines. the software installed on a TP is very minute to the dells, hp's, gateways, acer's, and compaq's out there. as those are more towards a mainstream class of people. the TP IS a professional grade of laptop. some poeple might not have a camera integrated but the software preinstalled is there to support it for the TP's that do have 1. if someone doesnt want some of the software preinstalled on it press the blue thinkvantage button on boot up and run Rescue and Recovery. that i know about lol i am no wheres near as tech savvy as everyone here, im more a user of pc's but i do know that the thinkvantage is very simple to use. just think common sensely before choosing what u want to do.

[SHoTTa35]

i have a T60 running Vista with 2GB of RAM and it runs wonderfully. The T60 is more than capable of running Vista.

To remove bloatware the first thing i'd remove is CSS (forgot what it means but i think Client Securty Software). After removing it you'll see a noticeable improvement in boot times and shutdown. It's the biggest slow down in Windows. You can also remove all the trial software that was included.

Adobe Reader 8.1.1 is actualy pretty sweet. No need for Foxit or anything else.

Start with CSS tho and then report back to your findings (oh and make sure your HD is not defragmented. Lots of people shut off their machines at night so it can't get a chance to defrag the hard drive.

[Johan]

I bought a T60 a few months ago w/ Windows Home Premium. It performs poorly, to be honest. I called to return it but it was 31 days after purchase and was turned down. Been ignoring my unhappiness with it since.

I suspect a major part of my problem is the bloatware that came installed on the computer. Issues are: tremendously slow boot up and shut down times: programs opening slowly: wireless access issues; and more.

I am a computer novice. I've googled "how to remove bloatware" and found many, many hits. Some are brand specific. I found one or two here, but no instructions for the group of which I am a member: the technology ignorant.

I would be most grateful if someone could provide me with a foolproof set of directions on removing the junk.

Much thanks in advance.

First, I suggest you get the (free and very usable!) "Task-Manager like program" made by Sysinternals/Microsoft Process Explorer. Install it, run it to see what processes actually takes up your CPU power/time? That's kind of the first, logical step! If you find any program not needed or wanted, and just taking up CPU power, uninstall that program. Before uninstalling any program(s), you can play with disabling programs from automatic startup using another free (and easy-to-use!) Sysinternals/Microsoft tool; the AutoRuns for Windows. This way you avoid having to first uninstall and then later perhaps re-install.

Check the thread Vista boot super slow (see the post of Sun Jun 17, 2007 4:34 pm) which points to T60 speed how to?. Perhaps the (very annoying!!) Lenovo-thing TVTscheduler is also bothering you; see T60 Startup Freeze - Explorer.exe just stops responding - a way to hopefully permanently avoid that annoyance is described in a thread a few days ago in the T4x forum --> New Year's present from Lenovo- TVTSched eats the machine.

An a bit more advanced hint: Have a look in the Lenovo Blog: “Junk” in the Preload which points to ThinkVantage Base Software Administrator. I don't know if this is too advanced for you to play with (as you call yourself a "computer novice").

You really ought to be able to find a way to get your T60 to run satisfactory - even if you only have 1 GB RAM it should work absolutely acceptable under Vista. One more GB-stick of RAM (a 1 GB stick or a 2 GB stick) will most likely speed up your T60, unless of course you have some "hanging processes" which will run anyway and keep slowing your T60 down. Remember, RAM is soo cheap these days! If you feel uncertain about how to add more RAM, go to Hardware removal and installation - ThinkPad T60, T60p - there you will find movies showing you how! You know, as a last resort you are actually entitled to a free downgrade from Vista to XP... and then things should run fast! You can search the T6x forum for "Vista XP downgrade" (and use "Search for all terms"), and then you will find guides to do this downgrade.

Good luck - now time has probably come for you not to be a "computer novice" anymore!

Best regards,

Johan

[mattbiernat]

Not so, it depends on the version of Rescue and Recovery and image you've, not thinkpad...

i have an old image. so downloading new RR won't make a difference will it?

[mgo]

[quote="First, I suggest you get the (free and very usable!) "Task-Manager like program" made by Sysinternals/Microsoft Process Explorer. Install it, run it to see what processes actually takes up your CPU power/time? That's kind of the first, logical step! If you find any program not needed or wanted, and just taking up CPU power, uninstall that program. Before uninstalling any program(s), you can play with disabling programs from automatic startup using another free (and easy-to-use!) Sysinternals/Microsoft tool; the AutoRuns for Windows. This way you avoid having to first uninstall and then later perhaps re-install.[/quote]

Thanks very much for the USEFUL response here. Your reminder about Autoruns & Process Explorer prompted me to download them again and just run the programs for maintenance purposes. My machine is running Vista well, but there might be ways to improve things, eh?

[Johan]

... Perhaps the (very annoying!!) Lenovo-thing TVTscheduler is also bothering you; see T60 Startup Freeze - Explorer.exe just stops responding - a way to hopefully permanently avoid that annoyance is described in a thread a few days ago in the T4x forum --> New Year's present from Lenovo- TVTSched eats the machine.

Update to the above: A fix for the TVTSched-problem was released by Lenovo a few days back; see the thread in the T4x-forum: Fix for TVTSCHED which is pointing to Scheduler patch to fix the tvtsched.exe hold 99% CPU issue - thanks, richk!

Best regards,

Johan