The easiest way of getting rid of bloatware is to just format the drive and install a fresh retail copy of Windows. It’s astonishing how well that works.
I recently tried that with a cheap Compaq laptop (that’s a HP brand) which comes with loads of crap. When you install a fresh copy of Windows, it is clever about which drivers it needs to download and everything just works. Special buttons, sound, Bluetooth, wireless LAN, webcam, SD card slot, you name it. I didn’t have to hunt for one single driver.
You obviously need a fresh copy of Windows and I’m not aware of any computer that comes with one. (All this is assuming that you want Windows and not Linux.) I’m a student and get Windows for free but others are not so lucky. Reinstalling the OS is not really a practical solution for the average user, anyway, but it is illustrative of one thing: The manufactures wouldn’t have to do one thing – just ship their PCs with Windows as is — and there would be no more bloatware.
With Windows XP, you simply need the license code from the sticker on the machine and a "plain Jane" MS installation disk borrowed from someone else. (You have to match your license type with the appropriate disk, Home or Pro.)
The last time I bought a Dell, for $10 I could and did add to the order just such a disk. This was in addition to the crapware-laden "recovery" disk that came with it by default.
I haven't done a Windows 7 installation (nor Vista), so I'm not aware of whether this still applies. And the last time I helped someone shop / potentially place a Dell order, I didn't find an option to receive a such a "plain Jane" MS installation disk.
If some variation of the above still applies, my recommendation would be to use another machine to download the machine-specific drivers from the vendor's web site -- assuming they are available. Then, when the machine arrives, do a fresh install from an MS install disk, first thing. Well, maybe turn the machine on first and use it trivially for a day or three to make sure it doesn't have a physical defect. But don't start customizing it in a way you'll regret losing, until you've reinstalled.
As you describe, such a reinstallation can take a miserably "compromised" machine and turn it into a delight to use (if Windows is your thing).
Oh, also have your anti-malware suite ready to install, post Windows reinstallation, BEFORE you plug the thing into a network connection. (Yes, I recommend using one, especially for most/normal people.)
(As for all the "free" programs that come amidst the bloat: TANSTAAFL. You're better off just installing what you need, picking what you really want and/or, where they are the best or your demand is marginal, free programs.)
You state the problem right in your second paragraph. New PCs don't come with a Windows retail copy. They come with a factory recovery disk that reformats your hard drive, and reinstalls the OS and all the bloatware for you, just as it came out of the box.
If you want a fresh retail copy of Windows 7, unfortunately, you actually have to buy it, which adds about $199 onto the price of Windows. At that point, you're better off buying a Mac, as the price advantage that your cheap budget PC gave you by bundling the bloatware is easily cancelled by the additional Windows license price.
You get better software and better hardware with the Mac, plus a bloatware free and virus free experience. It's a win/win.
Not always true--the Dell I bought just last month came with the OS and the bloatware on separate discs. I formatted the computer using the OS disc and it was a totally fresh version of Windows 7 with not a trace of bloatware in sight.
Though I'm pretty sure they used to do what you described in the past, so I wouldn't put it past other manufacturers to still do it!
IIRC (I may not), I do seem to recall reading that with Windows 7, there is more of a distinction between full/retail and "OEM"/recovery disks. I guess, another lever they use to justify/raise the fees from the crapware vendors.
EDIT: Perhaps I should have said / mean "licenses" rather than "disks".
Better software, perhaps. But show me where I could've bought a Macbook with a Core i7 and Nvidia 360M graphics last year when I bought my Asus laptop for $1300.
Surely they can just download a copy somewhere, the whole point of software is that you buy the license, not the actual code, right?
If you bought a PC and it came with Windows, then you should have a windows license (and associated product key or whatever) so reformatting should be fine.
All the laptops I had in the last years came with recovery partitions and you could only use them to reinstall the OS. I once downloaded a copy of XP Professional (illegally) and tried to enter the key that was printed on my ThinkPad, it didn’t work.
Maybe I was doing it wrong, I don’t know, but I couldn’t get it to work. I always had to rely on keys I got from elsewhere.
If there is some way that would be great but still not exactly solve the problem. Can you download Windows ISOs directly from Microsoft? I don’t think so. You might have a key but I don’t know of any easy way to get a Windows copy without paying.
The reinstallation disk I mentioned in my other post was stolen in a burglary. A couple of months later, I really needed to reinstall my Windows XP Pro machine. A friend volunteered to send me a burned copy of his Pro disk. It worked just fine.
(With the disks being stamped wholesale, I don't see too much wrong with this. Stealing the license code / functionality -- that would have been another matter.)
I know I had problems with XP, but with Vista and 7, I haven't had an issue just using an OEM disk with the key on the sticker. Activates and receives updates without a problem.
I recently tried that with a cheap Compaq laptop (that’s a HP brand) which comes with loads of crap. When you install a fresh copy of Windows, it is clever about which drivers it needs to download and everything just works. Special buttons, sound, Bluetooth, wireless LAN, webcam, SD card slot, you name it. I didn’t have to hunt for one single driver.
You obviously need a fresh copy of Windows and I’m not aware of any computer that comes with one. (All this is assuming that you want Windows and not Linux.) I’m a student and get Windows for free but others are not so lucky. Reinstalling the OS is not really a practical solution for the average user, anyway, but it is illustrative of one thing: The manufactures wouldn’t have to do one thing – just ship their PCs with Windows as is — and there would be no more bloatware.