- Greg Clarke
Unfortunately, most systems these days ship with a desktop littered with links, trialware, adware, and other software that you may find worthless. Adding insult to injury, major electronics retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City are cashing in on this trend by offering to remove the junk (a service they call PC optimization or setup)--for a price.
Some of the software can be useful, but much of it deserves the derogatory terms many people employ: junkware, shovelware, and plain old crap. And there tends to be a lot of it on new computers. For example, our examination and tests on 15 new desktop and laptop PCs turned up, on average, seven to eight nonstandard desktop icons; four to five non-Windows applets in the system tray; five or so Welcome Center icons that Windows didn't create; and additional lurkers in the Start menu and Windows Registry.
Getting rid of all this junk has a real benefit: Performance scores (as measured by our WorldBench 6 Beta 2 test suite) can improve by as much as 8 percent, which is pretty impressive considering the speed of baseline performance on a current PC (see our chart, "Cluttered Computers"). Read on for details, including advice on how to minimize the gunk when you shop--and, if you can't avoid it, see "How to Clean Your New PC" for advice on getting rid of it.
And don't miss our related story "20 Tools to Get the Junk Off Your PC," which contains pointers to useful downloads.
A Persistent Problem
- Blake Discher
"I bought a Dell PC for my wife and was horrified at the amount of time she wasted killing never-say-die Craplets," says supercomputer specialist Lee Higbie of Fairbanks, Alaska. He adds, "I've heard that Dell now allows a no-trialware installation...without that option, I wouldn't consider Dell again."
We discovered that Dell does indeed allow PC purchasers to opt out of a lot of third-party extras when we recently bought a couple of Inspiron 530 desktops online. The computers arrived with far fewer non-Windows extras on them than the Dell-supplied Inspiron 531 we initially tested (for a comparison, click on the screen-shot thumbnail at left). To achieve that relative state of cleanliness, however, we had to carefully uncheck a lot of boxes as we went through Dell's lengthy customization wizard. Because we made no special effort to order gunk-free systems from the other vendors, we decided to keep the Inspiron 531 on our chart. 
It's worth noting that some preloaded programs are quite convenient. Many people use Acrobat Reader, or the Roxio or Nero CD/DVD-burning software that comes with some systems. But most such extras are not so worthwhile.
Crapware Compendium
By far the most irritating junk is adware--eBay ads, online games, music services, and anything else that sends you to a Web site where you may purchase stuff or sign up for a service. (Read about the financial underpinnings of PC junk in "The Junk Software Economy".)
Then there's trialware, or preloaded software that functions only for a set period, generally 30 to 90 days. McAfee Antivirus, Microsoft Office 2007, and Norton Internet Security are among the more common trialware titles. Trialware can tide you over until you set up the products you intend to use, but it can also become very annoying, especially if it keeps nagging you to convert to a paid version each time you log on. 
Logoware such as Google Desktop and Picasa may be free and fully functional, but it's still designed to push advertising at you, or at least raise brand awareness.
Some computer vendors throw in their own utilities and software, typically to address perceived deficiencies in Windows or to attempt to intervene before you call tech support. Dell's Customization Wizard (which basically walks you through the setup procedure for certain Windows features and third-party applications) and Acer's toolbar may be useful to some folks, but annoying to others.
Hidden Gunk
Not all non-Windows gunk is visible. Background services and startup apps lengthen boot times and steal CPU cycles while you're working; consider disabling those you don't use.
One particularly sneaky form of subsurface junk is what you might call help-the-hog-over-the-fence-ware. Applications such as Adobe Reader, iTunes, and QuickTime Player are so bloated that they preload portions of themselves when Windows first starts so they won't seem so sluggish when you actually run them. But this action wastes precious time when you don't use these applications.
It All Bogs Down
For this story, we looked at an assortment of laptops and desktops from Acer, Alienware, Dell, eMachines, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Polywell, Sony, and Toshiba (for space reasons, we put only ten on our "Cluttered Computers" chart; we left out the Mac because we had no WorldBench 6 score to use in determining its junk rating).
Unfortunately, our tests showed that gunk can impose a performance penalty. The primary culprits: hidden services and "helpful" tools, which can be part of trialware installations or not-so-helpful utilities from PC vendors.
As shipped, nearly all of the 15 PCs we tested had more than 80 processes--tasks from the OS or from applications--running. After we disabled all of the nonessential junk on each test machine, the number of processes dropped to the mid-thirties. Each process uses memory and system resources, and even if not actively performing a task, requires periodic attention from the operating system.
To measure shovelware's impact on performance, we ran WorldBench 6 Beta 2 on each system, first with the shipping software intact (sans antivirus software, because it often interferes with WorldBench; this is the way we test for our ranked reviews charts), and then again after using the Windows System Configuration Utility (msconfig.exe) to disable all startup items and non-Microsoft services.
The most dramatic changes we saw: The HP Pavilion notebook's WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score rose by 8.2 percent (we generally find that gains of 5 percent or more translate to a perceptible difference for normal business tasks), and the Acer Aspire notebook's score improved by 6.5 percent. Notebooks from Lenovo and Toshiba exhibited the lowest gains.
Desktop models showed far more consistent improvement, averaging a gain of 4 percent overall. In addition, our subjective impressions were that boot-up and program launch times improved noticeably, especially on slower systems.
Apple's Better Behavior?
Apple's "Stuffed" ad features an actor in a fat suit representing an overloaded PC facing off against a slim, hip youngster claiming that Macs "only come with the stuff you need." Sure enough, when we booted up a new 24-inch iMac, we saw only the registration/configuration wizard and a pristine desktop.
Even so, we found an icon for a 60-day trial of Apple's .Mac online services on the Dock (the bar of icons on a Mac screen), and a Microsoft Office 2004 test-drive and a 30-day trial for Apple's own iWork in the Applications folder.
Though the iMac does harbor marketing material, it offers less gunk than the average Vista desktop does--and the add-ons are more graciously presented.
Rating PC Junk
Because performance numbers don't tell the whole story, we developed a junk rating that integrates the WorldBench 6 improvement with the quantity and quality of the gunk. We then tied the numbers to word scores ranging from Polite (little or no junk) to Mildly
Annoying,
Irritating, and Infuriating.
The most junkware-free system, scoring an impressively low 10 points, was Alienware's Area-51 7500 desktop, which didn't even display the Alienware name on its screen.
At the other end of the spectrum: Sony's VAIO VGC-LS30E multimedia desktop, which came with Spider-Man 3 wallpaper and 27 nonstandard Vista Welcome Center icons hawking everything from online games to CNN to e-books. Booting up the PC for the first time simultaneously activated setup for a trial of Norton Internet Security; we also saw an ad for a trial of QuickBooks and an invitation to a Sony feedback survey. 
Throw in AOL and Travelocity Sidebar gadgets, and the VGC-LS30SE ran away with the number one spot on our chart. As brazen as the appearance of its desktop was, the Sony actually had slightly less junk running in the background than the average machine does, but it still scored a whopping 162 points on the junk-rating scale.
After the Sony, all the other PCs seemed tame, though the Acer, Dell, HP, and Toshiba all surpassed the Annoying mark. The amount of junkware on Gateway and on Gateway-owned eMachines PCs was tolerable, though we're still waiting for the company's BigFix background app to actually fix something. Other than the Alienware, only the Polywell earned a Polite mark. It was a bit cluttered, but it had no adware or trialware, and what software there was served a purpose.
After two weeks of staring at cluttered desktops, adware, trialware, and utilities, we concluded that PC vendors, under tremendous competitive pressure to keep prices down, are seeking new revenue sources (or, in the case of vendor-branded support aids, ways to cut their own costs). They sell ad space on their desktops for cash, try to distinguish themselves by providing utilities that frequently duplicate or simply manage Windows features, and have generally allowed their products to be used to sell those of others. When we asked vendors about this trend, they responded with various explanations--the favorite being that users appreciate having the additional software--but in the end most of the justifications sounded to us like poor excuses for bad behavior.
It doesn't have to be this way. Microsoft has done a pretty good job of making the initial boot-up of an unadulterated Vista PC pleasant. It's the computer vendors who muck things up. With the exception of Alienware and Polywell, all the companies whose PCs we tested could take a hint from Apple and sell their extras with a modicum of dignity.
Cluttered Computers: Which PCs Have the Most Annoying Junk?
A Sony desktop and a Toshiba notebook earned the worst junk ratings, which are based on the quantity and quality of preinstalled non-Windows software and its impact on a system's performance. Conversely, a high-end PC from Alienware and a desktop from Polywell earned the lowest junk ratings. To see our ratings and test results, click on the chart icon below.
| Cluttered Computers: Which PCs Have the Most Annoying Junk? | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Sony desktop and a Toshiba notebook earned the worst junk ratings, which are based on the quantity and quality of preinstalled non-Windows software and its impact on a system's performance (see the footnote at the bottom of this chart). Conversely, a high-end PC from Alienware and a desktop from Polywell earned the lowest junk ratings. | ||||
| System | Junk rating1 | Cleanup results | Crud count | Comments |
| Sony VAIOVGC-LS30E (desktop) |
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From its Spiderman Desktop to an amazing 27 Welcome Center icons, the LS30E--like many multimedia PCs--is a crapware horror show. |
| Toshiba A205-S4639 (notebook) |
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Toshiba dishes out a heapin' helpin' of both third-party and proprietary crapware on this laptop. Its 17 desktop icons was the high for our roundup. |
| Dell Inspiron 531 (desktop) |
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Dell has taken a lot of flack for crapware, but it's not the worst offender for third-party items. However, there's a ton of Dell-branded "extras." |
| HP Pavilion dv9500t (notebook) |
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From the proprietary first-boot configuration wizard, which tries to sell you stuff, to the 14 desktop icons, the dv9500t is impolite in a big way. |
| Acer Aspire 5920 (notebook) |
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Like Sony, Toshiba, and Lenovo, Acer tries too hard to be helpful. Too many utilities duplicate Vista tools and create a bad case of sensory overload. |
| eMachines T5602 (desktop) |
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Gateway-owned eMachines loads its system with trialware and adware--though not quite on the scale of the PCs in the top five. |
| Lenovo T61 (notebook) |
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A deluge of "helpful" utilities and a first-boot wizard that tries to sell stuff irked us mightily. But you can ditch the third-party junk by reinstalling the OS. |
| Gateway DX430X(desktop) |
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But for the parade of system-tray applets, this PC might have scored a Polite. It didn't, and Gateway could come up with a more subtle desktop logo. |
| Polywell Poly P3503 (desktop) |
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Polywell's desktop may not be squeaky clean, but everything you find is full, not trial software. Once upon a time, this was the norm. |
| Alienware Area-51 7500 (desktop) |
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Alienware knows it's charging top dollar for its performance PCs and treats its customers accordingly. Pristine. |
| FOOTNOTE:1The higher the junk rating, the worse the score. The ratings were calculated by adding the number of third-party desktop items, start-menu items, system tray applets, sidebar gadgets, Welcome Center icons (multiplied by 2), boot wizards (multiplied by 3), and the WorldBench 6 Beta 2 performance percentage gain (multiplied by 2). We also added points if we couldn't restore the OS cleanly using the vendor-supplied recovery discs or partition. | ||||
The Best and Worst Preinstalls
Not all preinstalled non-Windows software and links are created equal. Here are the least offensive items--and the worst--that we encountered.
The Most Useful
Adobe Reader: Though it lets you view PDF-format system documentation, it's extraordinarily slow. The equally free and substantially leaner and faster FoxIt Reader would make a better bundled item.
Disc-burning software: While not as full-featured as their paid versions, limited editions of Roxio and/or Nero DVD- and CD-burning software are generally more useful and user-friendly than the Windows features for these tasks. 
Office 2007 60-day trial: Okay, so they want to sell it to you--it's still a very nice productivity suite to use until you get around to buying and installing your own. That said, we find the desktop and Welcome Center shortcuts too pushy, and OpenOffice.org is a free alternative.
The Most Annoying
Online game links: These items vary in their presentation from machine to machine, but many users will believe the games are installed on their PC until they click on the shortcut and are directed to Wild Tangent's online gaming center. This is nothing but trialware with an hour of free play.
Google Desktop: Vista's improved indexing and search functionality largely remove the need for this program, and its high profile on the system tray and sidebar is irritating, to say the least.
Travelocity Search Sidebar gadget: This tool might be useful for travel agents, but we just plopped down cash for a new PC, so we're staying home for a while. Basically this is a service that we would rather surf to when we need it.
Dodging the Junk
- Greg Clarke
Ditching the big names in favor of a boutique brand, such as Polywell or the Dell-owned Alienware, can considerably reduce the amount of trialware and adware you'll have to contend with. In the Poly P3503, for instance, all of the software installs were full versions, not trialware. And the pricey, performance-oriented Alienware Area-51 7500 was pristine--the company even removed the adware links that Microsoft itself puts in the Vista Welcome Center.
If you need the comfort factor of a market-leading brand, you still have ways to dodge the marketing deluge. The first is to opt for business-targeted PCs. Both Dell and HP freely admit to preloading less junk in their business and corporate lines, such as Dell's Vostro and HP's Compaq systems.
The downside to this approach: These products cost more than their consumer-targeted equivalents. Multimedia PCs like Sony's VAIO VGC-LS30E are particularly prone to junk software, so avoid these unless you really need TV recording features; alternatively, consider adding multimedia options to a more mainstream model.
Even if you buy a consumer-targeted PC, you may be able to minimize the software pollution. On request and for free, technicians at a Sony Style store will remove all trial- and adware from any Sony computer you purchase at the store, or that you bring in after buying online. And Dell has recently altered its online purchasing process to allow users to opt out of several types of software.
Unfortunately, though, we've yet to encounter a way to avoid the not-always-helpful utilities that most companies are prone to putting on their PCs.
Creative Complaining
So far we've described the polite strategies for avoiding crapware. But if you're willing to go the squeaky-wheel route, anything's possible--even a perfectly clean desktop. Complain to the vendor about the crap on a system you're contemplating buying, or ask salespeople for the machine with the least junk on it. Better yet, tell them you'll take your business elsewhere if you don't get a clean install of Vista--for free.
Vendors will get the message if enough buyers squawk. If you're unsuccessful in your bargaining, don't needlessly pay for a retailer's "setup" or "optimizing" service; instead, read "20 Tools to Get the Junk Off Your PC," and (this article's last page) "How to Clean Your New PC."
Keeping your PC free of gunk once you start using it is difficult enough; the less of it you get with a new system, the less you will have to sweep out yourself.
The Junk Software Economy
It's fairly clear that PC vendors receive money for loading your computer with junk. But few people are willing to talk about this business. Nearly all of the system vendors we contacted--Acer, Apple, Gateway, HP, Toshiba, and Sony--declined to comment. Alienware was the only vendor to state emphatically that it takes no money to install software.
Service and software vendors eBay and Symantec freely admitted to having "relationships" with a number of vendors, but declined to comment on the specifics. Symantec did say it had a revenue-sharing model, implying that its payments to PC vendors might be based on the number of customers who pay for a license when the free trial ends. Google, which provided its Desktop and Toolbar software on almost every PC we tested, declined comment.
Vendors told us repeatedly that they are providing a service to the user by bundling trial versions of McAfee Antivirus, Microsoft Office 2007, or Norton Internet Security. But customers might be better served if the PCs came with full versions of free alternatives such as OpenOffice.org and Grisoft's AVG antivirus application.
While preloading software may help subsidize prices for consumer PCs, it has also created a burgeoning cottage industry for "optimizing" new systems--that is, removing the junk. (This is a large part of what a retailer does in the PC-setup service that most stores offer at a cost of $90 to $150.)
You can do this yourself for free: See "How to Clean Your New PC". And vote with your dollars. If enough people ask for clean PCs, vendors will notice.
How to Clean Your New PC
- Greg Clarke
In June, Dell started shipping a third-party software removal utility with its Dimension and Inspiron PCs. But it's buried in Start/All Programs/Dell/Dell Software & Utilities/Product Documentation2, and it doesn't touch Dell-branded apps. 
If an OS reinstall doesn't help, download PC Decrapifier. This dandy little utility automatically scans your PC for useless software and startup items, and then lets you choose from a list the ones you want to remove. PC Decrapifier makes some judgment calls, and it can't distinguish between trial and paid versions of some software. But anything that you might conceivably need is deselected by default, so it's safe even for neophytes.
Still got junk? Open Control Panel and select Programs and Features (in Windows Vista) or Add/Remove Programs (Windows XP). For most applications, you'll see an entry here for uninstalling the program and its accompanying files. In addition, suites such as Microsoft Office permit you to remove any components you don't need. Scan the folders in Start/All Programs for uninstall utilities that might not appear in the Control Panel list.
Hobbling the Helper Apps
Some vendors try to make their applications appear faster by preloading portions of them (via the Start menu or the Registry) when you boot up Windows. They may also run a background service to check for updates or connecting devices, or they may create a system-tray applet to offer access to functions available elsewhere. These items are rarely necessary, and they all take a toll on boot times and performance. 
To weed out this less obvious stuff, use the Windows System Configuration Utility (msconfig.exe), which lets you disable startup items and background services, and--more importantly--reenable them should you make a mistake.
Before you start pruning, fire up your Web browser so you can research anything you don't recognize. A general search on the program or file name usually turns up good info, but www.bleepingcomputer.com and www.file.net are good places to find unbiased information.
To start trimming the bloatware, type msconfig in Vista's Start menu search pane or in XP's Run command and press Enter. Select the Startup tab and prepare for a surprise--there will be quite a few entries. We don't have space to describe every startup item you might uncover, or tell you which you'll want to disable, but applets such as automatic updaters and audio trays are likely candidates.
Next, switch to the Services tab. Services are Windows background programs that generally are invisible to the user. Check the box that says 'Hide Microsoft Services', and see what you have left. You'll probably find fewer unnecessary services than useless startup items, but you might discover the occasional updater or helper that you can ditch. For more-granular information on a particular service, right-click My Computer (Computer under Vista), select Manage, expand the Services and Applications tree, select Services, and look for the service that you're investigating.
When you close the System Configuration Utility, Windows will offer to restart your computer. You don't have to say yes, as the changes will take effect the next time you start Windows--assuming you don't crash. This doesn't happen often, but if disabling something does interfere with some vital Windows process, reboot, press F8 as the BIOS info disappears, choose Safe Mode, and then use the same Msconfig utility to reenable the items you disabled.
