Have you ever wondered why that brand new computer you just bought doesn’t run as fast as advertised? The answer may be bloatware, all that pre-loaded software that the manufacturer so helpfully provides to you.
Often bloatware is just an annoyance, adding to the number of update pop-up prompts a user has to deal with. But it can cause serious performance issues. As an example, HP’s Wireless Assistant software has been known to cause spikes in CPU utilization. Wireless Assistant is an applet that controls the enablement of individual wireless devices. It may be a handy application at times, but it is not necessary, as the same functionality is built into the network control panel. See the link for more details: http://superuser.com/questions/240794/why-does-wmi-provider-host-wmiprvse-exe-keep-spiking-my-cpu An updated version can take care of this particular problem, but this is one of the few pre-loaded applications that doesn’t prompt regularly to check for updates, and so may go unresolved.
There are utilities out there designed to remove bloatware, such as PC Decrapifier . But with the way these pre-loaded applications can often integrate into the OS, a clean installation is probably the best solution, something which the average consumer may not have the time or the resources to accomplish.
The next time you purchase a new computer, make a point of requesting that the OS be a clean install without all the pre-loaded “goodies”. The seller may not be able to comply at first, but with enough requests, maybe the manufacturers will start to take notice, and give users the ability to “opt out”.
http://hothardware.com/News/Open-Letter-To-PC-Makers-Ditch-The-Bloatware-Now/
