"But a Computer, Get Adware for Free!"

[jabarnutcase]

I while back I had mention in a thread how a friend of mine bought a new Compaq Computer and immediately brought it home, unpacked it, hooked it up and Formatted the hard drive clean as a whistle!

He then loaded XP Pro (It came with Home), and started from scratch.
I was totally amazed. Even though he lost a ton of Programs that came with the Computer, his reasoning was that a new store bought Computer "comes with a bunch of crap". (Another reason I build my own). :p

Anyway, while I might have waited a few more days than he did to format the drive, turns out he's not so crazy after all.

From Novembers PC World:
This is the culmination of the dubious trend of using your desktop as a sales tool. Boot up a new system today, and the desktop is likely to be larded with icons pitching stuff you don't want.

A quick read and some pretty interesting (and disturbing) stuff.
Never has there been a better reason to build your own Computer! ;)

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,117825,00.asp

[PrntRhd]

Yes,
This is actually nothing new, you get pitched for AOL, MSN, as well as get BackWeb on some mfgs PCs, including HP in particular.
Newbie users just accept this and actually think it will "break" the PC to remove all this gunk!
:rolleyes:

[Mark Miller]

Very true, especially on Hp's of which i have had 3.
One thing I do want to point out that besides the junk [backweb etc...] there are some very good value added programs that would either cost money to buy or hard to find to download from the web.
The one example on this Hp is a program called pc doctor for windows. It runs every diagnostic tool you can think of and is really very handy in trouble shooting a hardware problem.
I think the best thing to do with a mfg computer is look in the add/remove section before you bring home from the store. As far as Dell and such they will tell you what's on and what can be gotten rid of.
Sometimes thing we thing of as junk can be very helpful to a "new" computer user.
Even Aol or Msn
:) :) :)

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Yep,

I recall backweb on a fresh install.
I have a couple friends who've asked me to do recoveries for them and the FIRST thing we do after reloading the system is go to add/remove programs. Even before A/V's and firewalls and setting it up with their ISP. One is an HP, the other, a Dell. The Dell gives you a few more options on what you personally want to install or not, IIRC. The HP's have recovery CD's that are 'all or none'. That bites the bullet IMO.

IF I were EVER to choose a propietary pc (haven't yet, fingers crossed ;)) the first thing I would do is while still trying it at the store would be to ask if you could put the recovery cd's into a cdROM and 'explore' them. If they say no,, move on. If you can't distinguish between the OS and any of the bundled programs, say 'no thanks' and move on...

IBUILT's are the only way to go (feels like I'm preaching to the choir again :rolleyes: ). It gives the builder experience with each program and part. If you can't fix your Jeep or Range Rover in the wild, then you're sorta defenseless..
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Internet uh? That ain't so Grand! It's just the new 'Wild West',, only different! (wishfully said by John Wayne.. :p) Aye,, pilgrim?

[saphalline]

Sometimes thing we thing of as junk can be very helpful to a "new" computer user.
Agreed. Not everyone needs or wants an IBUILTIT, and as long as there are people who don't want to learn about computers, don't have the time, or just plain can't, there will be a place for OEM machines like HP and Dell.

[shortbus]

How many car owners know how to do the most basic of repairs, or a tune up?