Just bought a new Windows 10 rig - what is the best decrapifier app to clean it?
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boot from A: and
format C: /sLOL Ah, those were the days. You can just uninstall all the crapware or, if you have the OS on removable media, just reinstall and start over. I could recommend the incomparable CCleaner, but it doesn't specifically remove OEM crapware. I'm not aware of any general-purpose utility that does this. -
As several other people are stressing: Clean install will do it. It won't even take that long. New crapware will creep in, though. New cookies, new registry entries, new directories with files you do not know where came from. So you really should plan for another clean install ever month, every two months or every three months, depending on how big the problem is. Then it isn't as straightforward any more! A clean install will erase even the applications you want to keep, your lists of trusted email addresses, your various certificates, ... I wrote a software installation wizard handling all sorts of installers (that's how I learned to hate installer developers' unlimited competence in finding new ways of installing software :-)), so I can have all the software automatically put in place after the clean Windows re-install - provided that I have remembered to add the newest systems to the wizard task list. And, some installers demand interactive input for license keys etc., so I have to babysit it. (I have ordered the task list so that those installers are run before the others, so when they are done, all the fully automated ones can be run without me holding its hand.) In a few cases, I have to do manual operations after the wizard completes: I have a checklist reminding me of all of those. More important: The checklist tells me what I shouldn't forget before the clean install: Even though I keep all my user data on other disks than C:, several applications insist on putting data there - typically email clients and other network software. So I have to e.g. move all unsorted email from 'inbox' to other folders. Until my checklist had matured, I did loose some (minor) pieces of data. With the checklist and reinstall wizard in place, doing regular complete cleanups becomes routine. Actually, I don't need to do it more than, say, every three months. That is because I gradually learn how to keep the crapware / spyware / adware / malware in general, from creeping in.
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Slacker007 wrote:
M60 machine gun followed by 3 rounds of 40MM HE.
Followed by: 1. Razing the entire neighbourhood 2. Plowing it under with salt and any hazardous materials you may have to hand 3. Nuking the entire city from orbit 4. Blowing up the Sun If that doesn't do it, nothing will! :evil laugh:
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
"The Q'nl were an incredible ancient race. We know of them only by the messages left behind by their victims. Apparently their only source of amusement can be explained using a thoroughly human analogy. Imagine playing marbles... using neutron stars."
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Put in the microwave for 10 minutes on high.
Nothing succeeds like a budgie without teeth.
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Brain.exe Knowing exactly what you're about to disable and why as well as how, is superior in the long term to those apps.
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Running AdwCleaner would be enough: Download AdwCleaner[^]
Better to not download the software from BleepingComputer, because it could be packed with malware or other unwanted apps. Go directly to the home of AdwCleaner, Malwarebytes [^]
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I have to say I was pleasantly surprised last year when I bought my new dell laptop that came with Windows 10 pro and nothing else. No ms office, no utilities from dell, no games, none of the junk that you normally have to spend time getting rid of. Just a bare system.
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Download the Windows 10 or 11 retail ISO and reimage it. There's really no way to get the OEM crapware off a machine short of a reimage.
The current Win10 installer ISO does not fit on a single-sided DVD. When I recently installed Win10 on my new PC, I downloaded the MS tool which created a bootable flash drive.
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A clean install would get my vote. As for Windows 11 vs Windows 10, I am running Windows 11 now and it's something of a disappointment. It's definitely less stable and has a few subtle bugs, so unless you need it because most of your customers are using it I would recommend you avoid it until M$ get their house in order (if they ever do). The other thing you should do (if you're not already) is boot off an SSD. This cuts boot and app load times dramatically. And yes, download and install from a Microsoft ISO, that gives you the cleanest system.
Paul Sanders http://www.alpinesoft.co.uk
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The current Win10 installer ISO does not fit on a single-sided DVD. When I recently installed Win10 on my new PC, I downloaded the MS tool which created a bootable flash drive.
It fits on a dual layer DVD though, I'm not sure I see the problem.
Paul Sanders http://www.alpinesoft.co.uk
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It fits on a dual layer DVD though, I'm not sure I see the problem.
Paul Sanders http://www.alpinesoft.co.uk
Paul Sanders (the other one) wrote:
It fits on a dual layer DVD though, I'm not sure I see the problem.
If you don't have a dual layer DVD or burner, it's an insurmountable problem.
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I'm highly certain someone else will say this and they probably already have but remove Windows 10 immediately and install GNU\Linux. Debian 11 seems to work pretty good for general use... Seriously, I think GNU\Linux needs to rename their background drivers from daemons to services, but with the exception of Cubase and Emulator X for ultra-low latency audio, I no longer have much need for Microsoft. Their products have issues. I really like .NET Core, but I highly regret jumping on the Microsoft bandwagon about 10 years ago. I've paid dearly for that decision. Richard Stallman, if you are listening *pretty please* with electrons on top, will you rename GNU\Linux background drivers from daemons to something nicer? Git is already in the process of renaming the Master branch to Main. Please understand that some Christians such as myself are offended by the daemon naming convention. Now, I guess I had better get to my day job...
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Paul Sanders (the other one) wrote:
It fits on a dual layer DVD though, I'm not sure I see the problem.
If you don't have a dual layer DVD or burner, it's an insurmountable problem.
Both are cheap and all burners have been dual layer for as long as I can remember.
Paul Sanders http://www.alpinesoft.co.uk
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Brain.exe Knowing exactly what you're about to disable and why as well as how, is superior in the long term to those apps.
With all the sync that is going on it is very hard to keep junk off. I use a combination of CCleaner, doing a browser clean of history, data and cookies. I use ccleaner to run a check on the registry and clean it though I am told it does very little to help but some help is better than none. Then I do a scan for malware etc... I manually uninstall any software I do not want. I do this for all my devices at least once a month. But then I am no longer programing and just use the system for my personal bookkeeping, emails and browsing. The more you use search engines (which you have no choice) the more crap that gets on even if you don't open any pages. It seems google and all the search engines want allow cookies when you don't even open a page. I have done searches and just read the results of the search without opening any page but the page that lists the search and had the browser cookie pop up come up and ask if you want to allow cookies from such and such. So, you do not even have to open a page to get a cookie or unwanted things. Security begins with you. Always remember anything you put on your computer can and will get out on the web if that computer is connected to the web. The best security you can have, is a system that is not connected to the web that you can transfer files from to a system that is connected but those transferred files are then no longer secure. I do not care how much security software you place on a computer there will be someone that will find a way in if they really want too.
Curtis Way always can be found.
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Without a doubt, the best tool for this is Winareo Tweaker. Winaero Tweaker[^] Not only can you remove the annoying things you don't like, you can do a crapload of other nice-to-have configs, with just a few button clicks.
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Maybe one of these: software-uninstallers-on-windows[^]
Then you get crap but from the "decrapify" vendor.