ASUS Bloatware

[6_5x47lapua]

Hello, i will soon be getting an ASUS laptop (G55VW) from Xoticpc and was wondering if it would be wise to have them do a clean W7 install. it would be nice to get rid of the bloatware, but will i also be removing tons of drivers i need, such as wifi, touchpad, graphics, bluetooth, usb 3.0, etc? i want very little of the bloatware, but i also don't want to be getting rid of stuff like the hotkeys utility, or the wifi/bluetooth switch. would i be easier to re-install all the drivers and utilities i need/want, or to skip the clean install and just uninstall what i don't want manually, presuming i can?

Here is a link to ASUS's downloadable drivers/utilities- would you just download the driver and hit install like any other program?

http/support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=G55VW&p=3&s=397

Thanks all!

 

[v90k]

Your choice really cause at the end the outcome is still the same. imo do a clean install of win 7 and download what you want from the asus website.

 

[jaguarskx]

I more or less first play around with my laptop to see if any of the bloatware is actually useful. It turns out that at least for my laptop there were 2 or 3 programs that I deemed useful enough to keep.

I then proceed with a clean install + the "useful bloatware". I also play around with MSConfig to disable services that I deem unnecessary as well as prevent unnecessary programs from launching at start up.

 

[6_5x47lapua]

will a clean install affect the drivers i need?

Iv'e been looking into exactly what will be on it... for what i will end up reinstalling i wonder if id be better off just uninstalling what i don't want.

What i don't want:
ASUS Live Update Utility
ASUS Virtual Camera Utility
ASUS USB Charger Plus
ASUS Splendid Video Enhancement Technology

that is what is listed on the support site.. there will also be trials for security suites and such, but will i have any trouble uninstalling any of those above?

+1 for MSConfig

i'm just a little nervous about losing something i need

 

[masterjaw]

Clean install will not affect the drivers. Unless you're changing from 32bit to 64bit OS. Just download the latest versions in the ASUS website then install them as soon as you're done with the OS.

 

[jaguarskx]

All the necessary drivers should be part of the recovery hidden partition. Should you need a driver you can always go to Asus' website to download it.

You shouldn't have any problems uninstalling programs in general. And a clean install doesn't take very long. I think it took around 15 - 18 minutes on my Lenovo Y470. I would then proceed to install any standard software I would normally use before making recovery disks. That away if I have some type of catastrophic failure I don't have to re-install MS Office, FireFox, CCleaner, Avast! Anti-Virus, etc. Don't forget driver updates and Windows 7 updates.

I don't install games until after I make my recovery disks; besides I install games to my partitioned D: drive instead of the C: drive.

Services that I disable:
Parental Control
Adobe Flash Player
Remote Registry
Windows Image Acquisition
Mozilla Maintenance Service

Startup software I disable:
Adobe Reader and Acrobate Mgr
Adobe Acrobat
Intel Common User Interface (igfxers.exe)
Intel Common User Interface (hkcmd.exe)
Intel Common User Interface (igtfxray.exe)
Logitech Download Assistance
BlueTooth Software

 

[6_5x47lapua]

alright i think i am going to get it, play with it, then clean install. should i reinstall AI Recovery utility from asus to make my recovery disks or does anyone have a better utility up for recommendation? iv'e heard mixed reviews about AI. i want to be able to backup what i initially install as well, not just windows, like Jag suggested.

many thanks especially to Jag, you guys make life a heck of alot easier!

 

[nikorr]

U can remove the junk with this. Clean install is better, but this will do too.

Remove every part of a program completely. Remove unwanted programs, that windows uninstaller can’t remove.
U can use Your Uninstaller! or Revo Uninstaller. The Windows uninstaller will not remove everything.
http/www.ursoftware.com/product/uninstaller/ http/www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

 

[6_5x47lapua]

Best answer selected by 6_5x47lapua.