Pc De-crapifier

[tictoc5150]

I found this wading through some of the comments on slashdot and thought this was a great idea.

I recently upgrading the hard drive on my Toshiba Satellite and had to go through the process of getting rid of all the unwanted crap that comes preinstalled and hence, reinstalled when using the restore CD. This can be quite time consuming as well as just plain bothersome.

I have no experience with the tool I'm linking to but think it merits a mention. It seems it would automate most of the tasks of getting rid a bit of the bloat of the major PC manufacturers.

The "Currently uninstalls List"

* QuickBooks Trial

* NetZero Installers

* Earthlink Setup Files

* Corel Photo Album 6

* Tiscali Internet

* Wanadoo Europe Installer

* Get High Speed Internet!

* Internet Service Offers Launcher

* Dell Search Assistant

* Norton Ghost 10.0

* Symantec Live Update

* MS Plus Photo Story 2LE

* MS Plus Digital Media Installer

* McAffee

* Norton Internet Security

* Google Desktop

* Google Toolbar

* AOL US

* AOL UK

* MusicMatch Jukebox

* MusicMatch Music Services

* Wild Tangent Games

* Norton AntiVirus 2005

* Norton Security Center

* Norton AntiSpam

* PC-cillin Internet Security 12

* Corel Snapfire Plus SE

* Yahoo! Music Jukebox

* Vongo

* Run Registry Entries

* Desktop Icons

* Startup Menu Items

* Corel WordPerfect

* Roxio RecordNow

* Sonic DLA

* Sonic Update Manager

* Sonic RecordNow Audio

* Sonic RecordNow Copy

* Roxio MyDVD LE

* Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003

* Quicken 2006

Some would probably say that I didn't "have" to go through that process, if I had created a bootable Windows CD (slipstreamed with SP2, of course) or Ghosted the drive image. I may still do that for next time but I also said that last time I reinstalled the restore image.

The PC Decrapifier

[martymas]

hi tictoc

i have a hdd with have no operating sys

but has 2 hidden partitions[ hp branding]

and i cant find a program to clean it

as it wont let me install any sys on it

will this program do this?

marty

[just2good4u3434]

Hmm...try Partition Magic

[garmanma]

hi tictoc

i have a hdd with have no operating sys

but has 2 hidden partitions[ hp branding]

and i cant find a program to clean it

as it wont let me install any sys on it

will this program do this?

marty

Hey Marty try killdisk. Totally erases your drive. Use the free version, it'll work

Mark

Killdisk.com

Edited January 11, 2007 by garmanma

[martymas]

no it wont work

with killdisk

kill disk wont delete the partition

the hdd has no operating sys

but those hidden partitions put there by hp

i think it has a recovery console

dell has the same setup

it saves giving the customer a instalation disk

ive tired for weeks to delete that partition

ive tried all sorts of programs

but it keeps telling me no operating sys

i inserted the xp disk

same result

i tried 2-4 linux disks

they are normally good for cleaning the drive

but i might take to it with an axe

ive treid kill disk before

but i get the same result

i posted because i thought tictocs program may do the job

marty

Edited January 12, 2007 by martymas

[garmanma]

Are you sure FDISK won't work?

Mark

delete hidden partition

here too

[JDoors]

Whoa, that's a list of crapola that program removes? Or is that a list of the crapola that comes with YOUR system?

Marty, did you run any erase programs from a floppy? The floppy should have enough of an OS on it to operate the computer independant of what's on the hard drive.

[martymas]

hi JD

i found with eraser and kill disk

they delete the data on the hdd

but wont get rid of the hidden partitions

one of the problems i had with erasure

was the floppy wasent big enough to

set up the program

and the same with killdisk

ive tried so many programs

im lost now

my son has a hackers disk

which he said would take

take the paint off the cupboard door [his words]

but im reluctant to use these sort of programs

maybe im old fashioned

i may have to use it in the end

however i always come to the board

for advice

marty

[bobbynichols]

An interesting side (related) for Vista w/ regards to Dell's position on "crapware" reported in Arstechnica... http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070111-8598.html

... reading this after Dell's remarks to the PC DE-crapifier (original article) has me scratching my head.

[martymas]

Are you sure FDISK won't work?

Mark

delete hidden partition

here too

\hi mark

ive just read your post

and maybe that will do the trick

as ime blind to linux

boot disk where and how do get this floppy or cd

can i download it from the net

and of course ile need the dos commands

the only linux cds i have is ubuntu lycoris

and mandrake 9.1 and im not sure if mandrake still works

but it is worth a try

the hdd used to have win 2.000

but they people concerned deleted the personal data off it and it has beena hellofa

time trying to make it workable

sorry if ive hi-jacked the thread

marty

[JDoors]

Guess I'm old fashioned too, I was thinking about a DOS floppy which should be capable of removing anything on a hard drive (though you might have to know commands such as + [plus] this and - [minus] that to make the hidden partitions "visible" -- I don't remember 'em all). It's difficult to believe there are NO programs that will fit on a floppy that can do what you want (I just don't know of any).

[garmanma]

Are you sure FDISK won't work?

Mark

delete hidden partition

here too

\hi mark

ive just read your post

and maybe that will do the trick

as ime blind to linux

boot disk where and how do get this floppy or cd

can i download it from the net

and of course ile need the dos commands

the only linux cds i have is ubuntu lycoris

and mandrake 9.1 and im not sure if mandrake still works

but it is worth a try

the hdd used to have win 2.000

but they people concerned deleted the personal data off it and it has beena hellofa

time trying to make it workable

sorry if ive hi-jacked the thread

marty

I believe Pete posted this a long time ago back in the old TechTV days. I had to read it through a couple of times, but it should get rid of all partitions and create new ones.

Mark

Radified FDISK

bootdisk.com

[martymas]

hi mark i had that program inmy favourites for a

long time and didnt think i would ever use it

now we can install from a cd

thanks ile keep you posted

marty

'