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Rich Stern

Rich Stern

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I was setting up a new PC for my mother-in-law. An HP/Compaq something or other.



When I initially started the machine, it went through it's XP setup process. I noticed during subsequent reboots, it was painfully slow.



Then I realized, with it's 256MB of RAM, it was bottlenecked because of all the "free/included" software. Anti-spyware. Anti-virus. Realplayer. AOL startup. And a bunch of other stuff. Most with some type of "register now/get updates" reminder. With all of this stuff in memory, the PC had no RAM left for user applications. So it was swapping.



Who's PC is this, anyway? This pre-installed software marketing crap is out of hand.



I cleaned it up, uninstalled a bunch of mostly useless software, and the PC runs fine now, but it leaves me wondering. What happens if you buy these products and you don't have the expertise or someone else to solve these problems for you?



It's abusive. It's not just HP. I've had recent, similar experiences with Toshiba and Dell.

 
Those department store machines are loaded with crap like that. In addition, Rich, that 256MB of memory is probably "shared" with the video. (So, you only have 192mb or so.)



I bought a department store laptop (HP), and the first thing I did was sit down and remove all the garbage software. I should have just reformatted the harddrive and reinstalled XP. :)
 
I think all new PC's should have MYST.com set up as their homepage. :D
 
That's why I will only build my own.

HP, Dell, Gateway, they all suck. That's where they make their money is pre-installing software.
 
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I just recently purchased a new Dell with my company's purchase program and I had the option of having them NOT install this additional software. It was there when I was "building" my Dell. Maybe it's something they just started, or maybe it's something they only offer to corporate sales. But I have to say, this Dell is awesome. Fast as all getout.
 
They dont all "Suck", and I dont know how you plan to build your own laptop if you need it. Its possible, sure, but so expensive you are better off getting a Dell.



I build all my own computers too, but beyond that I know how to work with OEM computers. They arent bad machines, well, as long as they arent HP's or Compaq's, which almost guarentee you many calls to customer service because of poor component quality.



Just format and install windows your way, even uninstalling all the crap still leaves a lot of garbage on your system.



Its a pain, yes, but considering you can get a $1500 Dell laptop for about $600 if you look for all the coupons and rebates, that Dell doesnt usually tell you about, its a hell of a deal, and I would rather have AOL picking up the major cost of my laptop so I can get it cheaper than have to pay more myself.





I mean really, what part of your reasoning makes you think they can offer a computer, with monitor, for $299 if it isnt mostly "ad supported"?
 
I mean really, what part of your reasoning makes you think they can offer a computer, with monitor, for $299 if it isnt mostly "ad supported"?
Click to expand...



You get what you pay for. I will agree that laptops are the exception but I did not think we were talking about laptops to begin with. As for reformating a Dell, good luck. Unless they have changed recently, I tried a couple of years ago to upgrade a neighbors Dell from Windows Me to XP. Couldn't be done. To much of Dells hardware is exclusive to them and impossible to find the right drivers. Even after talking to a Dell raghead customer support for several days they finally admited that it could not be done, even by them.
 
Too much of Dell's hardware is exclusive to them and impossible to find the right drivers. Even after talking to a Dell raghead customer support for several days they finally admited that it could not be done, even by them.
Click to expand...



That hasn't been my experience. Dell prides itself with industry-leading COTS (common, off the shelf) components.



And, why would you say "raghead?" If Dell offshored it's support to Africa would you be so inclined to call the support staff the 'N' word? Both slurs are pretty offensive, IMHO.



TJR
 
I'm the family's 'pc guru', and most of what I do when I fix a relative's PC is cleaning all the crap out of the startup group in XP.



I've always told myself if I lose my job, I could always freelance as a "Geek Squad" guy. I bet 90% of the PC's in use in America need tweaking like this.



256mb of ram is the bare minimum to even run XP, let alone with a bunch of startup programs running in the system tray.



As cheap as ram is, I would upgrade memory to at least 1gb of ram.
 
Q: of course I leave AV and AS software installed... I'm talking about all the other crap... RealPlayer, Quicktime, Adobe Acrobat, Java, AIM, MSN, etc.
 
I agree with rich on it all being annoying, I just delete it all. But, then again, I work with PC's all the time and know how to do it. I freed up almost a gig when I cleaned up my laptop from all the Sony BS that came bundled with it.



256 ram is barely enough for XP, any machine sold with XP should have at leat 512 to even be considered "bare minimum".
 
Price drop on 512MB DDR 400 RAM - $19.99 with rebate (yeah, Tigerdirect is a pain to deal with sometime, but I have always had good luck with ULTRA rebates)...
 
Sorry I offended you Tom. I admit I am not the least bit politically correct. Not to many guys in my profession are. (However we do not discriminate when we run into a burning building to save someones life so I think we are entitled to a little indiscretion.)

As for Dell, that was my one and only experience with them and I really don't care who I talk to as long as they can speak ENGLISH. I don't think that's to much to ask for. And I'm only telling you what we were finally told by Dell: that the computer could not be formated and updated because they were unable to provide us with component info for correct drivers. Dell's are fine for people that never want to upgrade components or operating systems but if you like to tinker then stay away from them.
 
Oh, and use Grisoft's FREE AntiVirus software, AVG. It has a much smaller footprint than NAV and McAfee, is free, has free updates, and did I mention, it's FREE.
 
TomT, there is a difference between being politically incorrect, and racist, though I will admit that difference is subtle. I applaud you for what you do in your profession, yet that isn't a free pass to be racist, IMHO. You are one of the few, last, real heroes we have left, TomT. That's a lot of power, and with great power comes great responsibility.



Keep up the good work.
 
>> XP MUST HAVE AT LEAST 512MB of memory to run, preferrably 1GB.



That's just not true. Repeat after me folks: "Whenever you make a claim with an absolute like MUST, NEVER, EVERYTIME, ALWAYS, then you will most likely be wrong!"



Case in point...



A PII, 256Mhz laptop that we have that is running XP Professional with 256MB of RAM.



It runs, runs well, has a wireless PCMCIA card, and is a great little computer for surfing the net and running office apps.



It often sits on our kitchen table and people ask to use it to check mail. They can't believe the performance it gives for a laptop that is 5+ years old.



It does take a while to boot, but it works well once XP is loaded and the wireless signal obtained.



Also, on most PCs that I have worked on that have XP, the sweet spot of active memory is somewhere between 256MB and 512MB. In other words, they never go above around 380MB of physical, active memory. That would mean that for most people, today, above 512MB is rarely used. I am not saying it isn't worth it, especially given the costs. And, yes, there are times when that above 512MB memory is used (often when burning DVDs or photo/video editing). But many don't need above 512mb.



TJR
 
Gateway has never let me down, I have owned 4 so far, three desktops and one laptop. None of them come with pre-loaded software that I dont ask for.



On the other hand, My last desktop was going to be a Dell, well.....they screwed up my order so bad I canceled it and went with Gateway.
 
TomT , I agree with TJR. My kids look up to firemen, I would hate to think that same hero secretly hates them. Sometimes it's not what you feel, but what you say that people use to type you. I've deployed 7 times to the desert in the last 8 years to defend this country. Believe me I would have plenty of reason to hate, but I don't. I just do my job. And yes you need at least 512MB of ram to efficiently run XP.:)
 

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