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General discussion

Getting rid of junk

by BridgetW Feb 17, 2008 10:19PM PST

My Dell computer (w/Vista) came preloaded with some junk (such as free trials for Earthlink, etc.). How do I get rid of stuff like this? If I just go to "remove program", I know there are still pieces of it left. I want to get rid of all signs of unwanted programs.
Please advise.

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2 Posts

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How spotless?

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Feb 17, 2008 10:43PM PST

If you mean every scrap or bit then you want to explore the rather expensive clean install of the OS.

Most of us will be happy with this one -> http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

It may find more for you to remove.

Another one to run that I like to clean it all out on a new box is http://www.ccleaner.com/

Hope you find this useful,
Bob

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On New Machines...

by Grif Thomas Forum moderator Feb 18, 2008 5:04AM PST

I settle for uninstalling from the traditional "Remove Programs" section. It generally removes most, if not all, of the program and the space used by that program. If, at some later time, I have issues, I can certainly hunt down any remnants. It can take a lot of time to do it all at the beginning when you simply want to have fun with your new machine.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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