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And I guess they've never heard of PC Decrapifier ?

Yeah, because no one has ever thought of doing that on Windows

http://www.yorkspace.com/pc-de-crapifier/

Actually you could probably do it with MSIEXEC. Grep for $OEM_NAME, uninstall if found.

Well, the PC Decrapifyer makes short shrift of it: http://www.yorkspace.com/2006/08/62

I haven't investigated the pc de-crapifier enough yet, but I like the idea of an automatic removal of junk software and setting options the way a reasonable (and reasonably educated) computer user would want it. There really isn't much excuse for computers to ship the way they do, but there is enough common agreement on the basic settings (i.e. security settings) that any educated computer user should have. Let's make it automatic for all windows boxes, even if it takes a 3rd-party app to do it.

The fact that Dell's godawful bundled wireless utility is presenting UAC prompts suggests that they haven't updated it since XP and so it's demanding admin privs for no particlarly good reason just because it had them in XP. Next time, I suggest running the laptop through the Dell DeCrapifier before setting up the wireless networking to remove it, and use Windows own networking tools, which are actually much improved in Vista compared to XP. No UAC prompts, and connected first time for me (of course, YMMV).

Or, you could go to the dell outlet and come out cheaper than either option. Just grabbed the cheapest one I could find. Came out to $332 shipped, including $23 tax. Same exact specs listed above, but with a 56k modem thrown in and a minitower case (E521). Same 1 year warranty as a new dell, and ships out the very next day (in my experience). That's $30 cheaper than your config, which is just about 10% again. :) Spend 10 mins waiting for the Dell-decrapifier to finish, and you have yourself a good buy. http://www.yorkspace.com/pc-de-crapifier/

That's why you use the dell de-crapifier....works like a charm, speeds up the process as well.

http://www.yorkspace.com/pc-de-crapifier/

The simplest solution already used by hundreds of users of newly purchased laptops and desktops with Windows XP is the PC Decrapifier. Originally named the Dell De-Crapifier the name was soon changed to support other machines "with crap" (I'm sure Dell didn't like their name dragged through the crap).

Although this is only for XP, I'll bet a version for Vista will come along soon. Or at least one could hope.

The simplest solution already used by hundreds of users of newly purchased laptops and desktops with Windows XP is the PC Decrapifier. Originally named the Dell De-Crapifier the name was soon changed to support other machines "with crap" (I'm sure Dell didn't like their name dragged through the crap).

Although this is only for XP, I'll bet a version for Vista will come along soon. Or at least one could hope.

The fact that everyone seems to forget/ignore is that the cost of installing Windows is not a big factor when pricing out a system.

Dell DOES offer machines without Windows. However they end up costing MORE than the version with Windows. Why is this? Because along with installing Windows XP (or Vista soon) they install a lot of crapware. RealPlayer, MusicMatch, AOL, and a host of others are being installed in that system that's built "Just for you".

And each one of those companies pay Dell every time they are included on your system. Just like you'll see computers that are $299, after mail-in rebate. That mail-in rebate is you have to sign-up for 2-years of CompuServe and they'll help pay for your computer. You can buy a computer without Windows and without all this extra crap but you're going to pay more for it because these other companies are giving a kickback.

There is a program out there called "The PC Decrapifier". Here is a list of all the "extras" that help lower the cost of your Dell system.

• 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
• 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

So what does this all mean? To save money, buy the PC *with* Windows, then follow this guys advice to return the OS. Then send a thank you to Corel, Sonic, Roxio, Real, Google, McAfee, Symantec, and AOL for helping you buy the Linux system you really wanted in the first place.

Personally, I loved Dell boxes. I know it's getting chic to sing about their downfall, but I think they make a solid product for short change. It may take me a few hours to de-crappify their installation, but after that they are the best boxes I have (4 of 11 of my boxes are Dell).

OTOH my eyesight has gone to hell since I bought their flat-panel monitors. Never again on those...

Firefox has a tray app? Mozilla had one but I haven't found a Firefox one. Please link me a URL if you know how to install this because that's one app I use often enough to benefit from a resident quickload!

(In development) -Turbo option for Firefox and Thunderbird. MinimizeToTray implements this popular feature from the Mozilla application suite. Have a Firefox tray icon and menu always available, even if no browser window is open. Or have Thunderbird launch directly into the tray only to notify you if you receive mail.

Unneccesarily memory-resident apps are a big problem in the Windows world. Have you seen a new Dell machine the first time it is turned on?

Caring is sharing, I give to you the gift of Dell De-Crapifier
Cheers!
-e

The Dell De-crapifier removes almost all of the crap that the new Dimensions come with. Alot of my clients buy a dimension to save a bit of money, and then pay us $100/hr to remove all the junk that comes on them. Go figure.

Yes: Dell is and has been shipping this for a while now.
            Rumor has it that Dell makes up to $1.75 for each machine shipped with the Google package. InsideGoogle
      It's been out long enough to develop a De-Crapifier

And of course, Dell's own Technical Support Document FA1094103 - "Where can I find assistance for my Google Toolbar and Google Desktop?

NO: Dell is shipping 'clean' gaming systems
          Slashdot

Dell has been offering customers who want to develop their own disk image the ImageBuilder and X-Image programs.
  Anyone using the imaging process, or having another existing contract doesn't get the extra garbage.

This makes it really inconvenient, considering that Dell's Image Restore is kinda neat for tech support. Just have users restart and press a couple keys - 10 minutes later you have OOBE back again. Unfortunately, out-of-box includes all this crap again. I'd still like a disk for when I replace the HDD, but this has potential to save a lot of time.

It looks to me like Dell is padding the machines at the low end with a more pennies of profit.

Clearly we need this more than ever now.

http://www.yorkspace.com/2006/04/38

Eh? I'm soooo amazed that no one's yet mentioned the d**l de-crapifier (for unstalling the extra crud):

http://www.yorkspace.com/2006/04/38

(Unfortunately, people seem to have reported that the de-crapifier hangs during the musicmatch uninstall....)

i tend to use latitudes and optiplex which don't come with loads of crapware, but i ran across this utility to help remove the pre-installed crap. http://www.yorkspace.com/dell-de-crapifier/

For the first problem, the Dell De-Crapifier is supposed to work.

http://www.yorkspace.com/2006/04/38

You might check into this

I can't vouch for whether or not it works but having used Dell before, ANYTHING is better than the crap they put on their PCs before they go out the door.

Hope it helps.

Its called Dell Decrapifier.. It removes all the useless stuff dell machines come with. Havent tried it myself tho

http://www.yorkspace.com/dell-de-crapifier/

You're far from the only one who feels this way.

I just bought a brand new Dell and I can't believe the garbage that is installed. It took me an hour just to uninstall and delete the garbage software I did not want!