Recent HP Laptops Shipped CPU-Choking Wi-Fi Driver

An anonymous reader writes "Computer manufacturers have recently come under fire for the continued practice of shipping machines with excessive bloatware. Software preinstalled on some recent HP laptops was worse than normal though, consuming anywhere from 25-99% CPU by making incessant WMI queries, resulting in overheating laptops and reduced battery life. Users on a computer Q&A site did some sleuthing, and revealed that HP Wireless Assistant — software which does nothing but tell the user when their WiFi adapter is turned on or off — was causing the problem. According to an HP support forum, the problem is fixed in later versions, but thousands of laptops have the software installed, and the software does not get updated automatically."

Comments

Re:Easy Solution for Crapware

[Neil Boekend]

if you prefer Windows, just buy a copy and wipe out your OEM's shitty version.

Why pay again for what you already bought? Install Windows from a downloaded/borrowed disk with the license key that was attached to your system. Dunno about the US, but in the EU you are legally allowed to do that.