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

HP is the worst

[Shakahs]

As someone who fixes computers for a living, I can tell you that HP has the WORST bloatware, both preinstalled on new computers and included with their ridiculous, 200MB printer drivers.

Re:HP is the worst

[clang_jangle]

They're pretty bad. But I'm glad to have the officejets, they do work flawlessly with hplip in *nix. The printers themselves are quite good, but those windows drivers just ruin it -- if I were a windows user I'd avoid HP like the plague. Maybe HP should just start refining hplip instead of shipping that bloatware.

Re:HP is the worst

[Khyber]

Speaking as a former HP tech, the bloatware rarely lowers prices as most of the bloatware is HP-made, thus it should have cost them MORE. What makes the prices so low is the garbage manufacturers and components they utilize.

And half of the RAM is counterfeit Nanya, to boot.

My DV7 is a LEMON REPLACEMENT for the shit DV9000 I had - guess what? It's a couple weeks before warranty, battery is GONE, and the unit overheats without me doing anything intensive. Even a simple video makes the laptop hot enough to keep my sake very warm if I leave it over the power button. I'm on the phone with support right now (or should I say HOUR THREE ON FUCKING HOLD, thank god I'm calling via skype on my desktop so I can prepare to chew these fuckwits out ASAP,) and as always, support is dismal - another reason the laptops are so cheap, HP cut support costs by cutting staff.

HP is one of the worst-managed companies I've ever seen in my life. I run one of my own, and I certainly don't have half of the logistical nightmares (despite me sourcing parts from all over the globe,) or half of the quality issues (proper thermal design is my specialty.)

HP should fire their entire engineering team and hire me. I can cram well over 500w of heat into their typical 17" case and still keep all electronics inside very cool. And I run semiconductors that are much more sensitive to heat - high-output SMD.

And this is why...

[Anonymous Coward]

... I make a DVD backup of the restore partition and wipe clean the HDD whenever I buy a new laptop.

Same issue with Dell Latitude E6510

[acoustix]

I recently had the same issue with a loaded Dell Latitude E6510. The supplied video driver for WinXP consumed an entire core on my 3.0GHz i7. I contacted Dell on the issue and told them what was happening. I ended up using the driver from nVidia. The CPU would get very hot and the fan would run at full speed.

I know, good story - right?

HP and wireless have a special relationship anyway

[leuk_he]

e.g. Did you know you cannot simply replace the HP buildin wireless with a pci-express card version because the wireless needs to be on a bios whitelist.

Don't give them any ideas

[$RANDOMLUSER]

...and the software does not get updated automatically."

Let's talk about CPU-choking check-for-update services. Ever tried to disable GoogleUpdater? I mean really disable it? Or the Adobe "Let's interrupt the boot process with our bullshit" updater? Or my favorite this week - was recently straightening out a friends machine and found an updater service from Intuit running - my friend had installed and used TurboTax to do his taxes last year, so naturally a system service had to be running to check for updates to tax software for FY2009.

I see the <i>italic</i> tags are still broken, damn this web 2.0 stuff is HARD, isn't it?

Secret Code Leak from HP Wi-Fi utility!

[Anonymous Coward]

while(true)
{
      if(wifi_is_on())
            show_wifi_is_on()
      else
            show_wifi_is_off()
}

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.