Got a new Thinkpad yesterday, and it seems to be loaded with a bunch of software, most of which I assume I'll never need. I'd like to go through and delete it, but don't want to remove something that is actually useful or required for important processes.

Suggestions?

9/1/2006 12:07:04 PM

if you go to Control Panel and go to Add/Remove Programs you can safely install programs...if in doubt, leave it...but if its like IBM Birthday Party Celebration Banner Maker you can get rid of it

9/1/2006 12:08:10 PM

Yeah i've done that, but only with about three things i was really comfortable removing. I guess I could google each one and find out what it is for and decide from there.

And when I ctrl alt delete in order to check the active processes or whatever, there are at least 30 things running on there...and i don't recall that many on my last computer. The "clicking" sound of the hard drive (or whatever it is) running when all I'm doing is using my browser bothers me.

9/1/2006 12:14:10 PM

DON'T remove ANYTHING that has "Thinkpad" in front of it (under Control Panel). Unless you are going to install another piece of software to control that hardware, then don't remove it.

You will be screwed royaly. Trust me, our software engineers did not make it friendly to remove ThinkPad specific software. They include drivers that run all your hardware features. You can remove other stuff that doesn't have to do specifically with "ThinkPad" software.

Quote :

"The "clicking" sound of the hard drive (or whatever it is) running when all I'm doing is using my browser bothers me. "

LOL, those aren't just your cool IE explorer sounds? If hard drive is clicking that means it's either dying or dead.

[Edited on September 1, 2006 at 12:26 PM. Reason : ]

9/1/2006 12:22:34 PM

You can remove some of the utilities that load on startup without any real problems. That disk-keeper defrag program is not needed. Most other things are either useful or not really worth removing.

Generally, removing thinkpad or thinkvantage software isn't all that helpful. Some of it can be disabled in terms of startup, but it's best not to completely uninstall things for the hell of it. You definately don't want to disable the active harddisk protection software though. It's the OTHER stuff like disk-keeper and the symantec 90-day trial stuff that you should go ahead and get rid.

[Edited on September 1, 2006 at 12:36 PM. Reason : ]

9/1/2006 12:32:53 PM

Quote :

"LOL, those aren't just your cool IE explorer sounds? If hard drive is clicking that means it's either dying or dead. "

jesus, i put "clicking" in quotation marks for a reason...because I didn't know how to correctly describe the sound

whatever the fucking sound is when the computer is running a memory intensive process...you know, when the "hard drive light" is flashing frequently

the first part of your post was helpful, though...thanks

[Edited on September 1, 2006 at 12:39 PM. Reason : ps, i'm not using explorer, so i don't think that's it ]

9/1/2006 12:38:42 PM

Quote :

"IBM Birthday Party Celebration Banner Maker you can get rid of it "

lol

9/1/2006 2:00:58 PM

I normally leave most IBM softwae, at the most I'll just keep various components from starting up when my pc starts.

i think IBM/Lenovo's software package is the one of the best out there.

9/1/2006 2:24:46 PM

step 1: acquire windows xp
step 2: format
step 3: reinstall
step 4: enjoy clean system

9/1/2006 2:27:19 PM

might as well ask: is there an easy way to keep certain programs from opening on startup, or is it an option that must be changed within each individual program?

[Edited on September 1, 2006 at 3:02 PM. Reason : i didn't know this battery was going to be so damn huge]

9/1/2006 3:02:16 PM

^^ step 5: be pissed when none of the drivers to run your wireless, sound, video, and networking work properly with a clean XP install

[Edited on September 1, 2006 at 3:26 PM. Reason : \/ I forgot step 6 ]

9/1/2006 3:20:35 PM

step 6: download and install drivers

9/1/2006 3:24:25 PM

^ just like he said, here, to make it easier for you just click:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=TPAD-MATRIX

if all fails, goto the ibm website, click on support, drivers downloads, then click whatever computer you have.

9/1/2006 3:40:37 PM

if you're not a pro with OS reinsalls/driver installs i would just disable the IBM software from starting up with your OS via MSCONFIG. That'll only take 15-30 minutes versus 2-3 hours for the OS reinstall (could be much longer depending on your experience).

ntm you can't even use IBMs OS reinstall software they MIGHT have given you with the unit. Use it and all the IBM software will be reinstalled alongside it.

Only way you can really do a clean install is to get a separate Windows license/media (free for ECE and CSC via MSDN, $100 elsewhere) or use a Windows 9-1 install disk obtained off of the Torrent network.

Quote :

"might as well ask: is there an easy way to keep certain programs from opening on startup, or is it an option that must be changed within each individual program?"

for 95% of the programs you can use MSCONFIG to disable startup programs, google for instructions, its not that hard. Every now and they an offensive program will keep replacing itself in that list (well hello quicktime and MSN messenger, longtime no see) so you might have to hunt down a few in the program options/preferences. If you see some listings in that list you're don't recognize, google for it and start clicking.
You can also try this but i just normally google
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

9/1/2006 4:10:34 PM

msconfig works sometimes but it's really buggy. i have given up on disabling stuff through that because windows likes to make new startup entries out of nowhere

9/1/2006 4:33:10 PM

Quote :

"for 95% of the programs you can use MSCONFIG to disable startup programs"

i've been using it for years with great success. if something pops up just go back in and uncheck it.

9/1/2006 4:38:30 PM

Quote :

"just go back in and uncheck it."

kind of a hassle if you ask me, it should just do what it's supposed to

9/1/2006 4:42:31 PM

Quote :

"kind of a hassle if you ask me, it should just do what it's supposed to"

i'm lost. how exactly do you disable startup programs...through the registry?

or do you not at all?

9/1/2006 4:49:04 PM

no i was talkin about uninstalling the software rather than leaving on there and disabling the start up

9/1/2006 4:55:05 PM