Is there a laptop without crappy OEM software [closed]

Question

Just this week Microsoft gives PDC attendees tweaked Acer 1420P as a model Laptop which uses the hardware as MS assumed it in Windows.

As I read from FAQ on the PDC page even retail Acer 1420P will have some special crapware to use hotkeys. Even after MS showed them how to do it correctly :-(.

Is there a laptop on the market that

• Has all drivers on Windows DVD or Windows Update (which guarantees that they will work as MS designed it)
• Don't install any special OEM services or applications without which you cannot use the hardware to it's full potential, but which slows down your computer, eats memory and so on.

EDIT:

• I Like windows, I don't like linux (and belive me I've tried), I don't want to pay extra for Mac
• I just want a windows with proper drivers

On the side note:

• How many times I change my Graphic Card settings that I need application which i can click in a tray icon?
• Why when I install Lenovo drivers for proper multi-monitor functionality I'm forced to install full suite of their software?
• How many times I change my sound settings that I need tray icon application to run at start?

Answer 1

PC Pro magazine recently looked at this and came to the conclusion that only Apple don't feel the need for crapware.

I think that business machines come cleaner than home machines, so you may be better off looking at that side of things.

Answer 2

Yes: the laptop on which you install yourself the operating system from zero.

Answer 3

I got a Dell Latitude 820 about year ago directly from Dell which had no extra software installed on it except for Windows XP. We got the machine through the small business side of Dell and not through the consumer side. It's a no frills machine, but worked quite well for what I needed it for.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Find pretty much any laptop designed for the business market, eg Dell Latitudes, format and reinstall the OS from a clean Windows CD.

You'll now have a full working laptop that will happily do everything 90% of people want from it. Drivers for obscure/unusual hardware will be missing, but very few of them will actually have any effect on day to day web browsing, email and word processing.

If you're still missing functionality, go to the manufacturer's website, download the relevant driver. Extract the driver package, but don't install it. Find the folders/files that have been extracted, there should be at least one folder, probably named after the OS, in there with files of type ".inf", ".cat" and ".sys" these are the actual drivers, most of the time everything else that's been extracted is the pointless crapware. Go into Device Manager, click Update Driver, point it at the drivers folder with those files in.

You should now be up to about 95% functionality, and what you're left with are the very niche stuff that absolutely needs apps installed. This will be things like the advanced capabilities of your graphics cards, totally unusual hardware that doesn't have windows APIs yet (like fingerprint readers), dialler apps for 3G dongles (though often you can set up and use these as if they're an old fashioned modem connection, if you can find out the initiation strings and APN details) and so on.

Answer 5

Has all drivers on Windows DVD or Windows Update (which guarantees that they will work as MS designed it)

Don't install any special OEM services or applications without which you cannot use the hardware to it's full potential, but which slows down your computer, eats memory and so on.

These are really the same question.

"Do any laptop manufacturers 'just work' on a default installation of Windows, without their special proprietary drivers and add-on software?"

The answer is no. And that's the point. The value add of buying a prebuilt, preinstalled system is that all the hardware just works. Of course, the cash cow is the upgraded hardware components (memory, disk, etc) that make the system fast enough to actually use.

If you want a laptop/notebook that doesn't have OEM crapware, you need to either:

• Install the OS from scratch and hunt down all the manufacturer's drivers (which may not have all the features enabled).
• Use a non-Windows operating system (Linux or OS X).

Yes, I'm sure you have many reasons to use Windows, and I'm sure they're valid for your computer usage. But the best answer to your question is to get a laptop/notebook that doesn't have the crapware to begin with.

Someone made a snarky comment that Apple's OS is the crapware on Macs. That is cute, but the reality is that the operating system is very solid, and it really doesn't have all the garbage typical of Windows laptops. Plus, you can install Windows on a second partition or use one of the various virtual machine products (VMware Fusion, Parallels, etc).

Another option is to install Linux, which certainly costs less than OS X, but has its own set of headaches, such as lack of support entirely for particular hardware.

Most people just live with the crapware on Windows. SuperUsers find an alternative solution either by installing a different OS, or building the laptop from scratch with no OS (and using a barebones OEM Windows).

Answer 6

On a related note I find PC Decrapifier really good for streamlining the uninstallation of all the crappy OEM stuff.

Answer 7

The Microsoft Store has some laptops that are crapwear free... try it out.

Answer 8

Dell does (at least did) sell some systems without operating systems (or rather, with a no-name version of DOS), including certain model Latitude laptops. I would suspect there are some from lenovo as well (note: these would be Linux based pre-installed OS)

Answer 9

@jtimberman pretty much nailed it. Sadly, regarding your specific question, likely there is not a laptop on the market that has all drivers on the Windows DVD or Windows Update for the proprietary, manufacturer-specific hardware in the laptop.

Windows itself does not contain the drivers to run things like the proprietary, manufacturer-specific fingerprint scanners and sleep, rotate, lock, help, and other buttons, and for managing touch screens and screen rotation in the case of tablets. That's the reason that the custom crapware from Toshiba, or whichever other manufacturer, is required. Windows simply doesn't contain those kinds of drivers. (Yet?)

I ranted about the same thing as you, with this laptop, because the drivers and services involved were so extensive and so crappy they brought the laptop to a crawl. Windows was, for all intents and purposes, unusable. I have since nuked and paved with LinuxMint, giving up the proprietary hardware (aforementioned buttons, fingerprint scanner, and touch screen) for a usable O/S. (Granted, I may have gotten away with simply reinstalling a standard Windows installation, sans crapware.) (Also granted, it's entirely possible that some of these proprietary drivers have since been ported to Linux.)

In essence, my primary complaint is not with the fact that the proprietary drivers were required, but with their sloppy implementation via bloated user mode resident programs and services, instead of with actual system drivers (like would be installed during the Windows installation). I'm not joking when I say there were in the neighbourhood of 60+ resident programs and services running in Windows above those in a standard "desktop" installation of Windows XP.

Answer 10

Just buy a DIY Laptop from manufacturer like Asus, MSI, Compal, OCZ, Clevo or Quanta.

Here is a website in the US where you can buy some of them.

http://www.xoticpc.com/

Try google to find more in your country.

Newegg and NCIX offers some too.

More and more are becoming availlable as barebone, so you can select your Hardware and software yourself, just like building your own desktop PC.

Answer 11

When I bought an HP dv9700, the OEM crap was causing all kinds of system hangs and processor max-outs which neither HP or MS could fix. As a result, MS sent me shiny new 64-bit Vista discs. The only sw I had to put on was the quick launch buttons which I rarely use anyway and a driver for the remote. Computer works much better now.

Basically, it your OEN software causes errors and reliability issues, if you make a big enough stink with MS, they will help you out.

Just a suggestion that worked for me.

Answer 12

Microsoft Signature seems to have the right idea:

New PCs may come filled with lots of trialware and sample software that slows your computer down and makes it a pain to clean out all that stuff, just to get your new PC up and running, so we do that for you! Every PC the Microsoft Store sells is put on a software diet and performance is tuned to run the best it can. We call this process Signature.

They're not free of preinstalled software though:

pre-installed with ... Windows Live Essentials, Zune, Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Acrobat Reader, along with Store-optimized versions of Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Center

Answer 13

Get a Thinkpad which does work with default windows drivers except video drivers which are needed sometimes. Also the IBM default software is pretty good and actually provides additional functionality without much overhead(their power manager and Access connections is quite good, so is the OSD)

This can be followed by the Latitude series(dont know for sure)

but be sure to avoid the consumer grade machines(ideapads,HP laptops, inspiron/XPS,etc) which come with a lot of rarely updated software

Update: answer applies primaruly to T,X and W series thinkpads