Ok so I'm fixing a computer for a relative who I don't really know all that well.(they may not even be related to me and just didn't want me to charge them...?) The computer is a compaq something(vista, 2ghz single core, 1gig ram)
Anyway, I booted it up and quickly realized it wasn't worth trying to sort out so I reformat it with the recovery partition and once its back up I'm greeted with some of the worst bloatware I've ever seen.
HP is notoriously bad about having crappy software(look at their full printer software) but this is awful.
From pressing the power button to having the thing fully booted was probably 5 minutes. Yikes.
Besides norton , the thing had tons of junky hp branded stuff too, and it was all SLOW.
It actually had a utility that sat in the taskbar and let you know if caps lock, number lock, ect was on... guess they don't put lights on their keyboards anymore? They had some sort of security center that probably took 2 minutes to open up loading at start up and then a bunch of photo junk.
The computer is slow but at least it now runs reasonably slow. (it would probably run really nice with xp... vista )
It's well known that HP makes good quality hardware, it's just on the software/drivers end where they fall flat on their faces and have done so for years. At least they're very consistent.
My vote is for an all-in-one Hp software removal tool.
Just disable the startup with Windows and it goes by completely unnoticed.
I think in the past two years I've started the software maybe twice, and that was only to check the ink levels. However after finding out I can check it on the printer/scanner LCD screen without having to deal with the software I haven't started the software since then.
On mine, about 640 mb of helpful HP software which is never used. One of the worst was that Backweb app.
Same general idea, I just checked 5 days ago about ink, found out I can buy a new printer for less than the cost of replacement ink cartridges for the old printer.
Tried to refill the old cartridges, now cannot go out in public till the stains wear off.
I could write tomes on the ghastly experience that ensued when I came home happily carting my new HP computer. Maybe I should have said "ghostly" experience because the computer was certainly haunted. I had HP on the phone for hours - on several different occasions - screaming, well, speaking loudly, at them trying to get help to turn it into something usable. At last, I'm sure he was very weary of hearing from me, the tech (brave man, the conversation was likely being recorded) whispered to me what I already knew, "I'll tell you something. It is the OEM." The OEM OS was like one big virus. No matter what programs I uninstalled, they popped right back up again. Surfing the internet was a nightmare of popups that no popup blocker could stop. Etc., etc., etc., And etc.
This was my solution: I went to the store and spent another $200 on my very own out-of-the box Microsoft WindowsXP. I wiped the hard drive (with a little help from a friend) and all my problems went away. I love my computer now and I will buy another HP one day. When I do, I will do so knowing that I'll have to invest extra $ on whatever OS I want to use.
A year ago, I purchased an HP printer. They make the best printers ever - but once again, I had problems with the bloated software that came with it. I took it back to the store and traded for a Brother which doesn't bog down my system. I will not buy another HP printer.
HP makes a basic printer driver that doesn't suck. You have to get it online though.
For future reference you don't have to pay full price for windows, you can get OEM copies pretty cheap from newegg. Only difference is that you cant call MS for support(who does that anyway?)
I didn't know about those OEM builds of Windows, especially at that price. And yeah, who really needs to call MS for support and pay whatever amount they charge most info is freely available via a quick search.
No, the scanner works fine(at least on my cheap deskjet F2210)
You can either use the built in windows utility or get something like windows live picture(whatever its called) and use that to import the pictures from the scanner.
To use the built in one you have to go to my computer, you should see the scanner listed and just right click it and press scan.
I use an HP4480 All-in-One,my software gave me the option of checking off any unwanted software when I installed the printer and scanner drivers. This is all I have installed on mine.
On mine, about 640 mb of helpful HP software which is never used. One of the worst was that Backweb app.
Same general idea, I just checked 5 days ago about ink, found out I can buy a new printer for less than the cost of replacement ink cartridges for the old printer.
Tried to refill the old cartridges, now cannot go out in public till the stains wear off.
Oh how i wish I had read all this a couple months ago. I had a HP psc all-in-one 2170 and for years it performed like a champ, then one day, without warning it just quit! Nothing I did could bring it back to life. So I went and bought a photo smart all-in-one 6380, my goodness, the cranking and racket and spurting, coughing, spasm's it goes through just to get started is totally amazing---then once it get over its eptileptic behavior it spits out a beautiful photo or zips through 10 pages of text in a second, but what it takes to get going each time is frightening. Why I didn't take it back remains one mystery about myself I don't even understand. Bloat, yes indeed but I am not savey enough to get rid of it , and HP keeps sending 'critical' updates that turn out to be more un-necessay (I think) software to add to its pathtic upheaval at the beginning of a job. I would really like to slim it down but am afraid I will get rid of something really important.
my goodness, the cranking and racket and spurting, coughing, spasm's it goes through just to get started is totally amazing---then once it get over its eptileptic behavior it spits out a beautiful photo or zips through 10 pages of text in a second, but what it takes to get going each time is frightening.
That's what constantly without me mixing words here completely pisses me off about the C5180 I have. Sure it prints beautifully however just about everytime I want to print something it goes through some maintenance crap just before it prints what I want some 60 or so seconds later. Why can't the thing do that maintenance when not in use I wonder.
If it didn't cost so much to begin with I would've had some mental episode and kicked it several times already.
