Cut the Crapware: How to Clean Up Your New Windows Laptop

Opening a brand new Acer Aspire S7 is just about as good a laptop unboxing experience as you can get. The box has that fresh, new-car smell and when you lift the razor thin, Gorilla Glass-covered lid, the high-res screen illuminates to life.

And then it all comes to a screeching halt. Inside the traditional Windows desktop, you’ll find eight—eight!—preloaded icons lining the right edge of the screen, including shortcuts to eBay and Acer’s websites and pre-installed—but not necessarily desired—programs like Norton Online Backup, Acer Games, abDocs and abPhotos.

Acer is not alone with this flagrant preloading of useless software—dubbed “crapware” or “junkware.” Toshiba, HP and others are just as guilty with their incessant “Activate Norton AntiVirus” pop-ups.

But you and your new laptop don’t have to suffer. Here’s how to rid yourself of the junk.

1. Buy your laptop at a Microsoft Store.
You can avoid all crapware before you even get your new laptop by buying it from a Microsoft Store. All laptops sold through Microsoft’s retail stores and its website come “junkware-free.” Instead of preloading trial versions of Norton or McAfee anti-virus programs, Microsoft says to just stick with Windows Defender, which is included with all Windows 8 PCs.

Andrew Evans / The Wall Street Journal

2. Install a crapware cleaner.
But all is not lost if you don’t shop through Microsoft. Free programs like PC Decrapifier and SlimComputer will wipe out most of those pre-loaded icons and apps in one fell swoop.

PC Decrapifier automatically detected the eBay icon on the desktop and I manually removed most of the others using the app. SlimComputer provides similar functionality but cleverly adds reviews and information on each of the apps so you know if you’d want to keep or lose them.

3. Manually uninstall the programs yourself.
If you’re not up for installing yet another program, you can remove the programs yourself by going into the Control Panel and selecting “Uninstall a program.” Select the programs you want to remove, but be careful not to select any system-dependent drivers, like those from Intel, Synaptics, Realtek, Microsoft and others. If you’re in doubt about a particular program, leave it installed and search the Web for more information.

You may not see the desktop website links listed there—manually delete those from the Desktop or Start Screen and then empty the Recycle Bin.

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