Yes, that is a word.  If you’re about to order a lovely new PC with Windows 7 on it beware that you might not get the lovely speedy new system that Windows 7 promises to deliver.  This is because of crapware.  The sheer volume of useless software that can come pre-loaded with new PCs can have a serious effect on performance.

In a recent study by PC Pro Magazine they found that Acer, HP and Sony, three of the biggest PC vendors loaded crapware that slowed down the boot time of Windows by up to 2½ minutes and slowed performance so much it was like the PC had come with the processor model below it.

But fear not because help is at hand.  There are three useful utilities to rid your new PC of crapware and get it running the way it really should.

PC Decrapifier

This is an excellent piece of software that recognises all the useless junk on your new PC and will help you remove it with a friendly wizard-based interface.  It’ll walk you through cleaning up your PC and you can download it form here.

CCleaner

Sometimes though the uninstaller for a program won’t clean everything up and that’s where CCleaner comes in.  This is an excellent utility that I’ve been using for years.  It’s, simply put, the best way to find all the flotsam that’s been left sitting on your hard drive or in the registry.  It’ll get your PC cleaned up in next to no time.

Autoruns

You can disable start-up items using msconfig on your PC but the Microsoft written autoruns goes into huge amounts of detail for anything that’s been left behind on your new PC.  Available here, it will give you huge amounts of control over what starts when you switch on your PC.

There’s no doubt that crapware is annoying and, in some cases, extremely difficult to remove.  It’s also not necessary leaving many people believing, for instance, that they still have anti-virus protection when their trial version of the pre-loaded anti-virus software has long-since expired.

Cleaning the crapware off your new PC will ensure you have a happy time with your brand new Windows 7 PC.