That sounds right and I also got a disc full of utilities, the most useful was the Cyberlink set (Disk burning DVD authoring etc) Evidently that was the original package with the product code I used. all for the $10
Ordering and postage are free from that site.
Maybe the $10 was for the same sort of thing from HP. I have both.
Ummm, I bought an HP laptop a year ago and it didn't come with ANY "crapware". OTOH, a friend of mine bought a Dell desktop a few years ago and it took me an entire day to uninstall all of the "crapware".
Anything you buy today has crapware/trialware in it...
OK, if you say so. The ONLY thing on this PC that was trialware was Norton. Again, NO "crapware".
From a Walmart HP laptop
Microsoft Games: (Solitaire and Mahjong) Free pre-installed Windows
8 games, ready to play.- Farm Frenzy ($19.99 value) and HP Games. (79) HP Help and Support
Business class computers often come pretty well stripped software-wise. Home computers usually come loaded to the hilt with crapware and trialware.
I didn't buy my HP from Walmart
Still on my computer. Lets you know when certain programs and drivers need to be updated.
Still on my computer. Contains HP recovery manager, HP support assistant, HP Coolsense settings, and HP Protectsmart AKA HP 3D Driveguard settings.
Lets the computer boot to the desktop instead of the Metro screen. I never used it (if I even had it). I installed Start8.
I use that.
Hell, I installed that.
This computer came with Microsoft Office Starter 2010 free of charge.
If I go to the Metro Screen (which I hardly ever do) there is a crap load of free and payware apps in the Microsoft store. I just checked Amazon, Kindle and Netflix are in there but you have to install the apps.
I have a love hate relationship with HP support assistant. It always wants to update something. My bios has been redone at least 3 times. There is also some stuff I don't use, but I usually have the option to decline. It's seems to want to reboot when I'm trying to work. Mines about 3 years old, otherwise it's a beautiful machine. Using W7, which I have not updated windows in a year.
Greg
Agree with that about the space key. At least he didn't ask for your bank account number so he can transfer L4,000,000, pounds sterling out of Nigeria.
CY: And Solitaire is one of my favorites.
CY: I've heard that win 8 doesn't work very well.
CY: Friend of mine's
10 year old grandson was hooked on plants versus zombies a year or so ago.
CY: Great, another program manager using up RAM.
CY: Ah, you mean selective start?
CY: More continuing stream of spending money.
CY: I tried that, but didn't do much good for me.
That's how it copy/pasted from the pdf. *L*
| OK, if you say so. The ONLY thing on this PC that was trialware was | Norton. Again, NO "crapware".
:) I'd call anything from Symantec crapware. And when it's pre-installed as a free trial version it's sleazy crapware. Symantec would be out of business if they didn't pull that trick on onwitting computer buyers.
My HP buying experience is consistent with yours. I bought two from the HP website about a year part, a couple years ago. They had software similar to what you got, ie the HP support assistant, getting started app, Norton, freestarter version of Microsoft Office. I just looked and there is also an icon for HP Games, but I've never opened it, done anything with it. I guess it depends on what your definitionn of "crapware" is. What they load may be different depending on the channel it's sold in. The HP load on mine was fine by me. To me crapware is when you load it up with a lot of stuff that is totally useless and intrusive, ie popping up with solicitations, etc. If crapware means anything other than just the OS, then I would think you're going to find that on any PC from any major manufacturer today. AFAIK, you'd have to buy from a mom/pop integrator if you want to avoid having anything but the OS on it.
I guess I must be one of those "unwitting" buyers. My HP came with free Norton for a year. When I bought it, they had a deal where for a nominal fee, I think it was ~$30, you could get two additional years. I took advantage of that. I got 3 years of Norton and it's performed fine by me, no issues at all. I think I saw where you posted suggesting that anti-virus isn't needed. I'd say it's that view that's unwitting.
Oh, and I got a free starter version of Microsoft Office, which I'm still using. I could have upgraded to the full version for $100, but for my limited use, there is no need, the free version is fine for me. I guess that's just all more crapware.
| > :) I'd call anything from Symantec crapware. | > | > And when it's pre-installed as a free trial version | > | > it's sleazy crapware. Symantec would be out of | > | > business if they didn't pull that trick on onwitting | > | > computer buyers. | | I guess I must be one of those "unwitting" buyers. My HP came with | free Norton for a year. When I bought it, they had a deal where for | a nominal fee, I think it was ~$30, you could get two additional years. | I took advantage of that. I got 3 years of Norton and it's performed | fine by me, no issues at all.
Symantec has a long history of buying good products, then bloating them, cutting down functionality, and raising the price. They then make those products a success through marketing. (There's been a current discussion about this on the XP group.)
Last I saw, Norton was among the most bloated of the AV options, and that's not good because AV is already very demanding in terms of resources. Other products Symantec has ruined that I used personally:
| I think I saw where you posted suggesting | that anti-virus isn't needed. I'd say it's that view that's unwitting. |
I install AV for friends who's computers I manage. Usually Avast Free. All of them are significant resource hogs, but if you don't know how to protect from online risks and/or you can't be bothered, then AV is a good idea.
I don't use AV personally. I haven't for many years. I almost never enable javascript, don't have Flash installed, don't have Adobe plugins of any kind, and don't have Java installed. I also know what to look for in terms of risky email. The Internet with javascript is not safe and cannot be made safe. But script is required if you use webmail, Facebook, do a lot of online shopping, etc. I don't do those things in general, so I have no need for AV. Nearly all attacks online require javascript, Java, or any Adobe plugin.
When AV started out they were small programs that were updated with a 1 MB file once per month. The number of viruses were in the thousands. Now that number is in the millions and virus "signatures" are updated in terms of hours rather than months. The whole approach of AV is outdated. It's comparing those millions of signatures to the byte patterns in every file you touch -- a vast amount of work, and wasteful -- especially when most of the files you touch are already on your computer!
I guess maybe a good AV analogy would be having 8 attack dogs rather than having a front door. The dogs are expensive to maintain, they shit all over the yard, they bark a lot, and they make it hard for friends to visit. But if you're not going to install a locking front door on your house then I wouldn't argue with the usefulness of the dogs. :)
Norton/Symantec is now a great piece of software. No longer a resource hog. Norton 360 comes with my ISP and I use it. Funny thing is I knew I had it for a couple of years but never installed it because Norton has always been a resource hog. A few months ago I decided to give it a try and I love it. The first thing I noticed was how much faster both of my laptops booted with 360 instead of Avast which shocked me.
I certain agree with your general assessment of Norton (and I would add McAfee in the mix). I have family members on this PC, so I'm using Avast Free, MalwareBytes Pro, and Keyscrambler to offset poor surfing abilities. I like Avast's boot scan...which many others lack.
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