There are many benefits that come with starting from scratch. By that, I mean a fresh install of your operating system (OS). I don’t care if you get your PC from a local IT supplier or one of the big names (Dell, HP, etc.). All of the brand name manufacturers score many contracts with 3rd party software vendors like Symantec, McAffee or PC Doctor, not to mention the numerous proprietary apps that each manufacturer installs to “assist” the user.
The basic install of Windows XP or Windows 7 should have about 45 processes running after boot up. This process count should include an anti-virus and or anti-malware application and local backup application – the “bare essentials”. If you have more processes running, they could be valid but you shouldn’t need much more than 45 processes. Given my 10 years of experience, most of the major manufacturers will have you, out of the box, running around 60-70 processes! If you are not a nosey user like myself, then you will most likely will not do anything to kill/uninstall these services. Nor should you have to do this in my opinion. You are not intentionally purchasing these applications; rather you are forced to manage these on your own.
Folks, these applications are using valuable resources and you need to take them back!! 99% of these “proprietary” applications are already built into Windows. Thanks but no thanks, manufacturers. Anything that Windows does not inherently manage internally probably isn’t a huge concern for most users. Running applications like Ccleaner, Malwarebytes and the recently released Microsoft Security Essentials are commonly used add-ons to the basic operating system.
The next major concern is backups, Windows can address file restore inherently with Shadow Copies. You also have System Restore for the OS. Talking to your Greystone consultant can offer more advanced online and offline options as well.
Returning to the subject at hand, “Starting From Scratch”, I highly recommend, permitting time and your confidence level, reinstalling the OS before you start to personalize the existing OEM install (Original Equipment Manufacturer is the software received with your purchased computer that provides the pre-loaded applications). This gives you the opportunity to dictate everything that is installed from the very beginning. After addressing anti-virus & malware, then backups, you should be set and running a lean and mean OS that will reflect the hardware that you purchased.