Welcome Centre Unwanted Shortcuts

[Guest]

Hi...I have just got up and running on a new PC running Vista Small Buisness
and would like to know how to remove the shortcuts which appear on the
welcome centre page. I realise that the Welcome Centre can be switched off
but ideally I would like to rid anything on the PC that's of no use i.e Trail
software that was preloaded.
Thanks.

 

[Michael Solomon]

Hi...I have just got up and running on a new PC running Vista Small
Buisness
and would like to know how to remove the shortcuts which appear on the
welcome centre page. I realise that the Welcome Centre can be switched off
but ideally I would like to rid anything on the PC that's of no use i.e
Trail
software that was preloaded.
Thanks.

I'm assuming the shortcuts you wish to remove are to the trial software. I
would think, if you remove the trial software, the shortcuts would be gone
as well. Open Control Panel, open Programs and Features, find the trial
software in the list, select it and click Uninstall.

 

[Guest]

Michael, I had already removed/uninstalled trail s/ware for example Norton
but the link to this still appears on the Welcome Centre,
Steve Turner

 

[Michael Solomon]

Michael, I had already removed/uninstalled trail s/ware for example Norton
but the link to this still appears on the Welcome Centre,
Steve Turner

Okay, after a little research, here's what I've found. Those links are
hardwired though there may be a way to remove them using the registry. This
is paid space. Aside from being an area which provides quick access to
various parts of the OS it was specifically designed to be a paid billboard.
A place that won't clutter the desktop but also where users cannot easily
delete the references since third parties pay the OEMs for this access.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Michael...that opens a whole new can of worms. Not being that familiar
with interogating the registry and removing entries, I may see if the
recovery process offers me the option to just install basic vista
applications. May seem a little excessive but with this new m/c, space and
speed are at a premium.
Steve.

 

[Andrew McLaren]

Thanks Michael...that opens a whole new can of worms. Not being that

familiar
with interogating the registry and removing entries, I may see if the
recovery process offers me the option to just install basic vista
applications. May seem a little excessive but with this new m/c, space and
speed are at a premium.

Just to cap off Mike Solomon's excellent advice ... Steve, what you're
seeing is referred to as "crapware":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crapware
OEMs etc load up new PCs with a whole lot of crap "trial" software, in the
hope of making you buy more. It's not really part of Windows, and it isn't
installed by Microsoft.

And yes ... it really is crap!

Hope you manage to get your machine cleaned up. FWIW it's usually harmless,
though annoying.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Michael Solomon]

Thanks Michael...that opens a whole new can of worms. Not being that
familiar
with interogating the registry and removing entries, I may see if the
recovery process offers me the option to just install basic vista
applications. May seem a little excessive but with this new m/c, space and
speed are at a premium.
Steve.

You're welcome.

To be clear, I wasn't suggesting you go into the registry. I never
recommend that unless I know the exact location of an item in the registry
and the exact, time tested, entry to place there.

I probably should have worded it a little better.

I think you have a good idea. Yeas ago, I had a PC with a recovery disk but
it offered the means of deciding what would be installed, well, up to a
point and it meant you could prevent a lot of stuff from installing. It's
certainly worth investigating.

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

See this from James Finnigan [MSFT]

This is driven by the xml file in %SystemRoot%\system32\oem\info\...\oobe.xml . You should consider editing this file to be like editing the registry. The format is fairly
self-explanatory, however be careful not to change the xml namespaces.

Refer http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windows.vista.general/msg/4df23f490830afca

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User]
Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Hi...I have just got up and running on a new PC running Vista Small Buisness
and would like to know how to remove the shortcuts which appear on the
welcome centre page. I realise that the Welcome Centre can be switched off
but ideally I would like to rid anything on the PC that's of no use i.e Trail
software that was preloaded.
Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Thank You to all that have given me excellent advice in regards to this
matter....much appreciated, I may even contact Sony and request their support.
Steve.

 

[XS11E]

Thanks Michael...that opens a whole new can of worms. Not being
that familiar with interogating the registry and removing entries,
I may see if the recovery process offers me the option to just
install basic vista applications. May seem a little excessive but
with this new m/c, space and speed are at a premium.

It probably won't. Here's my crapware solution that has worked for me
on several computers.

1. You're computer manufacturer offers a means of restoring the
computer to original specs, either with included CDs/DVD or with a
means to create such CDs/DVD. If you haven't the restore CDs/DVD,
create them, DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP, you may need these later!

2. Go to the vendor's website and check that all the drivers needed for
your system can be downloaded, this would be video, CD/DVD burner,
Toucnhpad (if a laptop), NIC, Modem, Sound and WiFi. Download them and
burn them to a CD/DVD.

3. Insert your OS CD/DVD, either a retail or OS OEM disk from the
manufacturer and reboot. Install from scratch, using the installation
options to format and partition your HD.

4. Install the drivers you downloaded in step 2, run Windows Update to
update everything, install the software YOU want and you've got a clean
computer.

You'll probably spend a day or so doing this but it's probably less
time than trying to de-crapify a new computer.