Question:
E1505 'Clean-Up'
I've noted a couple of recent posts asking for some thoughts wrt 'cleaning up' Dell laptops without resorting to a complete reinstall of the OS. Hope this post will serve useful and solicit ideas/comments from other folks on the subject.
First of all these are not "Instructions"... Just my opinion on what could be removed. You must determine for yourself what deserves to remain on your laptop. This info is for an E1505. Can't speak obviously to other systems.
Before we get into the 'list', some related thoughts....
I'd suggest you make whatever changes you like BEFORE you get too serious about loading other applications or starting to rely on your computer for 'bullet-proof' operation. You may not get things 'quite right' the first time and something could 'break' leaving you to where you'll end up needing to start over by restoring your laptop to its 'factory-delivered' state. It's easily enough done and not a 'big' deal, but that kind of restore will permanently ERASE any additions/modifications you've made... to include any data files.
After you've used your computer a while [I'd give it a 5 day run] and performed some typical, but not sensitive, tasks then you can feel comfortable that nothing's too broken and you can proceed with loading other applications. Even then, I'd give it a good 'test-run' with your new apps before 'blessing' your new configuration. Kind of a crawl-walk-run approach that can take away from your 'fun' time with the computer, but can save you from a major 'ohh.... NOOOOO!!!!' moment.
My 'Notes' that are sprinkled in here are what I was able to determine from file descriptions and my best attempt to Google-search the web. Some applications are a bit 'thin' when it comes to getting detailed information.
Started with around 7GB on disk; Boot time about 1:30 from Windows 'splash' screen; Didn't make note of running processes though...
Answer:
Re: E1505 'Clean-Up'
From Control Panel; Add/Remove Programs; Worked down in order of listing. [Note... I had McAfee disabled during all of this]
1. Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0.2 Update -- Left alone
2. Adobe Reader 6.0.1 -- Left alone
3. America Online -- REMOVED
After selecting "Change/Remove the computer searched for AOL versions on the system. Found AOL9.0; Had to 'Highlight' the AOL 9.0 entry; Also had to 'uncheck' "Downloaded files" and "Filing Cabinet files"; Uninstall was complete; Was prompted to let system reboot
It automatically removed the next two entries in the Add/Remove list which were...
AOL Coach Version 1.0
AOL Connectivity Services
4. Broadcom Management Programs -- Left alone
5. Conexant HDA D110 MDC V.92 Modem -- Left alone
6. Corel Paint Shop Pro X -- REMOVED fwiw... This is a 60-day trial version; Took a long time to remove; No reboot requested
7. Corel Photo Album 6 - Left alone
8. Dell Digital Jukebox -- REMOVED [Provides support for Dell's Digital Jukebox portable mp3 player; Appears to be tied to MusicMatch application and supports interface to a Jukebox device]
Was directed to select "Uninstall Method" [Automatic/Custom]; Chose Automatic; Was given an 'advisory' wrt removing a "Shared Component"; Message stated "... the following shared file is no longer used by any programs and may be deleted"; I selected "Yes to All' but by saying "No to All" it won't necessarily hurt anything, you'll just potentially end up with 'extra'/unused files on your system
9. Dell Game Console -- REMOVED [Front end for Dell games and interfaces to Dell web page for updates, new games, etc]
Straight forward; Just a simple message that the uninstall was complete
10. Dell Support -- REMOVED [Automated update/upgrade and notification system....]
Straight forward. No messages
11. Dell System Restore -- Left alone
12. Dell Wireless WLAN Card -- Left alone
13. Digital Content Portal -- Left alone
14. Digital Line Detect -- Left alone [The program is just for protecting your 56k modem from a digital line. 56k modems can not handle digital lines and will get damaged by them.]
15. EducateU -- Left alone Dell's on-line learning portal; Can be removed later after you've had a chance to look at what Dell is offering up in the way of tutorials.
16. ESPNMotion -- REMOVED [A 'snip' "....Every time new ESPN Motion video is published out to the company’s servers, an ESPN Motion component on a user’s computer automatically goes out and fetches the newest video..."
Straight forward. No messages
17. GemMaster Mystic -- REMOVED [From Microsoft.... "WildTangent is delivering gaming capabilities that will be playable with the Media Center remote control including "Otto" and "Gem Master 3: Mystic."
Straight forward. No messages
18. Get High Speed Internet -- REMOVED [Looks like an html-based advertisement for various Dell-sponsered DSL/Cable/Wireless ISP services
Received Confirmation dialog box. Unistall proceeded
19. Google Desktop -- REMOVED
Received Confirmation Dialog boxes; Second one asked "Do you really want to remove...." and had a checkbox selected for "Keep indexes in case I want to install... later"; Unchecked that box and selected "Yes";
Received message that "... need to close ... Windows Messenger.."; Selected "OK" for the uninstall to continue; Finished with a "Success" window;
After that I was presented an Internet Explorer window where it was attempting to connect to Google.com [Did not have an internet connection at the time so it failed with a "Cannot find server" message]; Some kind of page to collect feedback....; Closed IE window
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Re: E1505 'Clean-Up'
20. Google Toolbar for IE -- REMOVED
Selected remove; No messages; Entry removed from Add/Remove list
21. High Definition Audio Driver -- Left alone [Microsoft... see http://support.microsoft.com/?id=835221 ]
22. Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Driver -- Left alone
23. Internal Network Card Power Management -- Left alone [Related to Dell QuickSet]
Description.... 'On battery mode, whenever the network cable is unplugged QuickSet will deactivate the internal network card for power saving. You will have to reinsert AC to reactivate the NIC. You can also change this default behavior by going into the QuickSet Power Wizard (Network Device Power Management page).'
24. Java 2 Runtme Environment -- Left alone
25. learn2 -- REMOVED [Installed by AOL 9.0 ??]
Got confirmation dialog box; Displayed a "Results" window listing deleted files [All files in Learn2.com folder and iestm32.dll file]; Was directed to perform a restart of Windows; Selected "Yes"
26. McAfee Uninstaller [McAfee 90-day trial] -- REMOVED [Note... McAfee is a big consumer of system resources and probably accounts for most of the boot-delay and general performance lag of the computer. That said... I DO NOT RECOMMEND going 'naked' wrt anti-virus protection. Unless you stay off the web and don't load any files/applications from un-trusted sources... get yourself something you like, get it loaded, and keep it up-to-date. End 'lecture'...
Presented menu to select products to uninstall; All checked by default; Continued by depressing "Uninstall"; Received a 'Confirmation' dialog box; Selected 'Yes'; Followed in a minute by "Uninstall Complete" message and restart request;
27. Microsoft .NET Framework -- Left alone
28. Microsoft Plus Digital Media Edition -- REMOVED http://www.anandtech.com/multimedia/...spx?i=2240&p=2 [Includes "Windows Audio Converter" ['... will let you convert mp3, wav and wma files into mp3, wma, wma (vbr) or wma lossless formats'], "Windows CD Maker", Windows Dancer", Windows Party Mode"; fwiw... these appear to be on the Dell-supplied XP MCE reinstall disk, but cannot say for sure
Asked to Confirm remove action; Add/Remove entry removed, no other messages. Note: Be sure to see 'para o.' below..
29. Microsoft Plus Photo Story 2 LE -- REMOVED [Can be downloaded from Microsoft]
Asked to Confirm remove action; Add/Remove entry removed, no other messages
30. Modem Helper -- Left Alone [BVRP software v3.01; Description... " 'Stand alone' modem test and repair tool'] Unsure of how one would reinstall as I couldn't find a download or install files on the Resource CD Update: This application IS on the Resource CD and is listed as "Conexant D110 , HDA, MDC, V.92, modem" [R96600] under "Communications Applications". Alternatively, it can be downloaded from Dell
31. Musicmatch for Windows Media Player -- REMOVED
Asked to confirm remove; Prompted for Windows restart;
32. Musicmatch Jukebox -- REMOVED [Available for download from web] Free Version V10; Manage music on computer, burn/rip music CDs, transfer music to portable devices
Asked to confirm remove; Displayed Confirmation of successful uninstall
33. NetWaiting -- Left Alone [BVRP software a version of modem-on-hold {MOH}... Allows you to answer/ignore an incoming call or to place a telephone call and still retain your original internet connection]
34. NetZeroInstallers -- REMOVED [Associated with NetZero '3 months free']
Asked for confirmation; No messages; Add/Remove entry deleted
35. Otto -- Removed [See Item 17]
No messages; Entry removed from Add/Remove list
36. PowerDVD [Cyberlink DVD player with codec] -- Left alone
37. QuickSet -- Left alone
38. QuickTime -- Left alone
39. RealPlayer Basic -- REMOVED [V8 Basic; Available for download from Web]
Asked for confirmation; Received confirmation of successful uninstall
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Re: E1505 'Clean-Up'
40. Search Assist -- REMOVED [Related to Internet Explorer Search Assist; By using "Remove" thru Add/Remove it will change you Search Assistant in IE from Google to http://ie.search.msn.com
Asked for confirmation; Entry removed from Add/Remove List
41. Sonic DLA -- Left alone [Sonic Drive Letter Access function for CD burner]
42. Sonic Encoder -- Left Alone
43. Sonic MyDVD LE -- Left Alone
44. Sonic RecordNow Audio/Copy/Data -- Left Alone [Associated with Sonic DigitalMedia LE v7]
45. Sonic Update Manager -- Left Alone
46. Synaptics Pointing Device Driver -- Left Alone
47. URL Assistant [????]-- Accidentally removed [Hard to get good info on this... I probably would have removed anyway.]
48. Viewpoint Media Player -- REMOVED [Loaded by AOL?? "....display interactive 3D models, Macromedia Flash animations and interfaces, as well as streaming video] Can be downloaded from web
Asked for confirmation; Entry removed from Add/Remove List
49. WebCyberCoach 3.2 Dell -- REMOVED [GTek Technologies application; Related to GTCoach, CyberCoach, AOL Coach; ADPBrowswer for AOL???]
Asked for Confirmation; Entry removed from Add/Remove List
50. WildTanget Web Driver -- REMOVED [Related to WildTanget games and web-based gaming??]
Received WildTanget Uninstaller screen; "The... Driver is a media player for your games."; Options to Cancel or Exit; Receive Uninstall Complete message; Item removed from Add/Remove
51. Windows Installer 3.1 -- Left Alone
52. WordPerfct Office 12 -- Left Alone
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
C:\Program Files clean-up
a. BAE -- Includes BAE.dll which is identified as "Browser Address Error Redirector" Copyright Dell Inc -- Odd file, but Left Alone; I believe it is used to direct IE to a Dell 'branded' Google search page
b. Common Files/AOL -- Deleted folder
c. Common Files/Nullsoft -- Left over AOL possibly.... Appears related to Nullsoft Streaming Video ActiveX Plugins -- Left alone
d. Common Files/Real -- Left over RealPlayer files -- Deleted Folder
e. CommPlus Applications -- Empty, but Left Alone [Anyone know what was in here originally??]
f. Dell/Digital Jukebox Drivers -- Deleted Folder
g. Dell/McAfee -- Deleted Folder
h. Dell/JBSeries2Drv -- Appear to be drivers for Creative Technologies Nomad Jukebox MP3 Player -- Deleted Folder
i. GemMaster -- Empty; Deleted Folder
j. Google --Deleted Folder
k. McAfee -- Deleted Folder
l. MusicMatch -- Left over files; Deleted Folder
m. RGB -- XP Media Center related; Left Alone
n. SearchAssist -- Used to modify default search service in IE; Deleted Folder
o. Windows Plus -- All sub-folders and files still present/functioning even after removal via Add/Remove Programs; To delete, look under Add/Remove programs; Add/Remove Window Components; Open 'Windows Digital Media Enhancements'; Uncheck applications as desired; Select "OK"; Then "Next"; Uninstall proceeds; "Finish"
End State: Approx 6.5GB on Disk; Boot time 40 Sec or so; 44 Processes post boot
Answer:
Re: E1505 'Clean-Up'
better i think would be a thread on what should be put back on after a format, and a guide to making sure you can still use media direct after a format
that's what i'm interested in.
despite "uninstalling" junk, it doesn't really speed up much
a full format is much better
Answer:
Re: E1505 'Clean-Up'
My intent is to perform a 'clean' OS install using SG's guide and reload everything. If someone hasn't posted anything by then, I'll be glad to post whatever I 'learn'
vr
Mark
Answer:
Re: E1505 'Clean-Up'
When I try to remove Dell Digital Jukebox Driver, I get the error message that it "Could not open Install.log file." Does anyone have a solution? Thanks.
Answer:
Re: E1505 'Clean-Up'
Try to reinstall it from the CDs you got or from Dell's website and then try to uninstall it again.
Answer:
Re: E1505 'Clean-Up'
I don't see it under Drivers and Downloads and I don't have the CD either. :-/
Answer:
Re: E1505 'Clean-Up'
I don't know then, sorry.