Bloatware - How to recognize?

[praesignis]

Pardon my ignorance...I just learned this term bloatware.

How does one know which programs have bloatware attached to them? Is it something you can get rid of, or do you just have to live with it?

Thanks..

[Force Flow]

Sometimes if you run a spyware scan after installing the program, it picks some stuff out.

Sometimes you can get rid of it while keeping the program functional, sometimes not.

For example, the official KaZaa software is bloatware. I'm not quite sure about the Lite version.

[praesignis]

so it's basically just a program that carries a bunch of spyware with it on downloading? that makes sense. thanks.

[TwoRails]

Is bloatware taking on a new meaning? I've always used the term as described here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...fine:bloatware

A lot of software is bloatware, meaning it contains too much juke (features) that are never used consuming too much RAM. It's a cross of poor programming and an attempt to overachive.

[praesignis]

>>A lot of software is bloatware, meaning it contains too much juke (features) that are never used consuming too much RAM. It's a cross of poor programming and an attempt to overachive.<<

well, is there a way to recognise it and/or get rid of it? how do i know what i have is bloatware?

[TwoRails]

Sometimes it's subjective, but just about anything that wants to do it all is, to me at least, bloatware. Windows is bloatware. IE is bloatware. Most word processors are bloatware. Installing your sound card and it has a dozen different utilities and features you don't want is bloatware..... and so on. I say subjective because if you happen to like or use most or all the features, then it's not really bloatware. But it can still be bloatware if it's not programmed good. You can't change poor programming practices, but you can not install (or uninstall) all the seperate features from items like sounds cards, vid cards, etc.

[praesignis]

okay, i get it now. very helpful links too.

thanks

[rjfvillarosa]

Whenever I install something I always look to see if there is a custom install option, it usually says for advanced users only, but most of the time that is only there to try and stop you deselecting half of the bloat that is in the software. I try to install just the drivers if it is a piece of hardware and any decently written software will give you the option to go back at a later date and install some of the other features.
One of my biggest gripes is just because I have installed a piece of software that doesn't mean I want it running all the time, so I always uncheck automatic updates and do the updates myself when ever I use the software and I always check MSCONFIG and make sure the new software is unchecked so as not to start with windows, if given the oportunity during the installation, I again uncheck the start with windows feature.

[praesignis]

Awesome. Thanks much. I went and updated all my installed programs. I can still do that because my rebuild is pretty fresh still.
I also checked these against my firewall. Made me very glad that I asked this question.