[wpkg-users] wpkg for crapware removal?

[Paul McGrath]

It is more complex than that but I didn't want to bore everyone with the detail.

I usually deploy to blank Windows, for the freeware which includes toolbars/crapware I usually include an 'install' and 'upgrade' to remove that specific object.

For the laptops which do have that stuff quite a few crapware most are reimaged if they go on the network.

-----Original Message-----
From: Rainer Meier [mailto:r.meier at wpkg.org] 
Sent: 14 December 2012 09:10
To: Paul McGrath
Cc: wpkg-users at lists.wpkg.org
Subject: Re: [wpkg-users] wpkg for crapware removal?

Hi Paul,

On 14.12.2012 09:47, Paul McGrath wrote:
>    Instead of the "remove" we use "install" (execute once) to remove some crapware.  Usually Bing, Ask and Google toolbars.  We get a lot of Samsung laptops and they are choked full of crapware but I haven't got around to building anything extensive.

execute="once" might be suitable for initial cleanup if you use the Windows installation as it is shipped from manufacturer. From my point of view this isn't the best idea anyway due to many reasons:

- A LOT of crapware/adware/tryware installed
- Drivers outdated
- Windows installation outdated (missing patches etc)

So usually for me it takes longer to clean the machines (and still living with the risk that manufacturer changed some Windows settings which I don't know
about) than re-installing them from scratch; knowing to have a clean system then. Using unattended Windows setup and WPKG a machine can be automatically deployed within less than 1 hour usually. Cleaning a crapware-system usually takes me longer manual actions and creating/maintaining a very-detailed crapware-remover tool would require me to adapt it continuously.

Jon actually had slightly different requirement. He's willing to "blacklist" 
some known crapware and assure it's removed automatically whenever it's installed on the client (after deployment). At least this was my understanding.
So here an execute="always" package might help. The package will have to identify every kind of undesired software and remove it silently on every WPKG run.

So for me initial crapware removal on stock machines is easy: Re-install.


br,
Rainer