software companys intrusive/forceful your views?

[xman2007]

this week i performed a format on my pc, and whilst installing all my optional and essential software programs firewalls/av/drivers etc afterwards i started to think and begin to get a bit mad, the reason being is a lot of software companys now are making there programs with hidden install options such as auto starting with windows, auto connecting to the net and installing other hidden software,

if its not against tpu rules i mean things like msn messenger (auto start) creative drivers ( a lot of things on start up which are totally unneccesary), and aol (biggest offender imo installs realplayer, quicktime, screen savers antispyware, everything is set to auto start on windows etc ) these days software manufacturers should know that modern day pc's run a whole plethora of software and if it was all to start at windows startup it would grind a lot of systems to the ground

the problem with some software programs is some of these settings/optional programs they install can sometimes be hard to change as running msconfig and unchecking a program just doesnt cut it most of the times now as you have to change the settings within the program itself. or uninstalling a program can still leave optional programs it itself installed (if that makes sense lol) now dont get me wrong most of the software i use are free programs, however if i use a good free program and find i like the software i dont mind sometimes supporting the company by making a donation (spybot s+d being an example) or upgrading to a more functional version.

a lot of peopel on here are power users and maybe dont install things they know to be like the above mentioned software but 90% of pc users are not power users and and ive fixed quite a few friends and familys pc's with nothing more wrong with them than being bogged
down with startup programs/unneccesary programs and syware.
what are your opinions, had any issues yourself like mentioned above.

 

[Deleted member 3]

When I install my system I have to disable quite a lot of things. It is annoying yes. Though you can edit your Windows installation with tools like nLite or just make a ghost image of a fresh installation with everything set yo your liking.

 

[xman2007]

but if you ghost a fresh installation you still have to install all your optional programs afterr as thats just like the os when its first installed

 

[lemonadesoda]

Depends when you run your ghost. I recommend you do a system ghost, i.e. after installation of windows and patches, BUT LATER do an application ghost, after you have installed your main applications and antivirus etc.

Then you can restore to a clean system or a full system will apps. JUST DONT WAIT TO DO THAT SECOND GHOST. There's no point ghosting a "dirty" system that has lots of little utilities downloaded from the internet. By that time, your spyware is already installed, or your registry is already screwed up by "amateur" software.