Making Your Windows PC Work Better

Have you ever wondered why your brand-new Windows PC which you got for your birthday (or even an old one), is performing relatively slow?

Sometimes the problem is not the hardware but the actual Operating System (Microsoft Windows being the most popular) which I am sure all of you use. Using Windows feels like renting an apartment where the landlord refuses to remove all the old furniture.

Jokes aside, tons of unnecessary software comes pre-installed on Windows, so after you are done with installing fresh Windows. Afterward, you probably expect your PC to perform fast and it doesn’t, and mostly the reason for that is bloat (Unnecessary software that comes pre-installed). 

But don’t worry because I am here. In this article, I will tell you why you need to remove such unnecessary software from your PC and most importantly how to do all that. So Grab your cup of coffee because it’s going to be a bumpy ride fellas!

What is Windows Bloatware?

The term Bloat (short for Bloatware) might seem like something out of space but that is not the case. It simply is another term for junk (unnecessary software) which can include pre-installed software that comes with Microsoft Windows, and some shortcuts in the start menu to install certain third-party questionable doodads like TikTok, Instagram, or similar stuff. They’re not installed but will do so if you click on them.

Bloatware first became a problem when the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) started installing software by default on their computers to both make money and provide consumers with additional software they might want. Thirty-plus years later, bloatware is still a problem. 

Now some People think that bloatware is useless, but the use-case of any app is not the reason for it being called bloatware, bloatware can simply be defined as:

Any unnecessary software that is pre-installed on your device without your permission. 

Why Bloatware is More Dangerous Than You Think

Bloatware might seem harmless, but it can actually be a threat in many ways. If bloatware isn’t secure, it can put a PC at risk of being compromised by attackers, apps have different kinds of bugs and if an attacker can exploit it then all the users using it also get compromised.

Many pre-installed apps track your usage habits, collecting data like your Browsing history, things you search for, and even your location. This data is then further sold to companies and much more. I wouldn’t want different apps that spy on me, on my computer, would you? The scary thing is that some bloatware apps request unnecessary permissions, like access to your microphone and camera, and if you allow that, everything you speak, everything you do in front of your camera, it all could be used in one way or another by the companies.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, bloatware also uses tons of your computer resources and your Internet bandwidth. It takes away part of your storage, and most importantly increases your boot time (the time it takes for your computer to start up).

The worst part? You didn’t even ask for it.

Why You Should Remove Bloatware

If you are still using Windows with its pre-installed junk, then hats off to you because you are hosting a spyware party on your device. Every random thought that came into your mind when you searched on Google, Everything you spoke and did in front of your device, chances are you were not the only one who knows about it and if that’s not enough, your system is crawling with bloatware, your storage is bloated with apps you never asked for. 

That is why I am here to rescue you all and before we dive into learning how to actually remove all this junk from your PC. We first need to understand why is it necessary to remove the bloatware, So let’s dive in:

Performance Drain

The first thing you will notice about your computer is, it is getting slower and slower like it’s struggling to keep up. It does not matter if it has RTX 4090 in it or GT 710. Bloat eats away the performance of every PC regardless of its specification. It hogs RAM and CPU, slowing down performance. Even the most powerful machines cannot stand against the mighty bloat.  

Sometimes your computer might become completely unresponsive and this is just the starting point. Your storage devices will magically start to fill up, taking up more and more space. Before you know it, the system feels like it’s barely functioning, plagued by the very bloatware that’s been slowly suffocating it.

Reduces Battery Life (For Laptops)

Bloatware not only slows down the computer but it also feeds on your battery like a parasite. After you are done charging your laptop, you unplug it and expect to use it for hours without any problem but before you know it you have to plug in the charger again and all this because of the useless apps running in your background 24/7.

Some bloatware runs on startup, staying active whether you use it or not. Others send data in the background, constantly pinging servers and draining power bit by bit. You might think closing apps helps but some restart silently, refusing to let go of their host. Over time this wears down your battery, ultimately shortening your battery’s lifespan.

Unwanted Notifications & Ads

Imagine you are playing some video game and all of a sudden some notification from sigmaantivirus.exe pops up on your screen, you accidentally click on it, and before you realize you just died in the game while hearing your teammates shout at you in the background, really annoying isn’t it?

It doesn’t stop there. Some bloatware injects ads into the apps and the browser you use, turning your own device into a stupid billboard. You close one, and another appears. It’s like an endless cycle that you cannot stop. The system starts to feel less like yours and more like a product being sold and your Privacy? That was gone the moment you booted up.

Increased Boot Time

You press your power button hoping to do some work but guess what? It feels like you are powering up a NASA station to launch a rocket in space. You might start getting thoughts that your PC is unresponsive but it’s not. It is just busy starting useless apps you never wanted on your computer in the first place and running tasks in the background that don’t even matter to you.

By the time it starts, so much of your time has already been wasted. Every time you start your PC hoping to do something useful, it starts slower and slower making you question your life while you stare at the black screen.

Security Risk & Privacy Invasion

Some bloatware not only slows you down, but It silently watches you, monitoring each of your activities while collecting all of your data. It starts from the bottom, collecting crash reports, and diagnostic reports but it slowly climbs the ladder by collecting more and more private data such as browsing history and your activities. And before you know it, It has sent your usage data to some random person who you don’t even know about.

Bloatware is like an invitation to hackers, vulnerable apps are screaming their names out, and once some attackers notice that they take advantage of it, guess who becomes the scapegoat? You!

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Basic Bloatware Removal (For Casual Users)

I am pretty sure that I have given you enough reasons to convince you that you need to remove all the garbage from your PC because it’s not just sitting there. It is harming your PC in real-time. The sooner you step up, the better it will be for you. 

Let us get to the actual part where I guide all of you on how to remove all the unnecessary software clogging your PC.

Disable Startup Apps

The first thing you need to do is disable all the unwanted startup apps, you can do that by following the described steps:

1. Right-click on the taskbar.

2. Click Task-manager.

3. Once the task manager opens, hover over to the Startup section and click it.

4. A list of applications will be listed, identify what apps are useless to you.

5. After you have identified them, right-click on the app and select Disable.

6. Repeat the step 4 and step 5 till you are sure there aren’t any useless apps being started on boot time.

By completing the following steps, you will notice a significant boost in the boot time of your PC.

Uninstalling via Apps & Features in Windows Settings

Next, you need to uninstall different apps using Windows apps and features, you can do that by following the described steps:

1. Click on the Windows search icon.

2. Type settings and click on it.

3. Find the section named Apps.

4. Now, tons of apps will be listed, both pre-installed and installed by you.

5. Identify which apps are of no use to you.

6. After that, click on them and click uninstall.

7. Repeat step 5 and step 6 till you are sure there aren’t any useless apps left.

By completing the following steps, you already are on your way to making your PC much faster and better.

Use a Bloatware Removal Tool

Some programs require special tools to rip them off your system, my recommendation is to use the tool called Revo uninstaller, Just head over to their website and download and install it, after you are done with that, Follow the following steps:

1. Open Revo uninstaller.

2. Identify which applications are useless from the interface you are shown.

3. Select that application.

4. Click the uninstall button which is located on the top middle of your screen.

5. Uncheck the system restore point and continue.

6. Agree to uninstall whatever app you are dealing with.

7. Revo will give you an interface from which you need to choose advanced and click scan.

8. You will be shown the registries related to that app, click select all, and delete until there are no more registries left.

9. Repeat from step 2 – step 8 till you are sure there aren’t any useless apps left.

Revo uninstaller makes sure there is no trace left of that app when you uninstall it, and if you completed all these steps, you have uninstalled mostly all the junk from your PC ensuring that your PC gets faster and your privacy gets better.

Stopping Useless Processes

There are tons of unneeded processes which are constantly running in your background sucking on your computer resources, turning them off will free up your resources which can then later be used for more important tasks. Follow along to stop these processes.

1. Open task manager.

2. Hover over to the Process tab.

3. Check each process resource usage and Identify which processes are useless.

4. Right-click on them and select End task.

5. Repeat step 3 and step 4 till you know no useless process is running on your PC.

Note: Do not stop any system process, ending them will result in your computer crashing.

You will get a warning checkbox if you try to end any system process. You might need to manually end such useless processes every time you start your PC. If you are really bothered by this then you can permanently uninstall the application whose process is running.

Advanced Bloatware Removal (For Tech-Savvy People)

Disclaimer: The following methods are, well for people who know what they are doing. If you aren’t one of them, I would say just read it for the ‘entertainment’ value…

I already have walked you through the steps that involved the removal of bloatware on a basic level which is fine for casual users, but if you are more tech-savvy and wish to further rip different bloatware out of their roots along with wanting a nice clean PC, free from any hidden spyware, then you are at the right place.

Here, we’ll explore disabling unnecessary background services, using Advanced Cleaning tools to scan for hidden spyware that traditional methods might miss. 

Note: I do recommend that you create a system restore point before advancing because If your computer does start acting weird at any point, you will always be able to revert all the changes.

Another thing I wanted to mention, I was previously guiding along with screenshots, but if you have read so far, I am sure you are one of the tech wizard kind (like me). So I’m going to be only guiding you without screenshots, I am leaving the job of figuring things out for you, which I am sure you will do.

Stopping Unnecessary Services in Microsoft Windows

Apart from system services which are essential for your computer to run, there are tons of other useless services that are running 24/7 on your computer making it slow. If you disable them from Task Manager, they autostart on restarting, but I’ll be telling you how to permanently disable them. I am pretty sure you want that and for that follow along soldier.

1. Press windows key + r on your keyboard.

2. Type “services.msc“.

3. You will see tons of services, you need to carefully identify which services look suspicious and which seem useless.

4. You need to right-click on them and select Properties.

5. A dialogue box will pop up, hover over the lowest section of it.

6. Click on the option called “Stop” (computer will do its work) then close it.

Every computer has different services running on them apart from services services, that is why it is your job to identify the useless ones from the good ones, for example: The services related to Xbox are basically running all the time, putting extra load on your PC, if you turn them off, you do save tons of resources. 

You will find many other services like Xbox, which are only eating away your system. You just have to find services and finally put an end to them.

Using Malwarebytes

This tool can detect hidden spyware and viruses on your computer which can play a major role in disrupting your privacy and damaging your computer, although there are many tools available in the market, my recommendation is to stick with Malwarebytes. Before you can follow along, you need to download malware bytes which you can do by just visiting their official website. After you are done with that you can follow these steps.

1. Open Malwarebytes.

2. Go to the dashboard and select scan.

3. Once it’s done scanning, you can select | unselect the things you want to remove from your PC.

4. After you are done deciding that, hit quarantine.

5. Select Done and close the app.

After Malwarebytes is done scanning your PC, you can see the type of files that are lurking on your PC without your knowledge. Sometimes useful apps also get marked as malware by different antivirus. If that happens you can unselect such files. There are tons of other settings in Malwarebytes as well, you can play around with them to find out what they are if you are interested.

PowerShell Commands For Windows Bloatware Removal

You can also use some PowerShell commands to list out all the applications present inside your computer, this can be very helpful in identifying different bloatware.

I recommend that once I teach you how to generate the list containing all the applications, copy the output and paste it into any AI chatbot. You can use AI to  help you identify the bloatware in them because it is hard to spot them manually. 

1. Click on the Windows search bar and type Powershell.

2. Run powershell as admin.

3. Paste this command in Powershell”Get-AppxPackage | Select Name“.

4. Copy the output and paste it into any AI chatbot of your choice and tell the AI to identify the bloatware and useless apps from the list.

5. Once you know which apps you want to remove run the following command

“Get-AppxPackage “AppName” | Remove-AppxPackage“, don’t forget to replace “AppName” with the actual app you want to remove.

6. If your PC starts acting weird, you can paste the following command in your terminal :

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register”$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

The command that I told you about in the end, reverts your system to how it was before you ran any of the commands. You can always use the system restore point to fix everything on your PC as well, in case something goes wrong. 

Be careful what you are removing from your PC. If you remove some system service or application, only then such problems occur and even if you mess up something (which I am sure you won’t) you can always revert back everything.

Deep Cleaning Your System with BleachBit

Bleachbit is another awesome open-source tool that can help you wipe out all the junk from your PC. I highly recommend running this after you have cleaned out the bulk of bloatware. 

This tool can then further help to scrape out whatever is left of those nasty software.

Before you can follow along, you need to first download this tool which you can do by visiting their official website. After you are done installing it, follow along.

1. Search for Bleachbit in the Windows search bar and open it.

2. There will be tons of sections that you can clean but for now I would recommend only checking Deep Scan, System, and all the sub-sections under them.

3. If you want to clean your browser cookies and Windows Defender logs, then you can also check their corresponding sections.

4. Once you have selected what to clean, just hit clean which is present on the top of the application interface.

It will take some time depending upon how many sections you checked that you wanted to clean. So in the meantime, you can sit back and drink a cup of coffee. After Bleachbit is done cleaning your PC, Restarting your PC, and Congratulations! you finally own your PC instead of a random application or some company owning it.

Make PC Maintenance a Habit, Not a One-Time Fix

Your PC isn’t a one-and-done deal. Treat it like your car. If you skip maintenance, sooner or later, it will clog up, slow down, and start working against you. Bloat creeps into your machine when you’re not paying attention, and before you know it, you’re stuck with a sluggish machine that works slower than a 90-year-old grandma. 

Stay ahead of the mess. Clean it up regularly and keep it running like it’s meant to. Because if you don’t control your system, it’ll start controlling you.

Jokes aside ; ), be careful of what you are downloading from the internet and running on your PC because the modern era is not safe. You never know which file can harm your PC, there are applications out there that use your PC to mine cryptocurrency which not only slows down your PC significantly but also will gradually impact the permanent performance of your hardware. Especially that sweet RTX 4090 of yours. It will get fried with time if such an application gets its hands on it. 

Wrapping It Up

Bloatware isn’t something to be ignored. It’s a parasite, feeding off your system’s resources including CPU, RAM, GPU, and most importantly your data. If left unchecked, bloat would have permanent effects on your computer hardware ruining the software experience for you in the process. Unfortunately, this is how companies like Microsoft work, they need to collect data and sell it to advertisers to justify their Billions of dollars. 

Not only would your performance suffer but your battery life and day-to-day operations would be impacted by bloatware running in the background. You’ve seen what it does, but now you know how to fight it. The key? Don’t wait for your PC to get slow before you start caring. 

At the end of the day, your PC software, especially Windows, needs maintenance just like a car. Constant updates would increase the bloat and it’s up to you to keep a check on it and optimize your experience by cutting the bloat. Because at the end of the day, your system should work for you, not against you. Lastly, stay sharp, stay clean, and most importantly stay in control.

Again, I tried my best to explain to you what you can do to clean up your PC from this mess and keep maintaining it so your experience with Windows gets noticeably better for you.

Everything you see here – and more – is powered by your Support. You can always pitch in by clicking the below.

Further Learning 

1. https://christitus.com/debloat-windows-10-2020/ (for extra advanced bloatware removal)

2. https://youtu.be/NOCbIPiX81c?si=KycZ3oKB3skrEEq9

3. https://youtu.be/mwUBeqHqSas?si=cYXM9ql2Yr6z-kLr

4.https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/mx5tvb/whats_the_best_way_to_remove_all_of_the_windows/