New laptop, got all kinds of junk on it. What’s the best/easiest way to get it all off and start fresh? It’s Windows 8.1 so I’m not familiar with it having had 7 on my old machine. Is it still a case of re-installing? Also, any way of getting rid of that weird tiles thing and making it look like XP or 7?

Cheers

add/remove programs in control centre (assuming that still exists on windows 8).

it’s called “programs & features” but still the same thing

(control panel, btw)

(There’s a thing called Revo Uninstaller that is supposely a bit better than windows at removing shit, so if windows is struggling, have a look & see if there’s a W8 version of that)

Thanks. Just wondering whether there was a more comprehensive option. I don’t want to uninstall any drivers etc by mistake. It’s also got McAfee antivirus on it which is already bugging me to death. Any better alternatives before I get rid? MSE on W7 was fine.

ESET for antivirus & security…it just works, without being being obtrusive & using up hideous amounts of RAM. You can uninstall crap, but it always leaves a trace, so for a brand new machine I’d opt to do a fresh install (provided you have a clean set up disc – minus all the bloatware). If you have a partition with a backup, it will re-install all the crap too.