What is safe to remove?

[Yatsu Kahagi]

Model: Lenovo G40-70
OS: Windows 8.1

I just had my laptop reset to its factory settings. I noticed that there are programs already installed and i don't even know what they do. The problem is, I don't know which ones are safe to remove or to keep. I also plan on upgrading to Windows 10 after i uninstall the unnecessary programs. Here is the list of programs:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/neowin/forum/uploads/monthly_2017_02/Untitled.png.21ef36038f61a75bff0f3584add4b2c3.png

 

[Yatsu Kahagi]

Model: Lenovo G40-70
OS: Windows 8.1

I just had my laptop reset to its factory settings. I noticed that there are programs already installed and i don't even know what they do. The problem is, I don't know which ones are safe to remove or to keep. I also plan on upgrading to Windows 10 after I uninstall the unnecessary programs. Here is the list of programs:

AMD Catalyst Install Manager
Cisco EAP-FAST Module
Cisco LEAP Module
Cisco PEAP Module
Conexant HD Audio
CyberLink MediaStory
CyberLink PowerDirector 10
Dolby Digital Plus Advanced Audio
Energy Manager
Intel Graphics Driver
Intel Management Engine Components
Intel Rapid Storage Technology
Lenovo EasyCamera
Lenovo OneKey Recovery
Lenovo PowerDVD10
Lenovo Solution Center
McAfee WebAdvisor
Power2Go
REALTEK Bluetooth Driver
Realtek Card Reader
Realtek Ethernet Controller Driver
REALTEK Wireless LAN Driver
Synaptics Pointing Device Driver
Windows Driver Package - Lenovo (ACPIVPC) System
Windows Driver Package - Lenovo (WUDFRd) LenovoVhid

I'm not really good with these kind of things. Thank you for any answers or advice.

 

[juanitoriv]

Model: Lenovo G40-70
OS: Windows 8.1

I just had my laptop reset to its factory settings. I noticed that there are programs already installed and i don't even know what they do. The problem is, I don't know which ones are safe to remove or to keep. I also plan on upgrading to Windows 10 after I uninstall the unnecessary programs. Here is the list of programs:

AMD Catalyst Install Manager
Cisco EAP-FAST Module
Cisco LEAP Module
Cisco PEAP Module
Conexant HD Audio
CyberLink MediaStory
CyberLink PowerDirector 10
Dolby Digital Plus Advanced Audio
Energy Manager
Intel Graphics Driver
Intel Management Engine Components
Intel Rapid Storage Technology
Lenovo EasyCamera
Lenovo OneKey Recovery
Lenovo PowerDVD10
Lenovo Solution Center
McAfee WebAdvisor
Power2Go
REALTEK Bluetooth Driver
Realtek Card Reader
Realtek Ethernet Controller Driver
REALTEK Wireless LAN Driver
Synaptics Pointing Device Driver
Windows Driver Package - Lenovo (ACPIVPC) System
Windows Driver Package - Lenovo (WUDFRd) LenovoVhid

I'm not really good with these kind of things. Thank you for any answers or advice.

You're going to want that stuff. They're things you're going to need. Don't uninstall anything.

 

[Ryujingt3]

I would remove the following:

CyberLink MediaStory
CyberLink PowerDirector 10
Energy Manager
Lenovo EasyCamera
Lenovo OneKey Recovery
Lenovo PowerDVD10
Lenovo Solution Center
McAfee WebAdvisor
Power2Go

 

[TechFreak1]

Here you go,

The items highlighted in yellow are safe to remove.

The startmenu application is most likely to give you the traditional start menu however without looking at your current start menu I cannot say for certain.

The energy manager application is lenovo's power management tool and as has other features it seems from a quick search.

The items in odd shaped brackets are your graphics drivers they can been removed if you are either having graphical issues or are updating the drivers manually.

The microsoft office application is to start the installer / trial unless your laptop comes included with a office key.

The other items are drivers and system applications required by some programs to run the most common one that installs Visual C+ redistributables is steam when launching games. Visual C+ redistributable can be uninstalled but they may cause issues down the line.




The windows 10 upgrade assistant, I would recommend you keep that installed incase you want to upgrade to windows 10 later. Mainstream suport ends in 2018 but you will still get updates until 2023 (extended support) however that may change.




https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/search?alpha=Windows%208.1

 

[Yatsu Kahagi]

I would remove the following:

CyberLink MediaStory
CyberLink PowerDirector 10
Energy Manager
Lenovo EasyCamera
Lenovo OneKey Recovery
Lenovo PowerDVD10
Lenovo Solution Center
McAfee WebAdvisor
Power2Go

Could you tell me why I can uninstall them so that I could have a better understanding of their uses? Thank you for answering.

 

[Yatsu Kahagi]

Here you go,

The items highlighted in yellow are safe to remove.

The startmenu application is most likely to give you the traditional start menu however without looking at your current start menu I cannot say for certain.

The energy manager application is lenovo's power management tool and as has other features it seems from a quick search.

The items in odd shaped brackets are your graphics drivers they can been removed if you are either having graphical issues or are updating the drivers manually.

The microsoft office application is to start the installer / trial unless your laptop comes included with a office key.

The other items are drivers and system applications required by some programs to run the most common one that installs Visual C+ redistributables is steam when launching games. Visual C+ redistributable can be uninstalled but they may cause issues down the line.

View attachment 134165


The windows 10 upgrade assistant, I would recommend you keep that installed incase you want to upgrade to windows 10 later. Mainstream suport ends in 2018 but you will still get updates until 2023 (extended support) however that may change.


View attachment 134166

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/search?alpha=Windows%208.1

Thank you for answering. I'll take note of what you have said.

 

[TechFreak1]

[INFO]Your two threads have been merged, please do not double post.[/INFO]

 

[Yatsu Kahagi]

[INFO]Your two threads have been merged, please do not double post.[/INFO]

Sorry about that.

I've encountered something when I tried uninstalling Lenovo EasyCamera:

>SetupNew\setup.cpp (135)
PAPP:
PVENDOR:
PGUID:
$14.0.0.162
@windows Vista Service Pack 0 (9200) Non IE/Netscape 19.0

The other programs have been uninstalled without any problems. I tried the clean boot method and it still appears. I tried researching about this and all I read is that it mostly happens when a program installed incorrectly, but I was UNINSTALLING not INSTALLING. What should I do?

 

[TechFreak1]

Sorry about that.

I've encountered something when I tried uninstalling Lenovo EasyCamera:

>SetupNew\setup.cpp (135)
PAPP:
PVENDOR:
PGUID:
$14.0.0.162
@windows Vista Service Pack 0 (9200) Non IE/Netscape 19.0

The other programs have been uninstalled without any problems. I tried the clean boot method and it still appears. I tried researching about this and all I read is that it mostly happens when a program installed incorrectly, but I was UNINSTALLING not INSTALLING. What should I do?

There is a utility that cleans up failed installs, it's called "Windows Installer CleanUp Utility 7.2", however it sometimes does further damage by forcibly removing some system files when such removal is unnecessary.

Such is the complicated process of Win32 applications (advantage store apps :grin

Due to that nature I'm not going to directly link it, you can download / install it from MajorGeeks however be warned you do so at your own risk :winktongue:.

 

[Yatsu Kahagi]

Thank you for telling me that, but since the problem comes from failed installs, does that mean I can also solve it by downloading it and uninstalling it again? I don't want to risk using that cleanup tool.

 

[TechFreak1]

Thank you for telling me that, but since the problem comes from failed installs, does that mean I can also solve it by downloading it and uninstalling it again? I don't want to risk using that cleanup tool.

That should work as the installer should force remove remnants from the previous install.

Alternative you can try the repair option as some installers give you the option to repair a maligned / faulty installs.

 

[Yatsu Kahagi]

That should work as the installer should force remove remnants from the previous install.

Alternative you can try the repair option as some installers give you the option to repair a maligned / faulty installs.

So I managed to upgrade my system to Windows 10 and I noticed a program called AMD Settings and Camera Man. It is weird because there is already an app called camera. What is it and can I remove both the AMD Settings and Camera Man?

 

[TechFreak1]

So I managed to upgrade my system to Windows 10 and I noticed a program called AMD Settings and Camera Man. It is weird because there is already an app called camera. What is it and can I remove both the AMD Settings and Camera Man?

When you say system do you mean PC or laptop?

I presumed you were using a laptop, if you are then AMD settings is related to your dedicated gpu.

Camera man, it may be related to your web cam however it can be uninstalled.