On 12-20-2013, 20:16, The Daring Dufas wrote:
Check to see if the recovery partition is on the hard disk. You need to
see if there is a key combination to press which will put the computer
in recovery mode that works off the hard disk that's in the computer, no
CD needed. That's how I straightened out the laptops I bought. You can
remove factory loaded bloatware a lot easier than you think. Check
out Decrap, a free software to get factory installed bloatware off a new
laptop. ^_^

I got a Windows 8 laptop cheap (display model). When I got it home, I
discovered that they had failed to remove the anti-theft device AND the
demo software.

The device took fifteen minutes to remove and left some kind of chemical
on the plastic shell. Looks normal when dry but when damp has a very
visible square on it.

The demo software only took a couple of minutes to "remove" by
reinstalling the factory default disk image stored somewhere
in the machine (not online). However, it took me at least
ten minutes to figure out how to find that option in the BIOS.

Windows 8 out-of-the-box is usable. I don't like it, but it is usable.

However, I bought this thing for someone who is visually impaired.
But when I turned on any of the accessibility features, the system was
no longer usable. The display was so trashed that I could not turn them
off. Had to use my new found BIOS trick to reinstall everything.

--
Wes Groleau

€œTo know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying
Amen to what the world tells you you should prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.€�
€” Robert Louis Stevenson