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Crapware Compendium

By far the most irritating junk is adware--eBay ads, online games, music services, and anything else that sends you to a Web site where you may purchase stuff or sign up for a service. (Read about the financial underpinnings of PC junk in "The Junk Software Economy".)

Then there's trialware, or preloaded software that functions only for a set period, generally 30 to 90 days. McAfee Antivirus, Microsoft Office 2007, and Norton Internet Security are among the more common trialware titles. Trialware can tide you over until you set up the products you intend to use, but it can also become very annoying, especially if it keeps nagging you to convert to a paid version each time you log on.

Logoware such as Google Desktop and Picasa may be free and fully functional, but it's still designed to push advertising at you, or at least raise brand awareness.

Some computer vendors throw in their own utilities and software, typically to address perceived deficiencies in Windows or to attempt to intervene before you call tech support. Dell's Customization Wizard (which basically walks you through the setup procedure for certain Windows features and third-party applications) and Acer's toolbar may be useful to some folks, but annoying to others.

Hidden Gunk

Not all non-Windows gunk is visible. Background services and startup apps lengthen boot times and steal CPU cycles while you're working; consider disabling those you don't use.

One particularly sneaky form of subsurface junk is what you might call help-the-hog-over-the-fence-ware. Applications such as Adobe Reader, iTunes, and QuickTime Player are so bloated that they preload portions of themselves when Windows first starts so they won't seem so sluggish when you actually run them. But this action wastes precious time when you don't use these applications.