3 responses to “Best Buy “optimization” debunked”

1. 

   pam January 5th, 2010 at 11:11

   Hate to sound paranoid but what else could they be putting on there other than the “optimization” software?

   Tried to view my site to see how it adjusts for large screen monitors only to find that Best Buy has a list of sites that are blocked from internet viewing. Mine was blocked??

2. 

   rc primak January 6th, 2010 at 02:41

   I would add (if it isn’t mentioned in the article) that RevoUninstaller now has a Pro version ($40.00 USD) which can remove much more leftovers from bad installs, OEM crapware and bloatware, and works on 64-bit software removals. It also claims to be able to perform some 64-bit system cleanup. Too bad they couldn’t keep this one free, but their free version is still good for 32-bit Windows Vista and Windows 7.

   CCleaner does a fine job of managing System Restore Points, as well as Startups, all in one package with the Cleaner and Registry Cleaner. But I don’t know if this gem will work on Flash Cookies, Silverlight Cookies, or 64-bit areas of the System and the Registry. Perhaps someone else has the answers to these questions.

   Best Buy also has other pricey add-ons and gotchas. One is their “free antivirus” offer on all new computers. You get bitten when the automatic renewals come due — not from the AV vendors, but charged directly from Best Buy! Read their web site for details.

   For the Windows Firewall, there are third-party interfaces which can be downloaded for free to make the outbound firewall more manageable.

3. 

   Joshua January 6th, 2010 at 04:45

   Hey Woody,
   great eye opening article. As I was reading it
   one thing caught my attention was a close look
   at the form Best Buy uses for the optimize
   service. In my opinion, it seems to have to
   much personal info on it which says to me they
   may be using that info for their ( or selling/sharing) marketing purposes to go along
   with the optimize service con. Hmmmmmmm !!!