You can use the program to add, edit or remove OEM information. Please note that the program requires the Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 to be installed on the system.

When you first start the program you are presented with a selection menu on the left. Here you can click on OEM Info to display and edit OEM information, or on Extra Options to change other related information.

OEM Information are only displayed if you have purchased the PC from a manufacturer.

You can edit the following values:

• Manufacturer
• Model
• Support Hours
• Support Website
• Support Phone
• OEM Logo

A Preview button is available to preview the new information in the Control Panel. This button did not work properly during tests though. This could have been

The saving does however work, and you will notice that the new entries have been added to the control panel once you hit the save information button in the interface.

The extra options menu lists additional values that can be edited or removed. The following information can be customized:

• Owner
• Organization
• Computer Name
• Processor Name
• Computer Description
• Product ID

The information are also displayed on the System control panel page. Keep in mind that they only show up initially there if they have been filled out by the manufacturer of the page. Just click the save button once you are done editing. You can also restore the default product ID on the page.

Windows users who would like to give it a try can download the program from Deviant art. It is compatible with all recent versions of the Windows operating system.

Some users remove those programs manually from the operating system, others use specialized software like PC Decrapifier which uninstalls the most common programs automatically.

Winstallinator offers a third option. The new program is currently available as a beta and works the following way. The application creates a backup of OEM specific files (OEM Key and Certificate Files) on another storage device, with the option to restore those settings at a later stage. The program will furthermore copy itself to the same location, so that it can be opened from there to start the restoration process.

The user then needs to install Windows 7. The installation can be done from a Recovery disc, OEM disc, Windows 7 disc or downloaded trial version of Windows 7. Download links to trial versions of Windows 7 editions are linked in the application. It should be obvious that the same edition needs to be installed, so that it can be activated after installation.

The operating system needs to be installed without product key. All it takes after the installation is to restore the OEM information to activate the system. The result is a clean installed version of Windows 7 on the computer, without all the programs and trial versions that the manufacturer has added to the original version.

-Backup and Restore of OEM Activations (certificate files and the OEM key), removing the need to call microsoft when activating a clean install with the key on the underside of notebooks/back of desktops (functional, tested)
-Creation of List of Installed Applications (does NOT backup the apps themselves)
-Links for Legal Windows 7 Downloads

Driver Links/Search (Button currently exists, but does not do anything)
Firefox Profile Backup/Restore (Button currently exists, but does not do anything)

The developer plans to integrated additional features to the program, including an option to backup drivers as well. This could be a very interesting feature, as it may mean that users do not have to find drivers on the Internet for some of their devices.

Winstallinator is available for 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows 7 operating system. The program requires no installation, but needs to be executed with elevated privileges.

The application in its current stage offers a time consuming, but very thorough way, of turning an OEM installation into a clean system. Many users will probably still opt to uninstall the OEM programs and features manually, as it is a less time consuming process.

Update: Winstallinator is no longer available.

However, my new laptop has Vista, of which I downloaded a copy, installed it, and found that my key doesn’t work. While the label on my old laptop just says Windows XP, this one says Windows Vista Home Premium OEMact, so I guess this is the problem. The first question here is, does any of you know how to legally get a working version of Vista which is not full of unneeded things?

The second questions is, do you guys use the OS installs provided by the laptop maker? I find that there is a lot of ‘everythingware” in these systems from tiny vendor specific utilities, to large pre-installed vendor stuff, trial apps like virus scanners, Office products, and just boatloads of stuff I will never-ever need. For basic users, or for people who just don’t care this may be ok, what do you think, do you use your pre-installed OS?