A recent report from Duo Security shows that pre-assembled, ready-to-run computers purchased from major vendors almost always include pre-installed software that often makes those computers much less secure. That’s in addition to being unnecessary, unstable, resource-hungry, and often serving primarily as advertising conduits.

If you purchase a pre-assembled computer, you should uninstall all unnecessary software as soon as possible after powering it up. Before even connecting it to a network. It can be difficult to identify exactly which software should be removed, but a good starting point is to remove anything that shows the manufacturer’s name as the Publisher. PC World has a helpful guide.

And now the good news, at least for some of us: Microsoft now provides a tool that allows a user with a valid license to reinstall Windows 10 from scratch at any time. Minus all the crapware that the manufacturer originally installed.