PC Decrapifier

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on August 23, 2011

PC Decrapifier is a compact application designed to remove unneeded programs from brand-new and used PCs. It's portable freeware that can run on any Windows XP, Vista, or 7 machine without having to be installed. It scans your PC for junk programs and other applications and removes them all at once when you're ready.

PC Decrapifier's simple wizard-based interface opened as soon as we clicked the program's executable file. After checking for updates, we clicked through the EULA and a warning page that noted the difficulty in distinguishing between trial and paid versions of software and urged us to deselect any programs listed if we wanted to save them. However, none of our programs was listed, probably due to the fact that we'd already cleaned out the "crap" PC Decrapifier targets. We clicked Next, and PC Decrapifier asked us if we were running the software on a brand-new PC. We selected No and clicked through to the next screen, which creates a Restore Point. We recommend not skipping this stage, which creates a backup that Windows can use to roll back changes if they cause problems. We clicked Next and received a Select Items screen, which asked us to select items for removal. However, no items were displayed; again, probably because we already lacked the apps it targets. Clicking Next displayed a list of all our installed programs with the option to select any or all for removal. We made our selections and clicked Next, which initiated the removal process, including warning messages and other options specific to the programs being removed. We could then enter comments and submit feedback or deselect the check box to keep our data private. Clicking Finish closed PC Decrapifier.

Most new PCs ship with bundled applications, many of which are trial versions. These programs take up a lot of space and often check for updates automatically, compromising performance and even security. PC Decrapifier seems best used to remove this unneeded software when you first use your new PC. Since it's free, though, you can run it on any PC to see if it has any junk programs and remove them en masse.