[TomServo]

Well, if your security settings are unmodified from when you bought it, this stuff will get installed left and right without any notification to the user.

Which is why I have my family call me when they get a new machine. I do the setup.

And he is definitely not the type to say 'yes' to something

Which is my problem. They think they can go anywhere, accept anything and all is OK. I guess they think they can drive a car down the road with their hands off the wheel and their head poked out the window..

By the way, disturbingly enough - one of those programs was installed by Dell at the factory, no joke.

There's no excuse for that. I would've been on the phone in a heartbeat.

[thoughtomator]

Yeah I guess being proactive and volunteering to do computer setup for friends and family reduces one's workload in the long run. I'm such a procrastinator, I get to deal with the machines AFTER they've already become a crisis. Bah!