We got DD a new laptop computer. For her stenography courses, she needs to run specialized software only available for a Windows machine, so... we had to go buy a Windows laptop. In spite of being an old Apple guy, I have had to deal with Windows machines before, including using them for specialized development software. Heck, I even wrote some device drivers for them.
It all came right back. ALL of it. Right out of the box, the Infernal Contraption was slug-like, and couldn't even make a recovery disk without falling over itself (Error 0xC01200FF indeed! Good grief.) It seems the vendor had generously included several heaping shovelfuls of exciting trial software and adware. With at least three apps fighting over that blank CD, the Windows Recovery Disk tool never stood a chance.
Now, the Nice Man at the Microsoft Store will decrapify the machine for only $99, by wiping the disk and installing just the Microsoft stock release. Or, I could buy a new copy of Windows 8 Home Personal for Non-Phone Devices (x86-64) for a bit less and Do It Myself. These alternatives both bugged me, as they involved, well, buying more to make less stuff be on the machine. I did manage to dump an image of the machine to an external drive, so between that and the 'Recovery Partition' in the computer I figured I could get things back if I messed up. Off to the internets...
I found the appropriate tool for the job, an app called "PC Decrapifyer" (No, really!) I used it to lay waste to all the adware, trialware, snoopware, and other junk on the machine. Rebooted, and ran a "cleaner" to make sure all the junk was gone. (The tool I used is fairly dangerous and requires care in installation and use. It's deleted from the machine when done.)
I got the silly thing down to a 30 second boot time and 5 second login time, and it no longer shows constant network activity when I type or use the mouse. (Yeah. Really... Factory fresh keyloggers?) It's all backed up with recovery disks. The desktop is empty except for shortcuts to LibreOffice and VNC Media Viewer. DD is happy.
So, how is your retirement going? ...