When I first bought my ASUS G53SW-XA1 I did what anyone with a G series notebook should do. Clean install of Windows. Most ASUS applications are simply bloatware give or take a few.

Then the power adapter plug pin came out. Twice. (Common problem)

So I sent it in to ASUS to repair, and when it came back this time it had all of the ASUS software on there (The useless ones, like LiveUpdate.) Annoying, but nothing major. Just reinstall.

What also came along with this software was a Google Redirect Virus that I did NOT have when I sent out my laptop. No matter what software I use, it will remove the virus, and it'll be fine for a while, but it eventually comes back. It's possible to remove from your system, but it's a bear.

I'm just going to do another clean reformat. But I just wanted to give a heads up that if anyone sends their computer in for repairs (even if it's just a hardware fix) they will boot up your computer, install bloatware, and potentially viruses.

Why they went into my computer at all I have no idea. But I will be writing to corporate.