I'd like to buy a decent laptop to use mainly for audio recording and editing applications. It would never need to be connected to the internet or be slowed down by security software. After removing all the pre-installed bloatware, I'd be left with a perfectly clean, lean, mean computer. Wouldn't I? Keith Hinchliffe
Yes. The main points of attack today are websites, filesharing networks, email and instant messaging, so if you don't connect to the net, your risks are low. There is still some potential risk from malware on CDs, floppy disks and USB drives, especially if these have any pirate software. However, if in doubt, you could always use your desktop PC to scan these.
The one thing you could run is a Hips or Host-based intrusion prevention system such as Cyberhawk or PrevX. Tech Support Alert has a good roundup.
As well as removing bloatware, you should use SysInternals' Autoruns to stop unnecessary programs from loading. Less technical readers can try William Yang's Startup Inspector for Windows instead.
