I bought my kids a couple of HP laptops back in the day. First step was always a reformat. But back then I had an MSDN account and the wherewithal to set the ma

I bought my kids a couple of HP laptops back in the day. First step was always a reformat. But back then I had an MSDN account and the wherewithal to set the machines up the way I wanted, which many people do not. For myself I have not bought an OEM system for many years. I always build my own and if I need windows I buy an OEM disk. There's not much money in computers anymore so the manufacturers try to monetize them essentially the way news sites try to monetize stories.