First, laptops (and other computers) now come with a buttload of crapware pre-installed, because that's where the manufacturers are making their margins now. A

First, laptops (and other computers) now come with a buttload of crapware pre-installed, because that's where the manufacturers are making their margins now. A good "optimization" for new computers is not at all a bad thing: remove the b.s. pre-installed software, create the recovery disks, make sure all updates are pre-installed. We do this, too. Second, if you really don't trust a place enough to do this for you without doing something sneaky, then you really shouldn't be shopping there. It's not hard for them to open it up and re-shrink it, after all. Third, if you're super paranoid about this kind of thing, order direct from the manufacturer. Dell, especially, is really good at this. This is a tempest in a teapot. And, I don't even like Best Buy / Geek Squad, so have no ulterior motive defending them.