Lenovo Caught Installing Immortal Crapware

When I had my computer store I sold a ton of IBM ThinkPad laptops. Built like tanks and very reliable. Killer to work on cuz they were so solidly built. Then Lenovo bought the lappy stuff from IBM and for a while they kept up with IBM's standards. Then they started to slip with more bloat-ware and and less than stellar hardware. Buffer-overflow ... I haven't seen that since my first Z80 comp running CP/M.

I've got my G550 in 2009, Win7, still the IBM quality, and love it. I am glad I was not thinking of buying a 'modern' one!

I bought a Lenovo all in one about a year ago, had it a month and nothing but trouble with it all the time. It was a mess and software that kept crashing etc. I sent it back to new egg and told them to dump Lenovo, they are junk, being a computer technician retired, I know just when I see it, beautiful looking machine, but they just did not work right, so back it went and I will not buy another Lenovo anything and even today they still are junk...

"Can you imagine what will happen if someone can flash the BIOS remotely?"

Now there's a question! (I recall the time when it was thought that remotely accessing a machine's camera was impossible—and look what happened.)

It that even theoretically possible?

1. Boycott Lenovo.
2. If you do, simply re-flash the firmware.
3. Erm, perhaps just run Linux...?

Very informative article and interesting. It seems more and more suppliers are embedding adware and unwanted junk in items you want and make it difficult to get rid of it. Sad we have come to this.

Yes it seems Leveno cant help themselves, but you cant trust any of them now, I have worked in the computer industry for 40 yrs retired now, I have seen apple and Microsoft develop from basic computing starting 8088 processor, through to windows 3.0 to 6.0, 98 XP, home and 7, 8 etc. Thinking back now I recall how a fresh computer installed with application software, word processor, etc would work quickly and without issues, however various upgrades and patches offered by Microsoft would be installed with the inevitable slowdown of the system bit by bit until the owner says enough and upgrades to a more powerful new computer with the promise of faster operations , them the process starts all over again on and on. That's their marketing technique.
Ask yourself what do you really need in computer.
You certainly don't need all the crap-ware, spy routines embedded in the processor chip, (even in the late 90's Microsoft could interrogate the unique serial numbers of the processor chip identifying the owner) unnecessary routines and loops to slow down your system

I have been usingThinkPad laptops for many years. I had a T30 when it was still IBM, then bought a T43 in 2006 which lasted me until this year when I bought a new W541 which I am very happy with. I LOVE Lenovo laptops. My new machine is great and super fast. I have only good things to say about ThinkPad laptops, and not very concerned about security issues.

I have to wonder if it even checks a hash of the file or compares file size at boot, if not you could just make a copy of notepad.exe or something to that extent and rename it to the LSE filename.
Yeah, notepad would open every time you start your pc, but whatevzies.

Same reason US govt/US military won't buy them (and I hope still holds true): untrustworthy and secret files in firmware/ motherboard.

Was Hillary's server a Leno?

This is a computer company issue but make no mistake...this is a national security issue. The Chinese have tried to undermine the USA with contaminated foods, hacking, spies, stealing commercial and military data, selling fake products and pirating almost 100% of American software. I won't but their crap:)

The fact that Lenovo has committed TWO of the most serious infractions is completely inexcusable. I hope some government agency levies a hefty fine against them and/or a class action lawsuit is waged to send a clear message that such activity will never be tolerated! Sarcastically speaking, I'm sure that the FBI, CIA and NSA have known about Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) for some time and are in love with the feature.

Bob,
Thank you for your information on Lenovo.
I will never buy a Lenovo product and I will tell everyone I know not to buy Lenovo products because of their lack of integrity and respect for the rights of consumers.
By the way, "sloppiness" is no excuse for egregious and malicious issues. These tech experts know exactly what they are doing. We consumers at not stupid.
Keep sending us your excellent information !!!

Hey, if our NSA can do it, I guess the Chinese can, too!

Turnabout is fair play. And I'm sure the Chinese Government loves having an easier way into our computers.

While Lenovo has undertaken very questionable business ethics, it should be kept in mind constantly, ANY information about your computer is marketable. From just what make and model you bought to person specific info there are a lot of operations out there, some very legitimate, that will buy it and make a profit from it. I reiterate, ANY information.

What do I mean by any? Your credit card info, of course. Your address and phone number, of course. Web browsing statistics and interests, natch. How about, time spent on line? The make of your car? The number of users on your computer? Your childrens names? Tylenol or Paracetomol? Have an allergy to a food? Own a house or rent it?

Marketing analysis and profiling can make millionaires overnight, simply by finding the data companies want in the form they prefer. Billions of what seem like irrelevant bits of information are gleaned every day and their best possible source, your computer. Either through invasive software, negligence on your part, or simply being complacent.

Know your computer. Lock it down. Keep it up to date. Never fully trust any software company. And especially, NEVER EVER hand your computer over to some company for repair without locking down every possible thing you can.

Just a short note. Do not buy a Lenovo. That is the only thing that will teach them to pursue other business opportunities. OUT OF BUSINESS usually get the attention of the shareholders if there are any besides the Chinese Gov't.

I was just looking at a Lenovo yesterday and was seriously considering buying it. Your article takes care of that. Thanks.

Has anybody considered the fact that Lenovo, being a Chinese company, may have this aggressive "crapware" installed on its machines by order of the Chinese government?

When IBM sold Lenovo to the Middle Kingdom, I made a mental note to myself then.
Following the 2 instances of extremely dubious practices now exposed, I suppose I can now reasonably conclude that I was certainly not paranoid. Why am I not surprised?

@ SkeeterVT

I'd just about bet my own money that this is all at the behest of the 'Butchers of Beijing'.