Mass Uninstalling Bloatware on Windows

From here and from here

There is 2 different things are avilable in google upate(r)

Google Updater is installed when you download Google Pack or Google Earth. It may also come pre-installed with other Google software on your computer. The Updater provides an easy interface to help you manage Google Earth and other software available through Google Pack. When Google Updater is running, you'll see the process GoogleUpdater.exe in Task Manager.

Google Update is an open source component of several different Google programs, including Google Chrome and Google Earth. It helps keeps these programs up-to-date. When Google Update is running, you won't see any new windows but may notice the process GoogleUpdate.exe in Task Manager. Google Update is also known as Omaha, which is the name for the open-source project.

Uninstall Google Update

Google Update can't be removed by itself. If you remove Google Update processes from your computer, you may find that your Google programs no long function properly and, in many cases, you may see Google Update return automatically.

To fully uninstall Google Update, uninstall any Google applications you currently have installed. Immediately after uninstalling your other Google programs, Google Update should be uninstalled automatically.

Uninstall Google Updater

If you'd like to uninstall the Google Updater, click the link for one of the methods below:

Uninstall from the Start Menu

1. Go to the Start menu > Programs > Google Updater > Uninstall Google Updater.
2. Restart your computer after you uninstall.

Uninstall from the Control Panel

1. Click the Start menu on your computer taskbar.
2. Select Control Panel.
3. Double-click Add or Remove Programs (on XP) or Programs and Features (on Vista).
4. Select Google Updater in the list of programs.
5. Click Remove.
6. Restart your computer after you uninstall.

Uninstall from the command line (advanced)

1. Click the Start menu on your computer taskbar.
2. Select Run.
3. Enter cmd to open a command prompt.
4. Type cd C:\Program Files\Google\Google Updater to change directories.
5. Type GoogleUpdater.exe -uninstall to uninstall.
6. Restart your computer after you uninstall.

Not all uninstallers are slow. The uninstallers that are particularly slow are the ones that create a system restore point (mainly .msi), which takes a fairly long time. Installers that access the registry a lot are also a bit slower as the database isn't all that great.

Uninstallers that simply unlink files are typically very fast on the other hand.

In Ubuntu, uninstallers don't make system restore points or access a registry for settings. Most settings are contained in flat files which are simply unlinked.

Edit: In case anyone is unfamiliar with the term "unlink", it is what actually happens when you "delete" a file.

A good description is found in the unlink Linux man page:

unlink() deletes a name from the filesystem. If that name was the last link to a file and no processes have the file open the file is deleted and the space it was using is made available for reuse.

This is why recovery programs can find files you deleted a long time ago. If the space that was marked as "available for reuse" hasn't been overwritten, the data can easily be re-obtained.