You certainly wouldn't be the first person to get a refurb with an improperly prepared drive.  I'm sure it isn't a widespread problem, but some of them sneak through with remnants of previous owners on them.  If you have any doubt as to whether the drive/OS was formatted and clean installed before you got it, I'd suggest a thorough scan for virus activity and malware right away - a personally supervised format and clean installation would be safer.

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coreth5 wrote:

I just got a computer as a warranty replacement and it came refurbished. However when I was uninstalling the useless programs (read McAfee), I noticed several odd programs, including something called otto, a game called gemquest mystic I couldn't find anywhere, and one or two others. I was wondering if I should go ahead and run a system restore before I get involved in getting it set up just right? Thanks for any advice

Coreth5

 

Yes, I'd do a Dell PC Restore, CTRL F11.

If you got the OS discs with the system, then wipe the drive and do a clean install.  That way, you create your own partitions and install exactly what you want.  Mcaffee A/V is good but I dont care for their firewall product.