Can I delete this software

Hi,

in a word, Yes, you can uninstall those programs, they are not necessary in order to run windows.

however, some have some very useful functions that you may want, personally I would rethink the uninstalling of Armoury crate. I will come back to that

Before you uninstall lets give you some info you might not want :)

AI noise cancelling audio software, adds a software layer to the microphone and speaker which can be useful in meetings or voice conversations as it cuts out any background noise. not any use for streaming movies as it will cut out the background noise of that as well.

Asus Framework service, is used in the smooth running of the Asus software that you are considering uninstalling, if you leave any of the others leave this as well.

Asus Hot plug controller - I am unsure of the use of this one, it may be to control the power given to peripherals or to switching from battery to mains power, there seems to be little information about it.

Asus Monitor control - provides a software interface for controlling the setup of the monitor. A display widget so you can alter things like brightness or contrast with just a few clicks.

Asus Smart Display Control, is a battery saving measure - it reduces the refresh rate of the monitor when running in Battery mode.

The Aura lighting entries relate to the fancy LED lights and the way they enhance what you are doing, colour or colour pattern of the backlit keyboard, or case lights etc. - if you want to see the LED colour patterns keep all Aura.

All of this software takes very little resources and some (smart display) help to extend use on battery power.

Rather than uninstall them, I would suggest first to sop them running on boot, that way you can either start them yourself or undo the change very easily.

right click on Start and select Task manager

Select Startup Apps

right click on the program and select disable.

if you also want to stop some Asus services starting at boot.

click Start, type services

right click on the Asus service and select properties

change the Startup type to Manual and click apply

if anything does not work the way you expect you can easily go back in and undo the changes.

Now Armory crate - one of the main things Armory crate does is to provide an easy way to get driver updates (and updates to the installed Asus software).

The equipment Manufacturer is the best place to get up to date drivers.

if you do keep any of the other software Like Aura, Armoury crate also offers and interface for controlling it.

Armoury crate also offers an interface for controlling fan speed (noise versus Temperature).

Again, it uses very little resources, but may not need running all the time and can be turned off in startup apps and run manually occasionally to check for driver updates or to make tweaks to the setup.

Personally, I would put Armory crate back on and prevent the unwanted software from starting on boot rather than uninstall.

if you do uninstall, I suggest leaving Asus Framework service and Asus Hot plug controller (unless somebody else can tell us what it does)

With a new computer, you may see the HDD light come on quite a bit as it gets updates, and organises data storage.

Have a look at task manager, click on the header of the disk column to see what is using the HDD at the time.

You may find that it reduces over time when Windows has got itself organised properly.

Thanks, you are very welcome, but unfortunately, there is an enormous amount I don't know :)
There are others here that know a lot more, some real experts.

I am too old for pretty flashing lights too

once you have reinstalled Armory crate
open it and go to Aura Sync then select the Aura Effects tab
There you can set which lighting effect you want (on all Aura synced devices)
set it to dark to turn it off or choose a colour.

if I can offer another bit of advice, as the computer is new.
while you are in Armoury crate click on the gear icon in the bottom left, then go to update center
check for updates, This will show any driver updates that may have been released while the device was being shipped, from manufacture. I suggest installing any driver updates and as everything else is small and doesn't use much, get any you are not sure about most importantly these are from the device manufacturer and are safe.