Uninstalling programs
One of the problems that gives new computer users grief is that of uninstalling software. Microsoft has never had a clear-cut policy or procedure for doing this. It is a pity since it would have been technically easy to implement this in Windows from the very start so that by now all programs would uninstall to a common protocol.
Appreciate that when you install software under Windows, various things can happen.
A complicated piece of software such as a communications package will require many of the resources of Windows. It will thus indicate what resources it requires by insert items in various lists that Windows keeps for this purpose (such as one called The Registry). Another thing that an installation program might do is to put some of its files in one of the Windows sub-folders.
It follows then that simply deleting a folder with the program you want to remove may be wrong. With some programs this will work. With others you will be leaving rubbish in other folders in the machine. At worst if some of the Registry entries are automatically initiated, say, at switch-on, then you will get a change of performance or crashes or the machine may refuse to run-up altogether!
So how do you remove programs? It depends on the program. I would suggest you follow the following guidelines in the order given.
1 Look in the START - PROGRAMS folder for the software you want to remove. If there is an uninstall option there, use that.
2 Go to START - SETTINGS - CONTROL PANEL - ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS. If the program you wish to remove appears on the list, click on it and then on the REMOVE box towards the bottom right. This should make the operation automatic.
3 If the program does not appear on the list, using WINDOWS EXPLORER open the folder with the program. Click on the heading 'Type' which is one of the headings of the right-hand panel. This will sort the list by type and you will have all the applications together. See if there is an application by the name of UNINSTAL or UNWISE and use that to delete the program.
4 If none of the above work it is probably safe to delete the required folder and its contents. Use WINDOWS EXPLORER to find and delete the program folder. Do not forget to delete any short-cuts to the program from your desktop and START - PROGRAMS menu.
Some progams will uninstall cleanly and then promptly advice you that they could not do this completely. The reason is usually that the program folder has some files of data or settings which it won't delete in case you want to keep these for future use. For example a game might keep a record of your settings and scores.
Just use Windows Explorer to find the relevant folders and delete such items by hand if they will never be required. That is, you have no intention of re-installing that program again.
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Page modified on 19th July 2006 - minor corrections