Getting Rid of Software on Your Laptop
For the software that you
install and use, Windows kindly gives you the Program Files
folder.
You probably don't visit the Program Files folder often. But
if you do need to go there, follow these steps:
1. Open the My Computer icon.
2. Open the hard drive C icon.
At this point, you may see a screen telling you to go away
and leave the contents of your computer alone. You can
choose to ignore this warning.
3. Open the Program Files folder.
You may get another warning here. That's kind of the idea:
You really don't want to do anything in the Program Files
folder other than peek around.
Instead of manually adjusting your software directly in the
Program Files folder, you can use a special icon in the
Control Panel. You go to the Control Panel to remove the
software on your computer.
The only time you really need to use the Add or Remove
Programs icon in the Control Panel is when you want to
uninstall a program. Using the icon is the official and best
way to uninstall software that you no longer need, want, or
that you now detest.
Here's how you remove an unwanted program from your laptop's
hard drive:
1. Open the Control Panel Add or Remove Programs icon.
A list of installed programs appears.
2. Locate the program that you want to remove in the list.
3. Click on the program.
You see some bonus information displayed, including the
amount of space that the program occupies and how often you
use the program.
4. Click the Change/Remove button to remove that program.
At this point, Windows turns control over to the uninstall
program that came with whatever program you're trying to
uninstall. You're prompted to go forward.
5. Confirm that you want to remove the program.
Or you may be presented with the illusive Change option. But
if you elect to go forward, Windows does remove the program.
Removing a program erases its files from the laptop's hard
drive. The uninstall program also resets certain options
deep inside Windows, trying to change things back to how
they were before you first installed the program.
You can't always successfully uninstall a program. Sometimes
pieces of the program, or its files, may remain behind.
Removing a program doesn't remove its associated data files.
For example, removing a graphics program doesn't delete all
the graphics images that you created with that program.
After all, you created and own those files, and only you can
remove them. You can remove the files (if you want to) in
the My Documents folder, or wherever you have the
application's data files stored. Even so, you may not want
to delete these files because other programs may be able to
use the data.
Keep these tips in mind when you're removing programs from
your laptop:
- Remove programs that you don't use - removing programs
frees up space on your hard drive.
- Don't try to uninstall a program by just manually deleting
a program's icon, folder, or related files. Always use the
Add or Remove Programs icon to uninstall programs.
- Occasionally, you can find an Uninstall command on the All
Programs menu (from the Start thing). Such a command sits in
the same menu as the program itself. Very handy.
- When the Add or Remove Programs icon fails to remove a
program, don't fret. You can manually try to delete the
program, but you probably can't fully remove everything and
may damage other programs in the process. Today's hard
drives are big and roomy, so just let the unwanted program
be.
- You can use the Add/Remove Windows Components item (on the
left side of the Add or Remove Programs window) to add or
remove parts of Windows.
By Laptops for Dummies
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