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QuickTips: How to Safely Remove Programs from Cluttering Up Your Computer

by Matt J. Whetham, September 2009

One of the most important factors in controlling the performance of your computer is limiting the number of programs you install.  As more programs are installed, more processes are required to run at startup, more registry entries are added, and more disk space used.  All of these factors affect your computer’s performance negatively, causing you to wait longer for programs to open, files to copy, etcetera.

So how do you properly remove programs from your computer?  Note the keyword properly, as there are many improper ways to remove software from your computer.   Here is the answer:

Windows XP
Go to the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel

1. Click Start > Control Panel
   • Start > Settings > Control Panel (Classic Start Menu)
2. Click Add or Remove Programs

Now you are brought to the Add or Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.  At this point you can scroll through the list of programs that are installed on your computer.  If you see some that you no longer use, or possibly ones that you didn’t even know were there, you can select it, and click the “Remove” button on the right hand side.

One of the benefits of the Windows XP Add or Remove Programs section is that it shows you the date that you last used this program on.  This can be helpful in determining whether or not you should remove the program.  Although this feature is a great help, unfortunately the date that displays is often incorrect, as Windows is not always successful in determining the last date which the program was used on.  Therefore, do not let this be the only factor that determines whether or not you remove the program.

After you click the “Remove” button, the uninstall dialogue box for the program will open up.  At this point, follow the instructions that are given to you (specific to each program) to complete the program removal.

Windows Vista
Go to the Programs and Features section of the Control Panel

1. Click Start > Control Panel
   •  Start > Settings > Control Panel (Classic Start Menu)
2. On the left panel, click “Control Panel Home” if not already selected
3. Under the Programs heading, click “Uninstall a program”

This brings you to the list of programs that are currently installed.  There are various views for this section, which you can toggle by clicking the “Views” button at the top.  The most informative view is titled “Details”, where you will find each program displayed with the publisher and date of installation.  As Windows XP was unsuccessful at correctly determining the last used date of each program for this section, its successor, Vista, simply shows the date of installation to better equip you with your decision to uninstall each program.

To remove a program, simply double click on it, or right-click on it and select “Uninstall”.  You can then follow the steps that are presented to you in order to uninstall the program, which is specific to each program.

The wrong way to do it...
Because of registry entries, shortcuts, and many other factors, the method explained above is the essential way to remove programs.  Ensure when you are removing programs that you do not simply delete the program files or folders.  At best, this will cause your shortcuts to be broken, but at worst, could potentially damage other working programs on your computer or even your operating system’s stability.