Uninstall A Program - AM-Win

Uninstall A Program As time goes by, you will probably accumulate more and more programs on your computer. Some programs you'll use often, and they will be part of your day to day activities. Programs that the Kids have installed and no longer use, trial programs that you decided not to buy and other programs that have just passed their use by date not only take up space on your hard drive but can slow things down and clog up your system. It's best to get rid of programs like these if you know you'll never use them. Let's look at how to uninstall these unwanted program the right way - doing the job the wrong way can lead to many problems that may stop your computer from functioning. This tutorial includes the un-install process on both Windows 7 and Windows XP. Other versions may be use a different process but the basics are similar. To uninstall a program from Windows 7, click Start > Control Panel > Programs (Uninstall a program).

The Programs and Features window that opens up displays a list of programs that currently exist on your system. It's a useful panel that tells you who published the program and when it was installed on your computer.

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When you find a program that you want to remove from your system, click on it to select it and then click Uninstall at the top. You will usually see a confirmation window displayed that requires you to confirm that you really do want to uninstall the program. Sometimes these confirmation windows include checks to make sure that you don't have certain other programs open that prevent the uninstall from being performed. If you get error messages like these, close down the offending programs and continue with the uninstall. At other times you may receive messages that say something like "This program shares files with another program - do you want to keep these shared files". At all times say YES to this because Windows provides little or no information about these shared files so you won't know whether they are important or not. Once the program has been uninstalled, it will no longer appear in the program list. It is important that you restart your computer after the un-install process that changes made to the computer's registry can take effect. How to uninstall a program in Windows XP from the Control Panel: Important - Please read the Windows 7 procedure above so that you know what to look out for during the uninstall process. Step 1. Close all open windows and applications.

Step 2. Click the Start button with your mouse.

Step 3. Select Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs

Step 4. You will be presented with a list of programs you have installed on your machine. Go through the list until you find the one you want to uninstall.

Step 5. Select the program you want to uninstall -> Click Remove.

Step 6. Confirm your actions by clicking Yes or pressing Enter when presented with the Are you sure... popup.

Step 7. Wait for the un-installation process to complete.

Step 8. In some cases it may be necessary to restart you computer.

Step 8. In some cases it may be necessary to restart you computer. Editor's Notes - For advanced users only. The uninstall process often leaves bits and pieces of the uninstalled program lying around on your hard drive. While the occasional file or folder won't do any damage if the system or no other application references them, entries left in the registry will slow your computer down or may cause problems. A computer should be maintained on a regular basis using a program like Registry Mechanic that will check the registry for entries that are no longer used, and to clean the registry of these entries. This is especially important if you add and remove programs on a regular basis. Important Disclaimer: AM-Win Software do not endorse or recommend any third party program in this newsletter. Registry Mechanic has been mentioned by name as an example only. Use of any third part software mentioned in this newsletter is at your own risk.

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