Organize a Computer – Removing Unwanted Programs
How to Manage a Hard Drive by Removing Unused Software
Nov 6, 2009
Organizing a computer is not easy, nor is it fun, nor is it anything that anybody wants to do, but doing so can be beneficial to any computer user. Removing unused, unwanted, and outdated programs can reduce load time for software, free-up hard drive space, and make other programs easier to find. Anyone can organize his hard drive if he knows what to do and what software to use, and this guide will explain just that.
Removing Standard Software from New Computers
Anyone who has ever bought a computer knows that the computer will come preloaded with lots and lots of crap. That's where a handy little piece of software comes in. The PC Decrapifier is a very useful, free utility that removes preloaded software from any PC, new or old, automatically. Now, instead of sitting for hours removing all of this preloaded chaff, everyone can actually enjoy their new computers.
Removing Old, Unwanted, or Unused Programs
Now that all the useless preloaded software is gone, the real work can commence. Start by going over to the Add or Remove Programs panel on Windows XP or the Programs and Features panel on Windows Vista. On XP, this can be found by going to the Start menu, then Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs, and on Vista it is located at Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features. Now go down the list, looking at each program and deciding if it is worth keeping or if it should be removed. If a program is worth keeping, just skip it and continue on down the list. If a program is worth pitching, simply remove it.
To remove a program on Windows XP, in the Currently installed programs box, click on the program to be removed, then click Remove. When prompted, confirm this option, and the program will be uninstalled. To remove a program on Windows Vista, in the list of currently installed programs, click on the program that should be removed, then click the button that says Uninstall at the top of this box. The program's uninstaller will then be run, removing the program from the computer.
To remove an unwanted program that does not show up in the Add or Remove Programs panel, check out the computer's Program Files folder usually located at C:\Program Files. Find the software's folder, open it, and locate an executable file that has a name like UNINSTALL.exe. Run this executable and the software will be removed from the computer.
Do not attempt to remove a program from a computer by deleting its icon from the Desktop or deleting its files in the Program Files folder. This technique does not uninstall the program and leaves its registry keys and registry values intact.
Stop Programs from Running on Windows Startup
While it may be useful to have some programs run when Windows starts, like certain utilities that run in the background, other times some programs will run uselessly in the background, silently consuming system resources. To disable these programs, try opening the software are locating an Options or Preferences menu. Head to the General Options panel of this menu and see if there is a checkbox that reads something like "Run on Windows Startup." By unchecking this box, the program will no longer run when Windows starts.
If there is no way to disable a program from running form within the program, startup programs can be disabled through the MSCONFIG dialog box. To access MSCONFIG on XP, go to Start Menu > Run, type in "msconfig" and press Enter. To access it on Vista, open the Start menu, click the search box, type "msconfig" and press Enter. On both versions of Windows, click on the tab that says "Startup" in the MSCONFIG dialog box. Uncheck any programs that should not run during Windows startup, click "Apply", the close this dialog box. Now these programs will not use system resources when Windows starts up, decreasing system load time and increasing the amount of free memory available.
By following this guide anyone can quickly and easily remove unwanted programs and software from a computer. With unnecessary programs uninstalled more hard drive space is available to store any software, music, pictures and more. Also, now that unneeded startup programs have been disabled, Windows will boot faster and more memory will be available to run other software that wasn't available before. Next, check out how to manage your files by following a few simple steps.
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