Cleaning Out Your Programs in XP - Uninstall and the Control Panel
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In order to get rid of all your unused programs, you must first figure out which programs you do use (all of them, not just the ones you use the most) and write them down. You can either do this from memory or start taking a week's worth of inventory (a typical week, not one where you have the week off and you only use the computer 3 or 4 times). Then you need to figure out all the programs that are actually on your computer and make a separate list.
When searching the desktop, be sure to check all the icons on the screen and in the taskbar and system tray in the lower right corner. After this, you can check the Start menu and look under All Programs and the Add/Remove Programs feature in the Control Panel. Finally, under My Computer, click on Local Disk (C:) and then Program Files. Write down any programs you have not already.
The next thing to do, as I'm sure you've already guessed, is compare the two lists and make sure they are congruous (add any programs you forgot you need to the list of 'used' programs).. If they are not and you have more than a few unused programs, then obviously you need to take the next step, which is removing them from your system.
Once you have figured out which programs you want to remove, you can do so in one of the following ways, some of which I have already mentioned:
Uninstall Program
Most programs usually come with this feature installed as a separate program located within the same menu option.
Click the Start menu and navigate through the All Programs option until you find the program.
'Uninstall program' should be clearly labeled within the menu option. Click it.
Run the program and follow all necessary instructions.
If you cannot find the uninstall option in the start menu, try searching through the program's folder in the Program Files folder that I mentioned earlier. The option may have been placed there instead. If not, you can also check the 'Help' or 'ReadMe' file for another nonstandard removal method.
Control Panel
This section involves using the Add or Remove Programs feature that I mentioned earlier in the article.
Go into the Start menu and select Control Panel.
Double click the Add or Remove Programs feature and search through the dialog box for the program you wish to remove. Click it.
Additional information should appear along with at least one of these buttons: Change (adds or removes certain features of the program), Remove (uninstalls the program), and Change/Remove (combination of both). Remember: you want to remove the program.
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