Optimise your PC by removing programs

Matthew Hanson | Guides, Windows 7, Windows Vista | 18/05/2010 15:40pm
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Removing programs that you don’t use any more frees up valuable hard drive space and can make your machine run faster at the same time.

We’ve all been there – thinking we’ve found the perfect little program for the job, only to discover it does nothing that it promises. Instead of helping you to complete your last-minute task, you’re left to finish it all by yourself in the small hours of the morning.

The problem is that the little (or, in some cases, very big) application you downloaded in a moment of pure hope is still sitting on your hard drive using up resources. It may be that it’s littered itself around your system and added all kinds of settings to Windows Explorer, but the end result is the same. You have an application on your machine that you don’t want any more. It’s time you uninstalled it, and we’re here to show you how to do just that.

Step-by-step: Uninstall redundant software

1 The simple option
If the application in question has been well designed, then you should find that it’s created its own program group on your Start menu, which contains a link to an uninstaller. To access it, click on the Start button, then select All Programs and scroll down until you can find the group in question.

2 Click and go
If a group has been created, and it does contain an uninstaller, it should simply be a case of launching the uninstall routine by clicking on it. Sometimes programs can install several sub-groups, but as long as you uninstall them all, you should find that the program is removed without fuss.

3 The alternative
Not all programs create these useful program groups, though, and sometimes the link to the uninstaller may do nothing at all. However, there’s a backup, a utility that’s part of Windows and which you can use to remove such unwanted programs. You’ll find it in the Control Panel.

4 The uninstaller
Open the Control Panel from the Start menu and then click on the Programs and Features link. You’re presented with a long list of applications that have been installed on your machine. Now simply find the one that refers to your program and double-click it to uninstall it.

5 Search and destroy
This uninstall utility boasts a lot more information than you might guess. For instance, it keeps track of how big certain applications are, who the developer is and when you first installed it. Click on the More options icon in the top right-hand corner of the window and set the view to Details.

6 Add more information
By default, the Programs and Features utility shows you five columns for each application. Clicking the header at the top of each column lists the programs in descending order dependant on the criteria. For instance, if you want to see which programs take up the most space, click the Size column. You can change these columns, though – right-click the header bar and select More… from the drop-down list. Uncheck Version and then select Last Used On. Click OK.

7 Last used
Now you can list the applications based on when you last used them – a great way of spotting those programs that you really don’t need any more. Double-click the entry to begin uninstalling an application. If you’re trying to free up more space, you can easily see which programs are the biggest this way, too.

8 Spring cleaning
You now know how to remove unwanted programs, including those stubborn ones that don’t have their own uninstaller. You can also actively search for programs that you don’t often use and remove those as well. This helps to ensure that your machine is working in perfect order.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 at 3:40 pm and is filed under Guides, Windows 7, Windows Vista. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.