Tips and Tricks

Tips & Tricks

Removing An Unlisted Program From Windows
If you want to remove an application, and its not listed in 'Add/Remove Programs', check the 'Start Menu' to see if there's an uninstall option and use it.

If there isn't one, use Windows Explorer to navigate to the application's folder and look there for an uninstall file. If there is one, double-click on it. If there isn't, sometimes you can run the installation program and it will give you an option to uninstall. If not, don't continue with the install, just hit cancel.

Right-click on the program's shortcut and choose 'Properties'. Make note of the target executable file and it's path. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the file. If the program consists only of a single file, in a common folder, delete the file. If the application has it's own folder, delete the folder. Be aware however, that files and references to the application may still exist on your computer, in other folders or directories, and in the WIN.INI file or the Registry. This can cause problems and errors down the road.

Click on 'Start/Run', type SYSEDIT in the textbox and press ENTER. Use the Edit and Search features to search for reference to the application in all the startup files. You can search for the application,s name, and the name of it's executable file. Remove any reference.

Next, click on 'Start/Run', type in REGEDIT, and press ENTER. Here, you can do the same type of search in the Registry Editor. Make sure you have current backups and know how to edit the Registry. See 'Backing Up and Restoring the Registry in our
Care & Maintenance section.

Removing An Entry from the Add/Remove List
Sometimes, after removing a program, its still listed in the 'Add/Remove' utility in Control Panel. Now, it can only be removed by editing the Registry.

Click 'Start/Run', type REGEDIT in the textbox and press ENTER. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL-MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion/Uninstall

Expand the 'Uninstall' key by clicking the plus (+) sign in front of it. Scroll down until you find the entry associated with the application. Highlight it, and choose 'Edit' from the menu bar. Click Delete.

The next time you start Windows, the application's entry should be gone from 'Add/Remove Programs'.

TWEAK UI
There are third party utilities that can make many changes to the Registry more safely than doing it manually. Tweak UI is an excellent utility that used to come with a group of utilities known as Microsoft Power Tools. It can now be downloaded by itself. Go to http://www.downloads.cnet.com and do a search for 'Tweak UI'. One of the functions it can perform is to remove an entry from the Add/Remove list in Control Panel.

Until next month...
If you have any questions, comments, ideas or suggestions for the NewsLetter, or our WebSite, please email me at: suggestions@pccomputernotes.com

UNSUBSCRIBE
Only those people that subscribe to PC ComputerNotes' Newsletter are added to our distribution list. However, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply send an email to: unsubscribe@pccomputernotes.com with the word 'REMOVE' in the subject box.

Back