Get rid of those unused applications

Why do I need to remove old programs?

Old applications sitting on your hard drive are similar to those old boxes of junk that sit in your garage. As you move more and more stuff into your garage, it fills up and makes it difficult to park your car or access anything you actually need.

Just like your garage, your computer will suffer if it has to sort through the clutter of unused programs such as toolbars, unused games and applications just so it can open Microsoft Office.

In addition to cluttering your computer, many applications (such as toolbars) run in the background and take up valuable system resources and slow your computer down.

Alright, so how do I figure out which programs I don’t use anymore?

Firstly, click on the Start button and then on Programs. Take a quick look through the list of programs that comes up – do you see anything you may have installed weeks, months or even years ago that you don’t use anymore? The usual suspects include games that your kids may have downloaded, old versions of software like Adobe Acrobat or software from printers or digital cameras that have long since died or been supersceded.

Got it! So how do I get rid of them?

Windows has a great little feature that gives you access to all of your installed programs and even shows the last time you used them. To access it, click on the Start button then double-click on Control Panel.

• In Windows Vista, you are looking for an icon with the name Programs and Features. Double-click it.
• In Windows XP, you are looking for an icon with the name Add or Remove Programs. Double-click it.

After a short delay, the box should display a list of every program that’s currently installed on your PC. Scroll down the list and click on the program you wish to remove.

• In Windows Vista, select the program you would like to remove and then click the “Uninstall/Change” button at the top of the Window.
• In Windows XP, select the program you would like to uninstall by clicking on it, click on the white box named “Remove”.

Depending on the program, another box may appear asking whether you *really* want to remove the program. Confirm the actions (this may take a couple of clicks) and viola! You should get a confirmation that the program has been uninstalled. In some cases you will need to restart your computer.

A program is giving an error or refusing to uninstall!

Hmmm. Looks like you might have some advanced issues bubbling under the surface. A Gizmotech will definitely come in handy in a situation like this. Gizmo offers a range of repair services to solve those niggles and remove troublesome programs from your PC.

Quick Tip:

As a general rule, if you don’t know what it is, you DON’T want to uninstall it as you could accidentally remove something your computer needs to run properly. If you need help working out what is safe to uninstall, it may be best to get a Gizmotech to help you.