Top Tips For Uninstalling Programs From Your PC

If you are startled to find that your computer is becoming terribly slow as compared to the time when you bought it, you may need to sit down and ponder about the changes that have happened since then.

When you bought your computer, it had very little data and very few applications installed on it. That means there was a large amount of unused space on the hard disk and a lesser burden on system resources. While working on the computer it is most likely that you have added data as well as quite a few applications of your own. Secondly, it is quite unlikely that your computer was infected with any malware when you purchased it and it is quite possible that some unwanted programs have made it onto your system. Both these issues need to be addressed if you want to speed up your computer, reduce the number of errors and get rid of malware. In order to achieve this, you need to first take inventory of all the programs that are residing on your PC and perform a complete uninstall of unnecessary programs.

The following are the most popular methods of uninstalling programs from your PC:

1. Add or Remove Programs: The most popular method of properly uninstalling applications and programs from your PC is the Add or Remove Programs tool that you can start from the Control Panel. You can use this option for uninstalling Windows Media Player updates and other popular programs. When you open the utility, you will see a complete list of programs that occupy space in your PC along with details like the amount of space occupied, date of installation etc. You can choose the programs you want to get rid of and follow the instructions that are displayed. For example, to remove Office 2007, you can simply launch Office 2007 uninstaller from Add or Remove Programs and follow the instructions to complete the uninstall process.
2. Use program specific uninstallers: At times, some of the unwanted programs on your system are not displayed in the list of Add or Remove Programs. Some of them may have an uninstall option which is available within the Programs list of the Start Menu under that program’s name. If this is the case, you can use this uninstall option to remove the program. In case you do not find the uninstall option there, it is worthwhile to check in the folder where the files of this program are located.
3. Download the Uninstaller: There are quite a few applications that are very stubborn and almost impossible to completely uninstall. This is because either they are huge in size and contain multiple products within itself, or because they make several entries to the Windows registry. To uninstall these applications, it is recommended that you download an uninstaller. This could either be an uninstaller that is specific for that program or a reliable third-party uninstaller. Applications like McAfee allow you to download its uninstaller from their website so that you can remove McAfee products from your system.