Uninstall Programs - How to Uninstall Programs from Your Computer
Want to learn how to uninstall programs from your PC? There are a large number of reasons why you might want to uninstall a particular software program from your computer. You might want to uninstall a program simply because you no longer need it, or maybe you want to optimize your PC by removing all the software programs that you never use. Most programs are easy to uninstall, but some programs are very difficult to remove completely. Some malware, and spyware applications make it difficult to uninstall on purpose so that they can remain operating in the background, and collecting information about you.
The first thing you want to do once you decide that it's time to uninstall programs from your PC is close any applications that might be currently running on your computer. This will prevent any conflicts when going through the process of uninstalling a program. The only exception to this general rule would be an uninstaller application. Uninstaller applications like Perfect Uninstaller automate the process of uninstalling programs from your PC. These uninstall programs are safe to run while uninstalling other programs from your PC. A web browser is also generally okay to have running when uninstalling programs as well.
The next step to take in order to uninstall programs from your PC is to click on the "Start Menu" Button. Once your Start Menu has popped up you will want to choose "Control Panel". It will look like something like the picture below depending on what version of Windows you are using.
Once the Control Panel menu comes up you will want to double click on the icon that says "Add/Remove" Programs. When it comes time to uninstall programs from your PC this is where the majority of that process takes place. See the picture below -
Once you are inside the Windows Add/Remove Programs application you will need to locate the program that you want to uninstall in the list provided. If the program that you want to uninstall does not show up on the list then you will need to force uninstall that program using an uninstall program like Perfect Uninstaller. If the program is on the list then click on it once and you should be given the option to "Change/Remove" the program. The exact display will depend on the version of Windows you are using. Here is a general example of what it would look like.
That is what the Add/Remove Programs application looks like before you click on the program that you want to uninstall. Once you have clicked on the program to uninstall it will look like this -
The "Change" option will give you the opportunity to either change certain aspects of the program's installation settings or re-install the program completely. This option will typically be used if you are having some sort of problem with the program loading, or consistently freezing up. A complete re-install using the "Change" option may fix this type of problem.
The "Remove" option is the one that allows you to uninstall the program. Once you click on "Remove" you will just need to follow the prompts to uninstall the program from your PC as once you make it past this point the process is rather automated.
There is a common misconception that once you have uninstalled a program by using the Windows "Add/Remove Programs" application that the program along with all of it's files has been completely removed from your PC. This isn't necessarily true. The vast majority of the time there will be leftover files floating around on your hard drive, along with, broken registry keys. Now, this isn't the end of the world but let me explain how this could potentially affect the performance of your PC, as well as, how to completely uninstall these leftover files from your PC and fx those broken registry keys.
The leftover files that remain on your PC after uninstalling a program will probably not have too much of an effect on your overall PC performance depending on what type of program you uninstalled. If the program that you uninstalled is notorious for being riddled with spyware, or malware then you will definitely have a problem with these leftover files. It is in cases like this that you will want to download an uninstall program like Perfect Uninstaller. An uninstall program like this will forcibly remove any, and all remnants of a program and automatically fix broken registry keys.
A few broken registry keys aren't going to have a dramatically negative affect on your PC performance, but if your computer is older, or if you have installed, and uninstalled a large number of programs than these broken registry keys could significantly impact the speed of your PC. Please keep in mind that the Windows Registry can be very touchy, and if you make a mistake when editing the registry it could do significant damage to the operation of your PC. Unless you are a PC expert, I do not recommend attempting to edit your Windows registry in any way whatsoever. Instead, get an uninstall program or a registry cleaner software program to do this for you. It is much safer, plus, most uninstall programs come with a built-in registry cleaner.
The "Remove" option is the one that allows you to uninstall the program. Once you click on "Remove" you will just need to follow the prompts to uninstall the program from your PC as once you make it past this point the process is rather automated.
There is a common misconception that once you have uninstalled a program by using the Windows "Add/Remove Programs" application that the program along with all of it's files has been completely removed from your PC. This isn't necessarily true. The vast majority of the time there will be leftover files floating around on your hard drive, along with, broken registry keys. Now, this isn't the end of the world but let me explain how this could potentially affect the performance of your PC, as well as, how to completely uninstall these leftover files from your PC and fx those broken registry keys.
The leftover files that remain on your PC after uninstalling a program will probably not have too much of an effect on your overall PC performance depending on what type of program you uninstalled. If the program that you uninstalled is notorious for being riddled with spyware, or malware then you will definitely have a problem with these leftover files. It is in cases like this that you will want to download an uninstall program like Perfect Uninstaller. An uninstall program like this will forcibly remove any, and all remnants of a program and automatically fix broken registry keys.
A few broken registry keys aren't going to have a dramatically negative affect on your PC performance, but if your computer is older, or if you have installed, and uninstalled a large number of programs than these broken registry keys could significantly impact the speed of your PC. Please keep in mind that the Windows Registry can be very touchy, and if you make a mistake when editing the registry it could do significant damage to the operation of your PC. Unless you are a PC expert, I do not recommend attempting to edit your Windows registry in any way whatsoever. Instead, get an uninstall program or a registry cleaner software program to do this for you. It is much safer, plus, most uninstall programs come with a built-in registry cleaner.
