Removing troublesome programs



Q I am having trouble removing programs that are no longer required. When I try to remove programs through the Control Panel, an error message appears and the uninstaller program fails, often because it cannot find a certain file. This is mainly due to my occasionally deleting a file with Explorer. Is there any way that I can delete the program name from the Add/Remove Programs list?
- Sean Soole

AThe Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel isn't Windows' finest feature. Certainly, if you "manually" delete files before running the applet, you reduce your chances of success, and you can't blame Microsoft for that! But even if you manage to remove the app, the program name may linger in the Add/Remove Programs list. Fortunately, there are a couple of ways to clean up.
The most elegant solution is to install Microsoft's PowerToys, which you will find on this month's cover CD. Use the Tweak UI "toy" to remove redundant entries.


Tweak UI will remove program entries left behind by the Add/Remove Programs applet


Alternatively, you can use regedit.exe (Start--Run, type regedit and click OK) to blow these cobwebs out of the Windows Registry. Drill down to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall, highlight the relevant program folder in the left-hand pane and hit the <Delete> key.
- Neville Clarkson

Category: Win95
Issue: Apr 1998

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