TechDish: How to Remove Software from your Computer

Posted on: Fri, 03/04/2011 - 09:58 — us104_techdish

Did you know that removing those program icons from your desktop does not remove the programs themselves? The same goes with the Start Menu too! While removing these shortcut links may make life difficult if you ever want to play Freecell again, it does not mean the programs are gone completely.

So how do we remove programs from our computer that we don't want?

You're in luck, that's the topic of TechDish today! Short of using Chad's method of putting a bit of lead, projected by the combustion of black power, through your hard drive, there are more microeffective ways of accomplishing this.

Use Windows built-in uninstaller

Yes—Windows has its own uninstall feature, built in to the operating system! You can access this through the control panel; in Windows XP it's called "Add and Remove Programs", in Vista and Windows 7 it's called "Programs and Features". Access this tool, then scroll to and select the program you want to uninstall, then click Uninstall. A wizard will walk you through uninstalling the software.

Use the software's uninstall function

Sometimes the canned uninstaller for Windows does not catch everything; and that's where using the software manufacturer's uninstall feature comes in handy. Many of today's software offerings come with one of these. These are normally accessed in your Start Menu > Programs > The software name. This uninstaller can sometimes be more effective, as it was made by the software manufacturer for that specific software, and many times will clean up more remnants than the standard Windows uninstaller.

Find a removal tool

There are some pieces of software that are extra finicky and are known to leave remnants of the software you are trying to uninstall, or just plain don't uninstall at all! Surprisingly, Norton (yes, the virus maker that makes your computer safe) is a major culprit of this. This is where removal tools come in handy. These are sometimes made by the software manufacturer, but also by third parties who have grown tired of a piece of software that won't remove itself as it should.

To find a removal tool, some Google searching is necessary to hunt down the tool you need. In our Norton example, a simple Google search for "Norton removal tool" will lead you to a download on the Symantec website that you can grab and completely blow away that piece of software.

Wrap up

While removing software is usually a quick, pain-free process, there are unfortunately times where something as simple as removing a piece of software is quite cumbersome. If you ever get to a place where you get stuck, you can always count on the technicians at IDEaS Computers to get the job done. If you are facing this trouble, why not bring your computer in to IDEaS and you can put us to the task!