Windows Vista is the latest and greatest desktop operating system from Microsoft. Like it’s predecessor, it enables the user to perform a broad range of functions as part of the core operating system. Though the majority of computer users will unlikely fully engage all the features offered by Microsoft Vista. The most common function performed by users is to add and remove computer programs, productivity applications and utilities.
Installing software, productivity applications, utilities and games is a relatively simple task, removing or uninstalling software is a different animal all together. If not done correctly can render your computer system with errors at best or worse still cause it to completely fail resulting in it’s inability to boot. Uninstalling or incorrectly removing computer programs and applications can leave behind many orphaned files, program shortcuts and registry entries. Besides the immediate effects of incorrectly uninstalling computer programs, the long term effect on your system will be poor performance, unnecessary disk usage and registry bloat.
So how many way can you uninstall or remove programs from Microsoft Vista Operating System?
Well there’s only really two ways to uninstall a program from your computer running Microsoft Vista. Lets review the two methods briefly.
Method #1: – Use the Add/Remove Programs Utility.
Almost every time you install a program, application or utility using some kind of windows installer or setup wizard, the installer or setup wizard will add an entry to the Add/Remove Programs List. So when it comes time to remove / Uninstall the program, its the first and most obvious method you should use to correctly remove an unwanted application, program or utility from your Microsoft Vista Operating System.
For example if you wish to remove AVG (Free Anti-virus) or You are looking to remove any other application like Intuit Quick books 2003, because you want to install the latest and greatest from scratch, you should perform the uninstall as follows:
- Click Start (Windows Button)
Windows Vista Start Button
- Then Click Control Panel Button
Microsoft Vista : Control Panel Button
- Then Click the “Uninstall a Program” Link
Microsoft Vista : Control Panel : Uninstall Link
- Scroll the list of installed programs and find the program / application you wish to uninstall and click the application to select it.
Microsoft Vista : Control Panel : Uninstall Selected Program
- Then click on the Uninstall / Change Button to proceed with the removal of the selected program
Microsoft Vista : Control Panel : Uninstall / Change : Selected Program
- You will then see a Windows Dialog Box appear titled “User Account : Control” with a sub heading in a blue bar which reads “Windows needs your permission to continue”. You have two options.
(i) Continue or (ii) Cancel
Microsoft Vista : Control Panel : Uninstall Continue Button
- Restart Windows Vista after the program has been successfully uninstalled. Rebooting is not always necessary, but it’s generally good idea to do so. By rebooting you ensure that all registry entries have been removed and orphaned files along with shortcuts are removed from your Windows Vista Computer.
- That’s it. Enjoy.
Method #2: – Use the Program Un-installer Option.
Many programs can be uninstalled using their own built-in un installer. Sounds some what redundant at first glance, but there’s a valid reason why some of these applications are bundled with their own un installer. The main and biggest reason is that the Vista built-in program un installer does not do that great of a job on larger applications. These same programs may not have an uninstall program option in the windows Add /Remove Programs.
The uninstall option for these programs is usually available in their program folder and a shortcut to it is usually added in the Start menu as Uninstall Program_Name. For example, if you want to uninstall WinZip from your computer, open Start menu, point to All Programs, select WinZip and then select the Uninstall WinZip option. This will remove WinZip from your Windows Vista Computer or Laptop.
When you install programs, many files are saved to the had drive and registry entries are made to the computers registry. So it’s safe to assume that these same files and registry entries are removed when you use the programs uninstall option. However sometimes orphaned files and registry entries remain and are not removed. To rid your Vista Computer System of these orphaned files and registry entries, you may need to enlist the help of a reliable registry cleaner and also use the Disk Cleanup Tool included in your Windows Vista Operating System to remove unused and unwanted program files.