There are a lot of ways to remove files, and in particular programs, but removing files which are used by other programs could stop them working. Worse still, If the files deleted are required by Windows, then the whole computer could just stop.
Deleting programs can have unforeseen consequences
Here is a suggested method for removing unwanted programs.
Firstly check on the start menu in the area where the program is started. There may be a program on the same menu called Uninstall (Program name) or Remove (Program name). If this is here, run this program. If not we move on to the next step.
Next click the start button, then choose settings and control panel. When the control panel appears double click on the Add/Remove Programs icon.
Look in the list on this dialog box for the name of the program that you wish to remove. If it is there, double click on it, if not we move to step 3.
Step 3 involves some knowledge of navigating the hard disk. Look for the folder containing the program. The find files program (from the start menu) could be used to find this folder. Once this folder is found look inside the folder and keep your fingers crossed. Hopefully there will be a program in this folder called uninstall. If so run this program.
If not …. Well it’s now time to weigh up just how sure you are that you wish to delete the program. If you still wish to continue at your own risk rename the folder which contains the program to something else. I like to add ‘-old” to the end of the name. Then reboot the computer and check that everything else still works and that you don’t get any messages about things not being found. If that all goes ok highlight the folder which contains the program and press the delete key. At this point it is a good idea to shutdown the computer and reboot. Test the computer to see if your important programs still work. If they don’t go to the recycle bin and undelete the files which were just deleted. And don’t go getting all “delete happy” and deleting multiple programs in one go. Just delete one program’s folder at a time, then re-boot and test.
