The Gentle Art of Removing Software
Installing Windows 95 software programs on your PC is easy. Removing software, however, often requires the precision of a surgeon’s knife. You have to remove the unwanted parts but leave your PC alive. Special uninstalling software helps, but you still need to have some idea what you’re doing.
Before I tell you how to remove programs, let’s tackle the issue of installing software. Just about any software program installs the same way. You put the installation disk or CD-ROM in your PC. Then, from the start menu, select run and type the name of the drive that contains the installation disk and type install or setup. Some CD-ROMs automatically launch the installation routine when you place the disc in the drive.
While this works, a better way of installing software is found inside the Windows 95 control panel. It’s the handy dandy add/remove programs icon. If you install programs using the add/remove icon religiously, Windows 95 will track the software installed on your hard disk. When the time comes to remove a deadwood program, simply select the program’s name from the list of installed programs, and choose remove. Windows 95 erases every trace of the program on your PC’s hard disk--most of the time.
There are few catches to using the add/remove icon. For starters, not every software program comes with the official Microsoft Windows 95 seal of approval. The seal stipulates that the software also includes an uninstall routine, or a way for the software to remove all the application’s files and configuration settings from your system.
But it also happens that even after you uninstall a program having the seal through the control panel, remnants of the program--such as empty folders or other associated files--remain on your hard drive. Then it’s up to you to delete the leftovers.
If you didn’t install a software program using the add/remove icon, it may have an uninstall option. Check the program’s folder for an uninstall or remove icon. If you find one, use it to uninstall the software. In the case of older software programs that the add/remove icon doesn’t track, it’s the ultimate game of hide and seek. Inside most program documentation, you’ll find a listing of the files that you must remove manually to wipe out the program.
Use caution when removing files, and don’t delete any file if you’re unsure of its purpose. A quick way to check what a file does is from within Windows 95 Explorer. Right-click on the file’s name and select properties. Here, you’ll find clues about what program the file belongs to and maybe even the version number. But not all files will provide this kind of information.
Before you erase anything from your hard drive, make a complete system backup. Call me paranoid or smart from years of experience, but I take things a step further. On my hard drive, I made a folder and called it junk. Before I erase any files from my hard drive that I’m not quite sure what they do, I first move them into the junk folder. If everything works fine for a few weeks after I move the files, only then do I trash them.
This is a good way to remove a small number of questionable files, but not programs that consume massive megabytes of hard drive space. For that job, you need to call in the heavy artillery, namely software programs that will do the uninstall job for you.
All uninstall software programs generally work the same way; they examine your system thoroughly to identify duplicate files, orphan files and files that belong to application software programs. You are presented with a list of what the uninstall program found and then you are offered the option to delete items on the list.
But uninstall software is no quick fix. Each program has its share of particular problems. Uninstaller 4 (MicroHelp, [770] 516-0899, $40) begins the uninstall process by ranking files on your hard disk from critical to nonessential. It then sorts them by file type. The thought is good; this enables users to make better decisions about what they want to delete.
Some of my screen savers, however, were marked as nonessential, but they are to me. The program also wanted to remove a printer driver, the same driver that was needed to run the printer sitting on my credenza. Luckily, you have to agree to remove any file from the hard disk.
The program takes a very conservative approach to removing files. This isn’t totally bad; removing files is a tricky job. Of the Windows 3.x programs I did let Uninstaller 4.0 remove, it did a thorough job. Windows 95 programs were totally removed about 80% of the time. The program automatically compresses and backs up removed files. This way, if you remove something essential, you can restore the files easily.
Cleansweep (Quarterdeck, [800] 683-6696, $29.95) is more intuitive but a little more aggressive than Uninstaller 4. New users will like the Wizards who take a lot of the guesswork out of removing programs. Intermediate and expert users will benefit from the program’s detailed reporting features.
Like Uninstaller 4, Cleansweep will back up files deleted to minimize the risk of removing the wrong files.
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Kim Komando is a TV host, syndicated talk radio host and founder of the Komputer Klinic on America Online. You can e-mail her at komando@komando.com
