For Seniors: Remove a Program From Your Laptop
If you don’t need a program, removing it from your Windows laptop helps improve performance. Unwanted programs you should remove but haven't, end up cluttering the hard drive and slowing down access to the programs you do use.
Choose Start→Control Panel→Uninstall a Program (under the Programs and Features category).
The Uninstall or Change a Program window appears.
Click a program and then click the Uninstall (or sometimes this is labeled Uninstall/Change) button.
Although some programs will display their own uninstall screen, in most cases, a confirmation dialog box appears.
If you click the Change or Uninstall button, some programs will simply be removed with no further input from you. Be really sure that you don’t need a program before you remove it, or that you have the original software on disc so you can reinstall it should you need it again.
With some programs that include multiple applications, such as Microsoft Office, you get both an Uninstall and a Change option here, which allows you to remove only one program or the whole shooting match. For example, you might decide that you have no earthly use for Access but really like using Excel and Word — so why not free up some hard drive space and send Access packing?
If you want to modify a program in this way, click the Change button rather than the Uninstall button. The dialog box that appears allows you to select the programs that you want to install or uninstall.
If you’re sure that you want to remove the program, click Yes in the confirmation dialog box.
A dialog box shows the progress of the procedure; it disappears when the program has been removed.
Click the Close button.
The Uninstall or Change a Program window closes.
When you buy your laptop, you may be offered a service to clean out all the preinstalled programs your manufacturer added. This helps with your laptop’s performance. If you feel capable of uninstalling programs yourself, don't use this service.
