How 2 ADD Or
Remove Programs in Windows XP
Go to START/SETTINGS/CONTROL
PANEL
I have highlighted the ADD
OR REMOVE PROGRAMS. Double click this icon to launch.
A new window will open to
reveal what applications you have installed on your computer.
You will notice that you
have the option to select four buttons on the left side of the box.
I will go through each one
of these and explain the purpose and how to use them.
1st we will start
with the CHANGE OR REMOVE PROGRAMS option which is the 1st button on
top.
Once selected you will see
that my 1st option has a button on the right to REMOVE the software.
This is my only option for
this particular software package.
My second option gives me
the ability to CHANGE/REMOVE the software.
This is due to the fact that
some software packages have additional options that can
be added so you are given
the option to CHANGE the options the software offers.
If you have the REMOVE only
option then the software is fully installed and the additional options are no
longer available.
If you select REMOVE then
the software will be removed from your machine and in most cases you will need
to reboot
your computer when it has
completed.
This is due to the fact that
some programs are triggered to completely remove only on reboot.
You will notice that you
also have the option to select a small box at the top labeled SHOW UPDATES.
If you select this box you
will be shown all updates that have been applied to your machine.
These will usually be found
at the bottom of the box so you may need to scroll down to see them.
Moving on we will now look
at the ADD NEW PROGRAMS option in the left hand column.
You will see that once
selected you have the option of installing a program by selecting the CD OR
FLOPPY button on the right.
If you select this option
you will need to make sure
you have inserted the CD or
the Floppy into the computer to begin.
In most cases CD’s come with
auto play so when you insert them into the player it starts and allows you to
install the application.
This is just another
location to install the application from a CD.
You also see a button called
WINDOWS UPDATE.
If you select this button
you will need an internet connection that is active since this button will take
you to the internet and connect to
the Windows Update site. http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
The bottom box labeled ADD
PROGRAMS FROM YOUR NETWORK will probably never be used in a home environment
since most users lack the
network so we will just ignore this area.
Moving on to the ADD/REMOVE
WINDOWS COMPONENTS option.
This will give you the
option of installing additional software that is carried with the operating
system but in
most cases have not been
installed.
Click ADD/REMOVE WINDOWS COMPONENTS
The following box will come
up.
This area also gives you the
ability to make changes to software by adding or removing special abilities
the software might have.
To give you an idea of what
I mean we will open the ACCESSORIES AND UTILITIES
option from the top of the
list.
You can double click the
option or highlight the option and select the button DETAILS.
I have entered the
ACCESSORIES AND UTILITIES option and you see what my options are.
I can select ACCESSORIES or
GAMES from the list. You can see they both already have a checkmark.
This means they are already
installed on this computer.
I will leave the ACCESSORIES
highlighted and select DETAILS.
You can now see under
ACCESSORIES I can now add or remove different applications.
If I do not want the
CALCUALTOR anymore on my machine I can just uncheck the box and select OK and
it will be removed.
If I decide in the future
that I want it back I just come back to this window and place a check mark next
to
the CALCULATOR then Select
OK and the system will reinstall the application.
These are all safe to remove
and add since they are system applications.
You may find with some that
you may need your original Windows CD that was used to install
the operating system so keep
it close to your computer for easy access.
Let’s move back to the main
screen to SET PROGRAMS ACCESS AND DEFAULTS.
You will see you have three
options here.
The 1st option
MICROSOFT WINDOWS sets programs included in Microsoft Windows as defaults.
The 2nd option
NON-MICROSOFT sets non-Microsoft programs (when available) as defaults.
The 3rd option
CUSTOM allows you to set these programs to act upon what you have chosen.
My machine is set to CUSTOM
and you can see the options chosen.
These options are personal
preference and can always be changed back if you do not like the way things are
working.
In most cases you can leave
this area alone.
You have several options to
check and uncheck. Read them carefully and make your choices.
I will not go into these
with great detail since they basically spell out what they do.
This completes the tasks.