Personal Computer 101 - learn about your PC 4 Free

What is the correct way to Install and Uninstall a program?

Here are some general guidelines for both installing and uninstalling Hardware and Software on your computer.

The Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs utility not only allows you to Add and Remove applications, but also allows you to Add and Remove Windows SW components (e.g. Calculator, Address book, Fax Services, Networking Services, etc.), as Windows just guesses when the OS is installed what components your might want or not want.

XP also has an Add New Programs option where you can install new application programs or update your version of windows.

I also suggest you create a "versions" text file where you keep track of what version of SW applications and HW drivers you have on your system.

Install

1) Read any installation documentation BEFORE installing HW/SW so that you understand any unique problems it may cause or what is required of you to complete the installation.

2) Before installing an application try to determine (manual, online help, vendor site) if it comes with an uninstall program in case you want to remove it later.   As a backup you maybe able to uninstall the program using the Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs as it may be listed there.   If you're doing a HW upgrade, XP Home has an option to rollback to the prior driver if you have problems with the newly installed one.

3) If you have lots of free disk space, you could create a Restore Point before installing the SW or HW, in case you have problems later and uninstalling it does not resolve them and the vendor cannot help.    Also you should backup your personal data before any installation, just as a precaution.

4) If at all possible, take the suggested settings during the installation process as it will help avoid problems later and make any uninstall easier.

5) You will probably need to reboot after any installation, if its not required it's a good idea to do so anyway.

6) When installing new or replacement HW, make sure your computer is powered-off, unplugged from the wall and you either have a grounding wrist strap on or you have one hand on the case will removing or installing HW. When ready to boot your computer, it is best to go into your BIOS Setup program at boot start, especially if you were installing memory.   You don't need to change anything there, in fact don't, but do a Save upon Exit when you leave BIOS Setup.

7) If you use the Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs / Add New Programs utility to install new SW you will then know there will be an uninstall option there if you need it later (maybe the application itself has no uninstall option).

Uninstall

1) Try to resolve any installation problems with the documentation, vendor and online help before uninstalling a program.

2) Often when uninstalling SW the uninstall program will display a "Shared" file and ask you if you want to delete it.   These files almost always are used only by the program you are uninstalling, but if you have lots of disk space and don't want to take the chance of uninstalling a file used by other programs still on your system, then just say NO to deleting it.

3) If you cannot find an uninstall program for your SW by looking in the Start / Programs / (application in question) directory, by using Explorer and looking in the Program Files / (application in question) directory and subdirectory, then you can use the Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs utility to remove it. NOTE: Often after a program is "uninstalled" the program's link entries in Program Files will still be there -- you can either ignore them or: (1) Use the Explore (file manager) and go to that directory in Program Files and Delete what is in the directory and then the directory itself (2) right-click on the link when you go Start / Programs and select Delete.

4) If you uninstalling the SW for good, then if the uninstall program asks you whether to delete user data, customized, startup or saved data then go ahead and delete it, unless you are planning on reinstalling the program and want to keep and customized settings or personal user data for the program.

5) Understand, that even the best designed uninstall program will probably leave some SW application entries on your computer, e.g. Windows Registry entries, main application directories, desktop shortcut icons and saved user data.   Unless you are comfortable with editting the Windows Registry it is better to either forget about any entries there, or use a Registry cleaning program like the MS Windows RegClean.exe.   This program works on all versions of Windows (altho not supported for XP), but even this program cannot always find "orphan" entries and remove them. You can use Explorer and search out the other orphan files I mentioned above and delete them.

6) As stated above in Install, a good precaution would be to backup both your system and user data files before uninstalling SW / HW. Also, as above, if you are uninstalling HW make sure you are grounded to the computer case.

7) If you are uninstalling SW just to reinstall because of problems, then find and backup any related user data files before uninstalling.   Most uninstall programs will leave your user data files along, or at least ask you if you want them removed, especially if you are using an applications "reinstall fix" option, but just to make sure it's nice to have the data saved temporarily somewhere else.