delete programs

  • Thread starter Thread starter JHI
  • Start date Start date
J

JHI

When I download a program from the net, say from a shareware/freeware site,
sometimes there does not seem to be a way to delete that program. It does
not appear in the control panel "add/remove", nor does it appear in my One
Click Cleaner software program.
I have two questions: 1) If I just delete a program from the Windows
Explorer file listing what happens to what was deleted (reg. fragment files,
Etc) and how can I clean out that stuff.
2) when I load a program how can I get it to show up in the control panel
"add/delete" and my One Click Software.

Thanks
Jeff
 
JHI said:
When I download a program from the net, say from a shareware/freeware
site, sometimes there does not seem to be a way to delete that
program. It does not appear in the control panel "add/remove", nor
does it appear in my One Click Cleaner software program.
Click to expand...


First note that it has nothing to do with downloading from the net. This can
be the case regardless of where the program came from. You get an entry in
Add/Remove Programs only if the program comes with an appropriate uninstall
program.

I have two questions: 1) If I just delete a program from the Windows
Explorer file listing what happens to what was deleted (reg. fragment
files, Etc) and how can I clean out that stuff.
Click to expand...


When you delete a program, the same thing happens to it as when you delete
any other kind of file: it goes into the recycle bin if you are set to do
that. Otherwise it disappears.

Regarding fragmentation, it's also just like deleting other kindsof
files.That's why you should defragment periodically.

Regarding "how can I clean out that stuff," and referring to what you
mentioned (reg. fragment files, Etc), there's nothing to clean out, other
than defragnmenting periodiaclly and empotying the recycle bin periodically.

However there can be an issue with what was *not* deleted. If you just
delete a program without uninstalling it correctly, you can leave pieces of
the program in the registry and in other folders. Findng and deleting those
manually is difficult, which is why Registry Cleaning software is sold.
However my view is that none of these registry cleaners should be trusted;
they can sometimes delete things that shouldn't be deleted. There's really
no penalty for having leftover pieces of programs and the risk of a registry
cleaner causing a problem is greatly than any potential benefit it might
have.

Fortunately most programs that have piece sof themselves spread around come
with uninstall programs, so this isn't usually a problem.

2) when I load a program how can I get it to show up in the control
panel "add/delete" and my One Click Software.
Click to expand...


I have no idea what your "One Click Software" software is, but you don't get
to control whether it appears in Add/Remove Programs. It depends on the
program.
 
JHI said:
When I download a program from the net, say from a shareware/freeware
site, sometimes there does not seem to be a way to delete that program. It
does not appear in the control panel "add/remove", nor does it appear in
my One Click Cleaner software program.
I have two questions: 1) If I just delete a program from the Windows
Explorer file listing what happens to what was deleted (reg. fragment
files, Etc) and how can I clean out that stuff.
2) when I load a program how can I get it to show up in the control panel
"add/delete" and my One Click Software.

Thanks
Jeff
Click to expand...
A well-designed program would offer a way to uninstall. A program designed
with Windows in mind would create the add/remove entry. If it has neither of
those things, I'd be pretty skeptical about it.

Some very small programs are run from a single executable, in which case you
just delete that and/or the folder it's in, and that's all there is to it.
Or they're fully-contained in a folder that you can delete.

As far as "One Click," I've never heard of it, so I have no way of knowing
how it figures out what to uninstall.

But no matter what you use, chances are there will be leftovers in folders
or in the registry. Seldom do I find a program that uninstalls cleanly. So
if you do a lot of installing of unknown programs, you're either going to
have to live with the orphans or learn how to manually uninstall the
leftover bits.
 
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