Tips For Uninstalling Windows PreLoaded Software

New computers, especially the branded ones, often come loaded with several trial software programs. Many Windows computers also come with trial versions of Microsoft products such as the latest Microsoft Office. These preloaded software programs, usually included for promotional reasons, not only clutter your Desktop and Start menu with unwanted shortcuts, but also fill up your hard disk with their files, eat up system resources, and as a result, considerably slow down your computer.

This article lists various methods that you can use to get rid of these unwanted programs and speed up your computer.

The simplest method to remove unwanted programs from computer is to use the Add or Remove Programs utility that is shipped with your Windows computer. To remove programs using this utility, perform the following steps:

1. Open Control Panel, and then select the Add or Remove Programs link.

2. Next, scroll down the Currently installed programs list, and identify the programs you want to remove. For example, to remove AOL from your computer, select the AOL uninstall option from this list.

3. Select one of them, and then click the Remove or Change/Remove button to launch the program uninstall dialog box.

4. Next, follow the screen instructions to proceed with the uninstallation.

5. If prompted, restart you computer and repeat the process until you have removed all the unwanted programs you had identified earlier.

Note: If you want to remove a particular Microsoft update, for example if you want to uninstall Windows Media Player update or Internet Explorer update to resolve some problem, you will have to select the Show Updates check box located at the top of the Add or Remove Programs dialog box. When you select the check box, all hidden Microsoft update entries appear in the Currently installed programs list. After this, you can select and uninstall the updates you do not require.

There are certain Windows components that cannot be uninstalled using the Add or Remove Programs utility. For example, you may not able to remove Windows XP Firewall using this method. In order to uninstall XP firewall, you first need to stop and disable the firewall service from the Services (services.msc) window and then at Start > Run type the following command and press Enter to remove the program.  sc delete Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

Sometimes, it is difficult to completely remove all information related to a program, especially if it is quite large in size. In order to take care of this problem, software manufacturers create program uninstallers. For example, to perform a complete and clean Office 2007 uninstall, you can download and use its uninstaller program available at the Microsoft Website.

There are several third-party tools also available today that you can use to detect any stubborn spyware and adware programs installed on your PC and get rid of all information related to them.

Finally, it is recommended that after you have uninstalled a program, you use a registry cleaner tool to scan and remove any left behind orphan keys. Additionally, it is always a good idea to follow up program uninstalls and the registry cleanup process with a registry defrag, because this task helps in removing any left behind empty registry keys and helps in compressing and thus speeding up the registry and your computer.