I know I have some programs that have been downloaded to my computer i.e. yahoo! messenger. The problem is that I can’t find these files in order to delete them. I’ve looked through the Add/Remove program and they aren’t listed there. Also some of my programs won’t delete off my computer because it says it can’t find the install.log; how do I get rid of those programs? Thanks
Are you talking about programs you downloaded but not yet installed? Have you bothered to use the search function?
Or are you talking about programs and updates that download and install on their own without your intervention? One of the problems with some programs that have a Microsoft-centric approach is they will download and install on their own, and you have no say in the matter. It’s a Microsoft design thingie that annoys those who want to maintain control of their own computer.
I just tried to download Yahoo Messenger using Mozilla. It came up with a warning that automatic download is not supported by my computer. This is pure bunk. What it is really saying is the software cannot download, install and configure itself because I don’t use IE. I can manually download and install the program.
Even so, there will be programs that you download, are either installed automatically or you have to do it manually, and they will not show up in the Add/Remove. Again, it’s the software manufacturer’s attempt at saying they know how to do this better than you.
Other than Messenger, what programs did you download?
they were just computer up keep tools from download.com
well, unless one knows the specific programs, there is no way to assess whether that automatically installed or you still have them on your hard drive waiting to be installed. You made no note of the downloaded file names?
Well for those, you have two options:
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Download and install them again, then use “Add\Remove” to remove them. This (usually) works, but not always.
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You can delete the folder where the programs were installed. This is usually (but not always) C:\Program Files\PROGRAM (or COMPANY) NAME. The problem with this method is that you’ll probably be leaving information behind in the Registry that needs to be cleaned up. The problem with THAT is that you don’t know where said information is located. For example, you can search the Registry for “Real” or “RealPlayer” and get a lot of the Registry references out, but most of RealPlayer’s information is located under keys marked “RealNetworks”.
My advice to you - if option 1 doesn’t work and you want to try option 2 - is to go to the software vendor’s website and searching the “support” or “knowledge base” database for “manually uninstalling PROGRAM NAME”.
Lastly, if you don’t know where the program was installed but still have working icons to them on the Start Menu or Desktop, right-click the shortcut and select “Properties” - the program will be located in the folder specified in the “Target” box.
This option also offers the convenient “Find Target” button, which opens a Windows Explorer window for the folder where the target executable is located, so you don’t have to manually navigate to the specified folder.