Windows XP Add/Remove Programs takes too long to load

Factual Questions
1

I remember back in the days of Windows 95/98 (and maybe a little later), the Add/Remove Programs interface loaded instantly. Now, with Win XP, it takes quite a while to “populate” the list of programs.

Is there any way to shorten the loading time or revert back to the old Add/Remove? I don’t need the time or size info that the new interface provides, I just want a quick way to get rid of programs…

2

Sorry, i don’t know of any way to chance the look of the tool, or make it load faster.

The slowest it’s ever loaded for me was, i guess, about 8-10 seconds. And i have a lot of programs on my computer.

If you’re uninstalling programs so often that this length of waiting time is a problem for you, i suggest that you think more carefully about what you install, so you don’t need to uninstall things so often. That should save you some time.

3

Well, I don’t install things THAT often so it’s not a big deal, but I was just wondering why it slowed down so much when previous versions of Windows could load it instantly with just as many programs.

4

Tweak XP has a much better interface for “add & remove programs” than the Windows default. It loads instantly, and gives you the option to remove programs or just remove entries from the list (the long list of Windows patches for example) so it only displays things you may want to delete.

5

Thank you, I downloaded that thing. But how do I use it to uninstall programs? I found the add/remove section, but that only removes an entry from the list and doesn’t actually uninstall the program?

6

I am using Windows XP SP2. My computer, an HP 6465, is old and only 433 Mhz and only has 256 Mb of ram. I just tried the Add/Remove feature and it takes me 25 seconds to load all the progarms listed. Seems OK to me.

7

Reply,

There’s a checkbox near the top of the add/remove display labeled “Show Updates”. If you uncheck that, all the service packs and security updates dissappear from the list.

I believe that speeds up the process.

8

Not sure if we have different versions (mine is registered full version), but to the right of the program list, there’s 3 buttons:

  • “Start Selecetd (un)installation”
  • “Remove Entry”
  • “Save Changes”

The first button will remove whatever program you select (well, it actually starts the program’s own un-installer).