How to Manually Remove Programs from the Add/Remove Programs List

This article applies to Windows 2000. Support for Windows 2000 ends on July 13, 2010. The Windows 2000 End-of-Support Solution Center is a starting point for planning your migration strategy from Windows 2000. For more information see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy.

Summary

This article describes how to manually remove items from the Add/Remove Programs tool if the item is still displayed after you try to remove the item from Add/Remove Programs.

More Information

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
Programs that are compatible with Windows may have an uninstallation program or feature. The Add/Remove programs tool lists all of the Windows-compatible programs that have an uninstall program or feature. You may need to manually remove the program from the Add/Remove Programs list if you uninstall a program and the registry key that is used to display the program name is not removed correctly:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then press ENTER.

Locate and click the following registry key:

After you click the Uninstall registry key, click Export Registry File on the Registry menu.

In the Export Registry File dialog box, click Desktop in the Save in box, type uninstall in the File name box, and then click Save.

Each key under Uninstall represents a program that appears in Add/Remove Programs. To determine which program that each key represents, click the key, and then view the following values:

DisplayName — the value data for the DisplayName key is the name that is listed in Add/Remove Programs

UninstallString — the value data for the UninstallString key is the program that is used to uninstall the program

After you identify the registry key that represents the program that is still in Add/Remove Programs, right-click the key, and then click Delete.

After you delete the key, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.

In Add/Remove Programs, verify that the program for which you deleted the registry key is not listed.

How to manage/remove startup Programs in Windows 7

«knwetlk» wrote in message news:c2ff3fd1-3e32-46d9-9522-ec05034a2db1.

> How do I manage programs that startup on Windows 7

First, note that you should be concerned with *all* programs that start
automatically, not just with those that go into the system tray. Not all
autostarting programs manifest themselves by an icon in the tray.

On each program you don’t want to start automatically, check its Options to
see if it has the choice not to start (make sure you actually choose the
option not to run it, not just a «don’t show icon» option). Many can easily
and best be stopped that way. If that doesn’t work, run MSCONFIG from the
Start | Run line, and on the Startup tab, uncheck the programs you don’t
want to start automatically.

However, if I were you, I wouldn’t do this just for the purpose of running
the minimum number of programs. Despite what many people tell you, you
should be concerned, not with how *many* of these programs you run, but
*which*. Some of them can hurt performance severely, but others have no
effect on performance.

Don’t just stop programs from running willy-nilly. What you should do is
determine what each program is, what its value is to you, and what the cost
in performance is of its running all the time. You can try google searches
and ask about specifics here.

Once you have that information, you can make an intelligent informed
decision about what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.

—
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003

Indiana University Indiana University Indiana University

Prevent programs from starting automatically in Windows 10 or 8.x

Before you begin

Often, a program starts automatically because of a shortcut in the Startup folder in the Start menu. The program may also run automatically from a registry entry. To remove programs from automatic startup, follow these instructions in order. After completing each set of steps, reboot your device to see if the problem is fixed. If necessary, you can then continue to the next set of instructions.

Remove a shortcut

To remove a shortcut from the Startup folder:

Press Win-r . In the «Open:» field, type:

Right-click the program you don’t want to open at startup and click Delete .

If a shortcut you want in the Startup folder is pointing to the wrong program, correct it as follows:

1. In the Startup folder, right-click the appropriate icon and select Properties .
2. Click the Shortcut tab. In the «Target:» field, verify that the path statement points to the filename of the correct program. If it does not, enter the accurate path to the program.

Disable items not in the Startup folder

Some startup items have no shortcut in the Startup folder. You can disable these with either the Startup tasks tool in Settings or the Task Manager. Otherwise, they are only accessible through the registry. If you are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with registry editing, use these utilities.

Startup tasks

1. In the Windows search box, type startup tasks , and press Enter .
2. The window that opens will contain a list of applications that may start when your device boots. To disable an app, toggle the switch to Off .

Task Manager

Remove a registry entry

To remove a startup entry from the registry:

1. Press Win-r . In the «Open:» field, type regedit and press Enter .
2. To save a backup copy of the registry, from the File menu, select Export. .
   1. Make sure to note the file’s destination; by default, it will be saved on the desktop.
   2. Give the file an obvious name, such as registry or regback , so that you’ll remember this file is your registry backup.
   3. In the «Export Range» field, make sure All is selected, and then click Save . This will make a backup of a working registry.
3. To expand HKEY LOCAL MACHINE , click the + (plus sign) to the left.
4. Expand the SOFTWARE tree. Then expand Microsoft , then Windows , and then CurrentVersion .
5. Highlight the Run folder. On the right side of the screen, you will see programs that are set to run on startup that might not be included in the Startup folder. Some of these may be important programs, such as antivirus programs or firewalls. There also may be undesirable or unnecessary programs, such as spyware and advertisement software. You’ll need to ascertain what is needed and what is not.
6. Highlight any program(s) you want to prevent from starting automatically, and then press the Del key. Remember that deleting programs here does not remove them from your computer; it only stops them from running automatically.
7. Changes to the registry are implemented immediately, so you do not need to save your changes. At this point, you may simply close the Registry Editor.

This is document adlf in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2020-01-14 05:02:22 .

How to Organize and Remove Apps from the Windows 10 Start Menu ‘All Apps’ List

The Windows 10 Start Menu introduces a newВ All Apps section that, by default, lists all of the applications installed on a user’s PC. Although quite similar in name to the “All Programs” list from Windows 7 and earlier, the Windows 10 All Apps list doesn’t function in the same way. It does not allow the user unable to manually add, remove, or rearrange applications directly via the Start Menu. Thankfully, there’s a workaround that brings some of this functionality back to the user, although it includes some important caveats. That said, here’s how to add, remove, and organize the All Apps list in Windows 10.

A Note About Universal Apps

The Windows 10 All Apps list is home to both traditional “desktop” apps as well as “universal” apps from the Windows Store. Unfortunately, the steps described in this tip apply only to desktop apps, and won’t work with universal apps. You can still remove a universal app from your Start Menu’s All Apps list, but you’ll need to uninstall it completely (right-click on the app’s entry in the Start Menu and selectВ Uninstall).

What are Universal Apps?

Microsoft has launched an initiative for all apps across their different platforms to be universal. This implies that apps in your Windows computer will also be compatible with Xbox, Windows phones,В and tablets. The software can be primarily downloaded through the Microsoft Store.

Although this limitation is restrictive, the relatively good news is that users can re-download purchased apps fromВ В В the Windows Store at any time, so the process of getting a universal app back if you regret uninstalling it later shouldn’t be a major issue. When it comes to desktop apps, however, the steps below demonstrate how you can, among other things, remove theirВ icons from your All Apps list while keeping the apps installed and fully functional.

Removing Apps from the All Apps List

To remove a desktop app from the Windows 10 Start Menu’s All Apps list, first head toВ Start > All Apps and find the app in question. Right-click on its icon and selectВ More > Open File Location.

Of note, you can only right-click on an application itself, and not a folder that the app might reside in. This doesn’t mean that you can’t remove or modify folders in the All Apps list (we’ll show you how in a moment), but you’ll need a specific application icon itself to get to the next step.

After clicking Open File Location, aВ new File Explorer window will appear showing you the application shortcut. Depending on whether the app is available to all users or limited to your own user account, you’ll be looking atВ one of the following directories, respectively:

Changes made to the contents of these directories will be reflected in the All Apps list. For example, we want to remove Microsoft Access 2016 from our All Apps list, but we don’t necessarily want to uninstall the application. Using the steps above, we can locate the Access 2016 shortcut in the corresponding “Programs” folder and delete it. When we open the Start Menu’s All Apps list again, the entry for Access 2016 will not show.

You can remove other applications, including folders, from File Explorer to get rid of any unwanted apps that would otherwise clutter up your All Apps list. Note, however, that there are certain system files and entries that you can see in File Explorer but not in your All Apps list. It’s best to leave any entries that don’t show up in the All Apps list alone in caseВ Windows or other applications rely on them.

Organizing Apps in the All Apps List

Rather thanВ deleting apps from the All Apps list, some users may prefer to organize their apps into folders; thus, reducing desktop clutter and making it look more organized. This can be accomplished by repeating the steps above to find the app’s shortcut location. Instead of deleting any apps, however, you can create a new folder (or use an existing folder) and simply drag and drop the appropriate apps into place.

For example, all of our Adobe Creative Cloud apps are listed in the top-level Programs folder, but we can move them all to an “Adobe” folder to clean up our All Apps list while still maintaining easy access to our Adobe apps.

Folders in the All Apps list don’t need to be limited to certain developers, of course. Users can create custom folders such as “Games” or “Work” and populate them with the desired list of apps. You can also rename apps or folders in File Explorer and have the changes reflected in your All Apps list.

Once you’re done organizing your Start Menu in Windows 10, you’ll be able to search and find content and apps faster than ever before.

Choose Which Apps Show in Your Start Menu

There are apps which your want to be readily available in your Start Menu for easy access. There is a way to customize your Start Menu to show all the available apps or just the ones you use most of the time. To do this, you have to:

1. Click the Start Menu.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Click Personalization, and adjust the settings you want to change.

How to Completely Remove Programs from Windows

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Do you uninstall software programs regularly? Are you sure you can completely remove them? As we know, when we install a piece of

software, it installs several files on the system, if you can’t remove them completely, they will make your computer run slowly or bring some

unexpected threads. In this article, we will talk about how to completely remove programs from Windows.

Step 1: Use Control Panel to uninstall a program

Click the Start button and go to the Control Panel, then click Uninstall a program. But in this way, you can only delete the main program file.

Step 2: Check the program files and AppData folders

1. Press Win + S, and type %programfiles% into the search box.

2. Check whether there are any folders that have the name of the uninstalled software. If yes, delete such folders.

3. Input %appdata% into Search. You will be taken to the AppData folder. And then repeat the item 2.

Step 3: Clean up registries

Please be noted that this step requires carefulness and make sure you delete the correct files only. If you delete something by mistake, it will

cause unexpected errors for windows. So, I strongly recommend you to use a reliable tool like Wise Registry Cleaner, which can help you

remove all the leftover keys and entries with one click, what’s more, it has free version.

After the above three steps, you can remove the unwanted program completely. However, if you are looking for an easier method that requires

no computer knowledge, you can have a try on Wise Program Uninstaller, which can force uninstall and remove any stubborn software easily.

After launching it, you will find it lists all installed applications in your system clearly.

Have you faced some stubborn, tough, abnormal and non-standard programs? If yes, you can use the “Forced Uninstall” feature.

After uninstallation, Wise Program Uninstaller will start to scan the related leftovers such as files, folders and registry entries. After that you

can remove them completely.

Any suggestions on how to delete unwanted programs, drop a commend below.