Inside Out in C#.NET

Create QR Code JIS X 0510 in C#.NET Inside Out

Correct the usage data When you select an item in the list of currently installed programs, Windows displays the program s size, its frequency of use, and the date it was last used at least it s supposed to. That information is often incomplete and inaccurate, however. The size is provided by the program s installer; Windows makes no attempt to verify its accuracy. Some installers, particularly older ones, don t provide size information, so this section is blank. Frequency of use is shown as one of three values: Rarely (for items that have been used fewer than three times in the last 30 days), Occasionally (items that have been used from three to ten times in the last 30 days), or Frequently (items that have been used more than ten times). Unfortunately, Windows does a poor job of tracking usage, and these values are wrong as often as not. Similarly, the date last used is not always recorded correctly. What can you do to get more accurate information It sometimes (but not always) helps to remove the registry keys that Add Or Remove Programs reads when you open it. If the keys don t exist, it rebuilds them from a variety of other nooks and crannies in the registry. Here s how you force Windows to rebuild these keys:

1 Use a registry editor to back up the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\

2 Delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Management\

to first rebuild the ARPCache key.)

of ARPCache, and then restore the backup you created at the beginning of this excursion to the inner workings of Add Or Remove Programs.

Service Pack 2 adds a tiny, but welcome, improvement to the Add Or Remove Programs dialog box shown in Figure 4-1 on page 111. The Show Updates check box toggles the appearance of service packs, hotfixes, and other items installed by Windows Update in the list of

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Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out, Second Edition installed programs. These updates appear as subentries indented below the program they update. Over a period of time, Windows Updates adds dozens of items to the list, and these rarely removed items add lots of clutter, sometimes making it more difficult to find a program that you want to update or remove.

To remove an installed Windows program, open the Add Or Remove Programs dialog box from Control Panel, select the program s entry in the list on the Change Or Remove Programs page, and click the Remove or Change/Remove button. Caution

Click the Remove button at your own risk. Although most installer programs are courteous enough to ask your permission before launching the uninstaller program, some programs simply remove themselves, immediately and without any further prompting.

Here are some basic facts you should know about uninstalling programs:

logged on. For safety s sake, you should always completely log off any other user accounts before attempting to remove a program.

Most uninstall programs leave at least a few traces of the program behind, either inad-

vertently or by design. For instance, programs that create data files typically do not remove custom user settings and data files as part of the uninstall process.

were originally installed with a Windows compatible setup program. Some programs (typically utilities) work by copying their files to a folder. In this case, you uninstall the program by manually removing its files and any shortcuts.

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in the list of installed programs, even after it has successfully removed all traces of the program itself. To remove an item from the list in this case, remove entries manually, using Registry Editor. Detailed instructions are available in Knowledge Base article 314481, How to Manually Remove Programs from the Add or Remove Programs Tool.