Remove Stubborn Uninstall Entries from Already Uninstalled Programs

Inexplicably, even after you've uninstalled some programs, their entries still remain listed in the Add or Remove Programs dialog box. As time goes on, it's easy for you to forget what programs you've uninstalled, so when you see their entries there you'll assume the programs are still on your hard disk, but when you try to uninstall them you'll receive an error message. There's an easy way to remove those entries. First, try to uninstall the program from the Add or Remove Programs dialog box. If it doesn't uninstall, run the Registry Editor and open \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. Look for the entry of the uninstalled program (it will be the program name) and delete it. In some instances, instead of the program name, you'll see an entry like this: {3075C5C3-0807-4924-AF8F-FF27052C12AE}. In that case, open the DispayName subkey in that entry; it should have the name of the program—in this instance, Norton Antivirus 2002. When you find the proper entry, delete it. For safety's sake, make a backup of Registry keys before deleting them.

Remove Access to Certain Microsoft Programs

As part of a settlement in a federal antitrust case, Microsoft was forced to allow non-Microsoft programs to be the default applications for certain uses, such as email, web browsing, and digital entertainment. Users also had to be allowed to remove access to Microsoft programs that accomplished those tasks. That ruling came well after Windows XP was shipped, though, so many copies of XP don't allow you to do that. However, if you have a later version of XP, or if you have installed the Windows XP Service Pack 1 (also called SP-1), your copy of the operating system has those capabilities.

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To find out if you have SP-1, right-click on My Computer and look on the General tab. The words "Service Pack 1" will be there if you have SP-1 installed.

To remove access to Microsoft programs, first find out if your system has the capabilities. Choose Start → Control Panel → Add or Remove Programs and see whether the Add or Remove Programs dialog box contains a button in the left pane titled Set Program Access and Default. If it does, you can remove access to Microsoft programs. Click that button. You'll find three choices: Microsoft Windows, Non-Microsoft, and Custom. Click on the double-down arrow next to any choice to see more details.

If you choose Microsoft Windows, then your default programs for web browsing, email, instant messaging, digital entertainment, and accessing Java applications will all be Microsoft programs. If you choose Non-Microsoft, the defaults will be the non-Microsoft programs that your computer manufacturer installed on your PC. If you choose Custom, you can pick and choose between Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications, as shown in .

Keep in mind that "Remove access" doesn't mean the same as deleting the program. It only means that the icon for the program will be removed. For example, if you remove access to Internet Explorer, it won't actually be deleted from your hard disk; you merely won't be able to see its icon. Also, be aware that not all email, instant messaging, digital entertainment, and web browsing programs will show up on the non-Microsoft or Custom lists, so you won't necessarily be able to use this screen to set them as your defaults.

All this means that the best use for the Set Program Access and Default dialog box is to remove the icons of some Microsoft programs; it doesn't offer a lot of functionality beyond that.