Regaining Control

kah22

Hi Guys - I'm trying to regain control of my laptop by removing all the un-necessary junk that has built up over the years.

Currently I've removed a number of programs that I very seldom use but I have a few questions about others found in the add/remove section of control panel

I've discover, for example that I've two copies of Office: Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 and Microsoft Office 97, Professional Edition. Both of which take up large amount of space - which one if any do I remove.

How did I come to have two editions of office I'm guessing my nephew who is a programmer put one of them on as his company gets free beta versions from Microsoft! Like all geeks though he is difficult to understand at times

Another thing I've notice is with updates. Again to give a particular example. I have Java(TM) 6 update 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 14! Can I get rid of all but Java(TM) 6 update 14?

And one final question. I know there are a lot of programs that end up running in the background and these slow the system up at a great deal. I know also that you can go to start-run-myconfig and stop certain programs from running in the background e.g. I very seldom use Adobe Reader so I've stopped it running in the background. But there are quite a number there and my fear would be that I remove something that is essential. Can anyone tell me if there are a list of essential or useful programs that I should not remove. Or is it really a matter of trial and error.

Many thanks for taking the time to read my question and thanks in advance for any answers.

Kevin

Jaffa.

kah22 wrote: »

I've discover, for example that I've two copies of Office: Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 and Microsoft Office 97, Professional Edition. Both of which take up large amount of space - which one if any do I remove.

How did I come to have two editions of office I'm guessing my nephew who is a programmer put one of them on as his company gets free beta versions from Microsoft! Like all geeks though he is difficult to understand at times

Hi Kevin!
If the copy of Office 2003 is a beta version, then it would be best to remove it. Office 2003 came out in 2003 and beta means it's the first version of office and that version you have installed would be a potentially buggy and unstable copy (if it is beta)
Again, Office 97 came out in in 1997 so it's well past it's sell by date, and potentially a security issue. It would be worth removing this. Another option to look into would be completely removing Microsoft Office and installing OpenOffice - which is a free alternative, however, if you rely on Microsoft Office then your better off sticking with office IMO.

In a nutshell, I'm not even sure if your 2003 copy would be a beta copy as they tend to stop working a few months after release... I would just remove the Office 97 for now.

kah22 wrote: »

Another thing I've notice is with updates. Again to give a particular example. I have Java(TM) 6 update 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 14! Can I get rid of all but Java(TM) 6 update 14?

Yes. You can safely remove the old versions of Java.

kah22 wrote: »

And one final question. I know there are a lot of programs that end up running in the background and these slow the system up at a great deal. I know also that you can go to start-run-myconfig and stop certain programs from running in the background e.g. I very seldom use Adobe Reader so I've stopped it running in the background. But there are quite a number there and my fear would be that I remove something that is essential. Can anyone tell me if there are a list of essential or useful programs that I should not remove. Or is it really a matter of trial and error.

It depends what's running in the background. For program's you've installed, you could use MS Config, but you might end up doing more harm than good. You can use http://www.revouninstaller.com/ and remove programs from there, using revo uninstaller will make a tidy job and not leave anything behind or remove anything unnecessary.

There's nothing stopping you from backing up your data and re-installing Windows using your recovery cd's.

kah22

Hi Jaffa I've just added a big thank you to your profile for letting me know about Revo..

Revo ( http://www.revouninstaller.com/) seems a great program. I've only used some of the program but the machine is now running faster :T

Kevin