This is a short article to show you How to Add/Hide Software in Add/Remove Programs. Have you noticed that some programs that you might want to remove do not show up in the Add/Remove Program of the Control Panel-- you know, those little programs you never use that ship with Windows XP? Sure, they're not taking up much space, and hard drives are cheap these days but it is the principle of the thing, right?
It appears that the only thing keeping you from uninstalling WordPad, Pinball, or other 'hidden' programs from the Add/Remove Program is one word in the sysoc.inf file. You can find sysoc.inf by navigating to C:Windows\INF\sysoc.inf in Windows Explorer.
To get to Windows Explorer you can:
- Right Click on Start.
- Click on Explorer.
Or, if you read last months article, you know that you can just hit the Window Key ( ) + E.
Once you find the file, right click on it and select OPEN WITH --> Notepad. You should see a list of programs. Interestingly enough most of the programs will be followed with the word "hide".
All you have to do is delete the word "hide," and save the file. Now when you go to Add/Remove programs, the unhidden programs will be there. When doing this you must be extremely careful and only SHOW those programs which you recognize.
Note that not every program can be removed just because you've unhidden it. For example you can't uninstall terminal services.
Do you have a question for the Tech No Fear column? Are you trying to figure out how to do something on your computer and pulling your hair out with it. Leave a comment with your question and Sheri will respond with an answer as soon as possible. |
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