This one item will probably remove half of your problems right away. Think about it, do you really need that video game that your kids installed two years ago? Removing the programs you don’t use will free up space on your hard drive, giving your computer more room to work with.

Here are the steps:

1) Click Start, click on “Control Panel” in the Start Menu.

2) Double-Click on “Add or Remove Programs” in the window that opens.

3) A new window will open, listing all the programs you have installed on your computer.



4) Scroll through the list of programs, look for anything that you do not recognize or that you have not used in a while and don’t need.

5) Click on the name of a program that you would like to remove; it will expand and show more details about the application.

6) On the right side of the highlighted application, there is a button labeled “Remove”, click it.

7) You will be asked to confirm that you would like to remove the selected application. Click on the ‘OK’ or ‘Yes’ button.

8) Each application is different, so you may be presented with an uninstall wizard. If this happens, follow the directions on the wizard and you should be through in no time.

9) Once the application has been removed, you may be prompted to restart your computer. Click ‘NO’ or ‘Restart Later’ – you want to keep uninstalling programs until you are down to the applications that you use on a regular basis.

10) You should be presented with the list of installed applications again, but with the application you previously selected removed from the list. You can now repeat steps 4 through 9 until you have removed all the applications you no longer need.

As a general rule, try to leave anything that reads “Microsoft” or “Windows” alone. There are several utilities on this list that Windows needs to function properly, so it is best just to leave those alone unless you know for sure that you can remove them from your computer safely. When in doubt, contact an expert.