Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual

Add or Remove Programs

This program, freshly overhauled in Windows XP, is described at length in Chapter 6. Its panels offer several important software-management functions:

• Change or Remove Programs. This tab displays a list of every program you’ve installed onto your PC. To remove one from your system, click its name and then click the Remove button.

• Add New Programs. You won’t need the first option here (“Add a program from CD-ROM or floppy disk”) very often, because most software programs come with their own installers. Using the CD or Floppy button is just a roundabout way of launching the installer on the disk you’ve inserted.

  The Windows Update button here, however, is useful indeed—it takes you directly to the Microsoft Web page that displays which updates, bug fixes, and patches Microsoft has released for your version of Windows XP. Of course, if you’ve left the Automatic Updates feature turned on (Section 9.23.4.3), this option won’t be necessary, since newly released patches and updates will tell you that they’re available.

• Add/Remove Windows Components. Think of this tab as a miniature version of the Windows XP Installer described in Appendix A. It lets you install a new Windows XP software component without having to reinstall all of Windows.

• Set Program Access and Defaults. This option (available only if you have Service Pack 1 installed) is described on page 184.