do not panic every thing will ask you that it is just the fail safe to make sure you did not click something accidentally. If it is a program you no longer use or need then go ahead and remove it. YOU must remove it totally you do not want bits and pieces left behind any more than it already does because that can cause conflicts and problems. which is why some programs have additional specific removal tools built for them. Such as McAfee and Norton, for those you do the regular add remove programs then from their website get and use their specific removal tool to get the bits and pieces then you still have to go through and delete some of the left behind folders.

but for most ordinary programs add remove does a good job.

If you do not know what it is then don't delete it with out doing some serious googling on it to see what it is.

If you know what it is and don't use it anymore then just do it. And remember to empty that recycle bin.

It will give you room back on your hard drive and depending on how crowded your hd is that could be beneficial, it may or may not speed up your pc. Things that help there would be looking in your startup menu and seeing exactly what is starting up when the computer boots, many times there are things in there that do not have to start up at bootup. but that is a place you definitely need to do some research on what each of the .exe listed there controls.

The thing that will speed up your pc most is adding RAM memory if you can and since it is pretty cheap and easy to do it is the best way to breathe new life in to the pc.
AND make sure you open the side of the pc(disconnected from power) and clean out those dust bunnies on a regular basis.

PS in add remove do NOT remove any of the MS hotfixes or updates.

Thanks again Raven. I did clear out some of the stuff from add/remove but I did notice there were quite a few Javas running and I don't know if I'm supposed to remove the older ones and keep the newer ones or what. I just left them for now. And about dusting out the tower, do I have to disconnect everything from the back or just unplug from the electrical outlet and leave everything else connected to the tower? I guess the man that worked on my computer cleaned it out for me so I'm not sure what to do. Again, thanks. BT

you should only have the most current version of java in your add remove list the reason you remove them is because they are security vulnerbilities. There is a neat little program called javaRa that will do that for you, you can go to start, control panel, Java then the update tab and click update, if there is a new one go ahead and get it but watch carefully they now try to pass some extras to you that you do not want so make sure any toolbars or office programs are not selected just the java update. Take note of what the number is on the new version then go to add remove and remove all the others or get JavaRa and it can do it for you.
{{gwi:1481807}}
JavaRa 1.11

why using javaRa is better? it really get out all the bits and pieces well.

I just disconnect from the power but I do disconnect every thing from the power that is also connected to my pc, like the router, printer etc. Be careful in there, use some canned air to blow it out. If he recently cleaned it then it may not need it

ravencajun,
Thanks for the above advice . I did remove old Java's that were running , with add /remove and it sounded as though quite a bit was removed. Where does all of this go ( not to appear TOO stupid ) ? I did go to my recycle bin after, but nothing was there to empty.
salbwil

The files really don't go anywere an can be actually be recovered by special software,

The pointer to the file's blocks on the hard drive is added to the free-space list in the file directory, and this space, ''may'', eventually, be re-used for new files.

I may have overdone something. Leave it to me. I wanted to make some birthday cards and now they don't seem to work. Well, I will try and solve the problem. I don't know how to re-install them as I didn't keep the directions. They must have been in a folder that I deleted???? Thought I was being so careful. This machine has outsmarted me so many times I'm ready to quit. Course then I couldn't communicate with all of you out there who are so helpful, so that idea is out. BT

check your trash bin see if maybe it might still be there?

Some applications use a specific version of Java. I personally would not advocate the removal of old Java versions for that reason. Is there documentation or a forum for support of that software? It may be as simple as reinstalling the correct version, unless you really did delete a needed folder.

What program are/were you using to create your birthday cards? Too many programs store things the user has created within the program itself. I do not allow this because if you then remove that program all your own creations are gone too. I create a folder elsewhere, My Office program is have set to save a /Data sub folder of My documents. Then inside that I have 2 folders for Word and XL with each having the sub folders as needed. That way my data is safe. This is repeated for any program I use.