Add/Remove Programs list. It is full of broken links.
The only way to remove them is to open up the Registry
and try to figure out where the Uninstall entries are.
I'm too lazy to do this more than once a year, so I
wrote Add/Remove Pro.
There is no need to install Add/Remove Pro (I would
hate for it to appear on the Add/Remove Programs list).
Just run Addrempr.exe. You can run it from anywhere,
a diskette, a zip file, or the hard drive. It will
show all of the entries in the Add/Remove Programs list
of the Registry and if they are valid entries.
There are two terms that you need to understand:
Entry and Link. Entry is the items in the list. Each
Entry has additional information in the Registry about
how to uninstall it. An Uninstall String is usually
part of this information. This is a Link to an
uninstall program and information.
Add/Remove Pro checks the Link to see if it points
to available files and if not, if the destination drive
may be a removable disk that isn't present.
Below are the Different Messages that Add/Remove
Pro returns.
Select Entry
If nothing is selected, this message will be
displayed.
I recommend that you click on the first entry
and use the down arrow key to scroll down through the
list one at a time checking the validity of each Entry.
No Link
There is no link information with this entry. In
other words this entry in the Registry has no Uninstall
command.
I removed these by pressing the Remove Entry button.
Maybe this was not the correct thing to do, but why else
would the entries be there? I want a clean registry.
Broken Link
The Link for this Entry points to a nonexistent
location. This is probably because you already
uninstalled it or deleted it. This Entry does nothing
but take up space.
If you want to, you can press the Uninstall Program
button just to make sure that the link is broken. An
uninstall program may startup but there is probably no
uninstall information for the program to process and so
it will return an error.
I recommend that you press the Remove Entry button
to remove it from the Add/Remove Programs list in the
Registry.
Missing Disk
The Link of this Entry points to information on a
removable disk (CD, Diskette, etc.) that is not present.
I recommend if you do not want this program on your
Removable Disk that you insert the Disk and press
the Uninstall Program button to uninstall it.
If you do not want this Entry on the Add/Remove
Programs list then press the Remove Entry button
Good Link
This signifies a good Entry. The Link for it points
to an Uninstall program and information.
I recommend if you do not want this program on your
computer that you press Uninstall Program to uninstall
it, otherwise, leave it alone and let it be.
Both the Uninstall Program button and the Remove
Entry button will prompt you before doing anything.
After uninstalling a program the Uninstall Program
button will change to Refresh List. Press it and the
list will be reloaded.
Changes to v. 1.01
I had Add/Remove Pro set up so that it listed everything in the Uninstall folder of the Registry, but someone has informed me that that was not a good thing. Some things are not meant for you to know or tamper with. So now only the entries that have a DisplayName key are displayed.
I added a button up next to the Title that will add an icon for Add/Remove Pro to the Start Menu. If an icon is already there, pressing the button will remove it. If you put the cursor over the button, a hint will popup telling whether it will place or remove the icon.
Changes to v. 1.02
It seems that not all Links were checked correctly. I have corrected this.
NOTICE
Removing entries from the registry will not
decrease the size of the registry until the Registry is
exported and rebuilt. WinRescue can perform this. It's
process for doing this is called RegPack.
WinRescue is Shareware and may be downloaded from
our website at http://superwin.com/.
I recommend that before you do anything to the
registry that you back it up with WinRescue. If
Windows95/98 crashes, WinRescue can restore it in
minutes. WinRescue can return the registry to a
previous configuration, make and restore backups, and
rebuild the registry. For more information go to our
website at http://superwin.com/rescue.htm.
This software is freeware and may be distributed
freely as long as it is distributed in its entirety.