In my last article, I suggested (strongly) that you uninstall unused programs via the control panel Add/Remove programs applet. There can be a couple of side effects to this operation. Neither will effect computer operation but can cause confusion at some later date. The first, and most common, is that the uninstalled program folder structure (usually located in the Program Files folder) is left intact. It should be deleted. The second is that the program name remains in the Add/Remove program list. To remove this requires that the registry be edited. For most users I suggest that the listing be ignored. If you must remove it the entry (in XP) is at: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
Microsoft\Windows\CurentVersion\Unistall. Remember, if you edit the registry make a Restore Point prior to editing so you can recover from a mistake.

Now that we have removed the programs we don't use, it is time to look at those we do. Do we use the programs to their fullest or do we use two programs (or more) to do what one could? The most likely candidates are graphics programs. We get them with cameras, scanners, CD Rom or DVD writers, printers and just about every other accessory we buy. I even got one with an IDE to USB drive converter. If you follow the standard installation instructions, you will have installed most of them. What is not pointed out is that any one of them will serve most of your needs. Even better, a program called IrfranView (a free program) will serve them even better (Online Editor's Note: Download IrfanView here.) IrfranView is a viewer, editor, screen capture and graphic file manager as well as playing many multimedia files. If your needs are basically a few graphics for various purposes and photos from a digital camera, IrfranView will provide 90% or more of the capabilities you need. The only thing it lacks is pixel level editing. If you want to remove blemishes or spots from a graphic, you will need one of those other graphics programs. In effect any of them will do if your need is not great. Even Window Paint might be adequate. There are commercial programs that do the same as IrfranView but in my opinion, they are slow and cumbersome in comparison.

If you want to do more extensive work on photos or even create your own graphics, you'll need a more capable Graphics program, Adobe Photo Elements, Paint Shop Pro, or even Adobe Photoshop (way to expensive for most of us) would be suitable. If you want to stick to the free route, a program called The Gimp (current version 2.01) is available and is reputed to be the equivalent or better than the first two. (Online Editor's Note: Download The Gimp here.) It does not follow the conventional windows pattern and is said to have a fairly stiff learning curve. No one needs more than the two program types mentioned unless you're into special tasks like greeting card or publishing. In that event you'll probably want programs specifically tasked for those purposes.

If you're into video, you will need an appropriate program or programs. I have no experience in this area so I can't make any suggestions. There is one thing about video files. They tend to be very large and the Fat32 file system has a maximum file size limit of 4.0 gigs. Many movies files are larger and can cause unexplained problems if downloaded. If you are using XP go to the NTFS (New Technology File System) file system. It has no such file size limits. The limit (in the terabyte range) is greater than any hard disk size that is likely to available be in the foreseeable future.

You will note that I concentrate on removing programs and not data files. Data files do not cause the performance of a computer to deteriorate except in the case of very large files (or many large files) present in the windows directory (this includes files on the desktop). (The windows folder is constantly checked by the operating system and reading large files will slow the system. If you have large data files there, move them elsewhere.) As long as there is sufficient free disk space, accumulation of data files will not cause computer performance to suffer. They do cause defragging time to increase greatly (it's long enough to begin with on big hard drives). They also cause drive image backup files (or any other type of backup for that matter) to be very large and backup times to be very long. Large data files are better archived (moved to some kind of storage media) as matter of good practice. This includes graphic files, music files, movies files, etc.. It is pointless to keep backing up files that do not change. Only those files which are used regularly or frequently modified should be kept on the system hard drive.

CAG