Daze N. Knights said:
That's a reasonable argument. But I like to keep options open and
available, even uninstallation of Windows updates, which sometimes have
problems that may not always become apparent until sometime down the line.
Since the programs list is alphabetized and all the Windows updates are
grouped together near the bottom, I have no problem with my list becoming
"clogged," even though I keep a very large number of programs installed.
Personally, I see no reason to eliminate any entries that could
possibly--even remotely so--be needed some day. But each to his/her own,
of course.
I think it is a matter of personal preference and each person should
do whatever makes them feel comfortable. Your argument is just as
valid as mine and, although it does not work for me, it may work for
someone else. Personally, I have never had to uninstall a Windows
update and if a problem does not become apparent until somewhere
down the line, it is going to be with a program that I don't use very
often and probably won't care about.
I did one time need to uninstall Windows XP Service Pack 2, on
my computer at work, as it messed up a program that I used quite
frequently. It was still in the add/remove list, so I uninstalled it and
my program was still messed up. Uninstalling it obviously did not
remove everything that it had installed, which makes me wonder
just how well all those other update uninstalls will work. I wasted
half a day trying to figure out what was messing with the program
and then said the hell with it, reimaged the hard drive, installed my
programs that were not on the image, and was back in business in
about an hour.
By the way I am a computer technician with over 1000 computers
on our network and I have never had to uninstall an update on any
computer. Also those uninstalls do not always completely uninstall
everything. I have uninstalled hundreds of programs and frequently
they leave directories, files, and registry entries behind. Don't rely
on them completely as sometimes you have to do a little manual
cleanup.
Joe