Curiousity Killed The Cat

[Uncle Joe]

This is not a major issue but it is one that's
made me curious for several months.

When I examine my "Joe" user account's
Document & Setting's "Programs" folder,
there's fewer programs in that folder than
appear when I check via Start > Programs.

Also checked the "Administrator" user's
Programs folder and it only contains a few
Win XP accessory programs -- and those
are duplicated in my "Joe" account's
programs folder.

I can't figure out where the extra programs
in Start > Programs are coming from. They
are all valid but arranged in folders
differently than in Joe's Programs folder.

Another mystery to me is that the
registry shows more applications than show
in my Add/Remove control panel. I
am almost certain that I deleted 99% of
those programs showing in the registry
but they're still there. I don't know how
to get rid of them. I've run several
registry utilities to "clean" the registry
but none have reported on the existence
of previously deleted applications being
in the registry.

 

[bxb7668]

Most start menu items are in the Documents & Settings All Users folder

 

[Uncle Joe]

Turned out that I have two "All user" folders.
One is "All Users" and it had virtually nothing
in it, but "All users.Windows" had the vast
majority of programs I've installed. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

This is not a major issue but it is one that's
made me curious for several months.

When I examine my "Joe" user account's
Document & Setting's "Programs" folder,
there's fewer programs in that folder than
appear when I check via Start > Programs.

Also checked the "Administrator" user's
Programs folder and it only contains a few
Win XP accessory programs -- and those
are duplicated in my "Joe" account's
programs folder.

I can't figure out where the extra programs
in Start > Programs are coming from. They
are all valid but arranged in folders
differently than in Joe's Programs folder.

Another mystery to me is that the
registry shows more applications than show
in my Add/Remove control panel. I
am almost certain that I deleted 99% of
those programs showing in the registry
but they're still there. I don't know how
to get rid of them. I've run several
registry utilities to "clean" the registry
but none have reported on the existence
of previously deleted applications being
in the registry.

You will only see programs listed in the Add/Remove Programs section if they
are 100% compliant with MS Windows. There are also many Dos and Windows
based programs which don't modify the Registry.

So, just because a program has been installed on your system doesn't mean it
will appear in the System Registry or in the Add/Remove Programs section.

Cordially,
Wayne H. Wilhelm
Personal Web: http://www.quadracalc.com

 

[Uncle Joe]

Thanks, Wayne, for the informative post.
Right now, I'm more concerned about
what to do about all the old programs
that were previously deleted. Suppose
I should just let sleeping dogs lie, but
it concerns me that registry entries
for about 20 deleted programs remain
in the registry. Most were trials that
were deleted over a year ago. Guess
those app's uninstall code was faulty.

 

[johnf]

Try running 'RegSupreme' & see if that helps. It's quite safe as it creates
a Restore for everything deleted.
http://www.macecraft.com/

 

[Heather]

Or the old version by JV which is 1.3, IIRC.......I will have a peek.
OK..jv16 PowerTools, version 1.3.0.195. It too makes backups and was his
free version before he sold it to Macecraft. Try Googling for it. It may
be on www.oldversion.com as well.

Btw, BJ......can I use the old Microsoft RegClean 4.1 on XP?? I have it on
here, but had this gut hunch that I shouldn't use it.

Cheers, Figgs (who is still looking for an email from Oz, grin)