How to change or remove a program in Windows XP

This article describes how to use the Add or Remove Programs tool to change or to remove a program that is installed on your Windows XP-based computer.

How to change an installed program

Note You cannot use this feature to modify all programs.

You can use this feature to change the installation of Windows Installer-based programs such as Microsoft Office XP. Windows Installer-based programs include a Maintenance Mode option. With this option, you can add or remove features, change the installation state of the program or of individual components, or repair and restore the installation.

To change a program, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add or Remove Programs.
2. In the Currently installed programs box, click the program that you want to remove, and then click Change or Change/Remove.
3. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to make the changes that you want.

How to remove an installed program

To remove a program that is installed on your computer, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add or Remove Programs.
2. In the Currently installed programs box, click the program that you want to remove, and then click Remove.
3. If you are prompted to confirm the removal of the program, click Yes.

Troubleshooting

• Make sure that the program that you click in the Add or Remove Programs tool is the program that you want to remove from your computer. Some programs may not prompt you to confirm the removal before the program is removed from the computer.
• You can only remove a program with the Add or Remove Programs tool if the program is written for Windows. If you do not see the program that you want to remove in the Currently installed programs box, view the program documentation for instructions about how to remove it.

For more information about how to add programs by using Add or Remove Programs, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: