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Chapter 5 Adding, Removing and Managing Programs. In this chapter, we’ll discuss how to add, remove, update, and manage applications in Windows 7. Dealing with User Account Control. To install a program, you need administrative credentials.
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Chapter 5Adding, Removing and Managing Programs In this chapter, we’ll discuss how to add, remove, update, and manage applications in Windows 7.
Dealing with User Account Control • To install a program, you need administrative credentials. • If you install a program while running under an administrative account, a UAC prompt will request your consent for the actions the installer is about to undertake. If you install while running under a standard account, you will be asked to supply the name and password of an administrative user.
Windows 7 employs installer-detectiontechnology to determine when you have launched an installation process. This technology enables the operating system to request credentials at the time the process is launched, rather than waiting until the installer actually attempts to write to a protected location.
The system presumes that any process with a file name containing particular keywords (such as install, setup, or update) or any process whose data includes particular keywords or byte sequences is going to need elevated privileges to complete its work, so the UAC prompt appears as soon as the installer process begins. After you have satisfied the UAC mechanism, the process runs in the security context of TrustedInstaller, a system-generated account that has access to the appropriate secure locations.
Dealing with Compatibility Issues • Most recent application programs should install and run without problems in Windows 7. • Certain older ones might not. • Windows 7 attempts to recognize potential compatibility problems before you install.
Figure 5-1 Windows flags some potential compatibility problems and recommends solutions before you install.
If an installation routine runs but fails for any reason to complete successfully (in some cases, even if you simply cancel out of the setup process), you will likely see a Program Compatibility Assistant message, comparable to the one shown in Figure 5-2.
In some cases, a program written for an earlier version of Windows might install successfully but still not run well. In such situations, the Program Compatibility troubleshooter is your friend. This wizard lets you take measures designed to convince your program that it’s running in the environment for which it was designed.
To run the Program Compatibility troubleshooter, open Programs in Control Panel. Then, under Programs And Features, click Run Programs Made For Previous Versions Of Windows. • The wizard will try to detect which program or programs are giving you problems, but if it doesn’t find them, you can choose from a list of running programs. Then follow the step-by-step instructions.
Set a restore point • The setup routines for most recent programs automatically create a restore point before making any changes to your system. A restore point is a snapshot of your current system state. If an installation destabilizes your system, you can use System Restore to return to the snapshot state.
The installers for some older programs do not create restore points, unfortunately, and it is precisely these older programs that present the most potential hazard. If you’re about to install a program that’s not of recent vintage (say, one written for Windows 9x), it’s not a bad idea to create a restore point manually before you begin. (Open System And Security in Control Panel, click System, click System Protection in the left pane, and then click Create. Bring along your administrative credentials.)
With some programs, you can go straight to the Program Compatibility troubleshooter by right-clicking the program’s shortcut on the Start menu (or the desktop) and choosing Troubleshoot Compatibility:
As an alternative to using the Program Compatibility wizard, you can modify the properties of the program’s shortcut. Open the Start menu, find the program you want to adjust, right-click its Start-menu entry, and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. Then click the Compatibility tab. Figure 5-3 shows an example of what you’ll see.
Select the Run This Program In Compatibility Mode For check box, and choose one of the available operating system options. Use the Settings options to deal with programs that experience video problems when run at higher resolutions and color depths.
Some programs work properly only when run with administrative privileges. • You can get these programs to run properly by selecting Run This Program As An Administrator. Although the program runs, it’s not without some inconvenience: you’ll need to respond to a UAC elevation prompt every time you run the program.
Managing Startup Programs Setting up a program to run automatically when you start Windows is easy. If the program’s installer doesn’t offer to do this for you (many do) and you want the program to run every time you begin a Windows session, create a shortcut for the program in the Startup folder of your Start menu. Here’s one good way to do it: 1. Open the Start menu, choose All Programs, right-click Startup, and then choose either Open (to create a shortcut for your user account only) or Open All Users (to create a shortcut for all accounts at your computer). This will open the appropriate Startup folder in Windows Explorer. 2. On the Start menu, find the item that you want to launch automatically when you start Windows. 3. Drag the item to the Startup folder.
Controlling Startup Programs with the System Configuration Utility The problem that many users have with startup programs is not with creating them, but getting rid of them. Having too many startup programs not only makes your system take a longer time to start, it also has the potential to waste memory. If you don’t require a program at startup, it’s a good idea to get it out of your startup path. • Unfortunately, tracking down programs that start automatically isn’t as easy as you might think. A program can be configured to run at startup in many ways, not just by having a shortcut in a Startup folder.
Figure 5-8 To disable a startup item in System Configuration, clear its check box.
To run System Configuration, type msconfig in the Start menu’s search box, and then press Enter. Click the Startup tab to see what your system is busy doing at startup, and clear the check boxes for any items you want to disable. After you disable one or more items, those items will appear at the bottom of the list (in the default sort order) the next time you run System Configuration, and the date and time of their disabling will appear in the column at the right.
open the Start menu, choose All Programs, Accessories, and then System Tools, and run System Information. In the left pane of the System Information window, open Software Environment, and then click Startup Programs.
Managing Running Programs and Processes with Windows Task Manager • Windows Task Manager is a tool that serves two essential purposes. You can use it to track aspects of your system’s performance, and you can use it to see what programs and processes are running and terminate items when the normal shutdown methods aren’t working.
The easiest way to run Windows Task Manager is by means of its keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+Shift+Esc. Figure 5-9 shows the Applications tab and Processes tab of Windows Task Manager.
For each process, Windows Task Manager includes the following information by default: Image Name (the name of the process), User Name (which user started the process), CPU (the percentage of the CPU’s capacity that the process is currently using), Memory (Private Working Set) (the amount of memory the process requires to perform its regular functions), and Description (a text field identifying the process). To display additional information for each process, open the View menu and choose Select Columns. • If you need to shut down a process, select it and click End Process.
Running a Program as an Administrator or Another User • You can run a program as an administrator by right-clicking any shortcut for the program (in the Start menu or elsewhere), choosing Run As Administrator, and satisfying the UAC prompt with either consent or credentials. (Ctrl+Shift+Enter)
Uninstalling Programs • To remove an installed Windows program, open Control Panel and click Uninstall A Program (you’ll find that under the Programs heading). The list of uninstallable programs that appears does not include usage information, but it does list the size of each program. Click the program you want to remove, or select it and click Uninstall/Change.
Here are some basic facts you should know about uninstalling programs: Windows 7 warns you if you attempt to remove a program while other users are logged on. For safety’s sake, you should always completely log off any other user accounts before attempting to remove a program. Many uninstall programs leave a few traces of the programs behind, either inadvertently or by design. For instance, programs that create data files typically do not remove custom user settings and data files as part of the uninstall process.
You can remove programs from Control Panel only if they were originally installed with a Windows-compatible setup program. Some older programs and simple utilities work by copying their files to a folder. In this case, you uninstall the program by manually removing its files and shortcuts. In some cases, a poorly written uninstall routine might leave a phantom entry behind in the list of installed programs, even after it has successfully removed all traces of the program itself. To remove an item from the list in this case, remove entries manually, using Registry Editor. Detailed instructions are available in Knowledge Base article 314481, “How to Manually Remove Programs from the Add or Remove Programs Tool” (w7io.com/0504).
Setting Default Programs, File Type Associations, and AutoPlay Options • Most of the programs you use in Windows are associated with particular file types and protocols. These associations are what enable you, for example, to double-click a Windows Media Audio (.wma) file in Windows Explorer and have your favorite audio program play the file; or click an internet hyperlink in a document or e-mail message and have your favorite web browser take you to the appropriate website.
The Windows setup program establishes many of these associations for you when the operating system is installed. The setup programs for various applications also create associations with the file types those programs can use.
You can inspect and alter current defaults by clicking Default Programs, on the right side of the Start menu, or opening Control Panel, clicking Programs, and then clicking Default Programs. Either way, you arrive at the section of Control Panel shown in Figure 5-10.
If you right-click a file in Windows Explorer and choose Open With from the shortcut menu, the programs that appear in the submenu are those that appear in the file type’s Recommended Programs list, as shown in Figure 5-15.In Figure 5-17, for example, we’ve right-clicked a .bmp file in Windows Explorer and chosen Open With, and we’re presented with Paint, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Media Center, and Windows Photo Viewer—the same four programs that appear in the Recommended Programs section of Figure 5-15.
