Applications use memory, hard disk, and processor resources
as a minimum. A simple change in an application setup can make a big
difference in system performance. As a minimum, you can remove applications
you don’t need to save hard drive space and, in some cases, prevent
the application from executing automatically. Windows is one of the
worst offenders when it comes to installing excess applications that
you don’t need or want. The “Controlling Microsoft Additions You Don’t
Want” section of Chapter 4 tells you how to remove
excess Windows applications from your system, including a number of
hidden applications that Microsoft doesn’t necessarily want you to
see. The easiest application element to control is fonts. I’m often
surprised at how many fonts an application installs on my system
even though I haven’t asked it to. In some cases, the application
actually uses the font to create a special display, but in many cases,
the setup program installs the fonts to support the samples that
come with the application or simply because the vendor assumes you
want them. The “Removing Fonts You Don’t Need” section of Chapter
4 shows you how to view and optionally remove the fonts you don’t
need on your system. Even this seemingly small change can net a large
return in hard drive space.
TIP Many users will install the application with
the samples, list the fonts the samples use, and then remove both
the samples and their associated fonts once they’ve explored the samples
sufficiently. Fonts are also one of the easiest files to restore to
your system. Even if you accidentally remove one you need, the application
will usually display an error message to tell you which one it does
need. Consequently, optimizing your font setup is one of the best
ways to get a little hard drive space back and potentially some memory
too.
Part of the problem with today’s application setup
is that the vendor thinks their product is so good that you’ll want
to use every feature — most users don’t need even half of the features
provided by a typical application, so the extra features just consume
memory and hard drive space. The “Tweaking Application Feature Sets”
section of Chapter 4 helps you uncover application setup problems
and correct them as needed.
Most people don’t realize that applications have two
other problems. First, the vendor assumes that you want to retain
all of those setup files on your system even though you’ll never need
them again and they’re readily available on the CD. The “Removing
Application Installation Crumbs” section of Chapter 4 helps you start
out on the right foot with an application by removing the excess files
safely. Applications are even worse at removing files during an uninstallation.
Fortunately, you can usually find these remains quickly and remove
them. The “Discovering Application Uninstall Remains” section of Chapter
4 shows you how.