(i got a couple of questions related to usage of windows

system, i chose to post this in tools section (as working

system is some kind of tool))

does manual deleting the contents of the folder in program files

is realy something that my spoil or worse my system (I am using xp still

and i installed over a hudndred of very great games and demos recently,

now i need to delete the weaker of this stuff)

would you do that (just delete program files subfolders) or you are

running deinstalers - i am slightly afraid that running deinstalers can

be sometimes more dangerous (becouse it can mess with deinstal come shared components) than deleting program files subfolders perself

what isyour opinion about this stuff?

I use uninstallers because just deleting the folders will leave a lot of crap behind in the registry. After installing a game, I also watch out for any spyware that was installed without my consent but white listed in firewalls as some kind of DRM or anti-cheat system.

how do you check for spyware - wor watching exceptions added to firewall?

as to registry maybe i could delete it manually if i see some large and unused stuff related branches are there.. i am afraid

of other things deinstaller can do - (I am afraid if both instalers and deinstalers overvrite/delete some shared stuff without my own control)

The white listed spyware is usually easy to detect because they have to use the real name of the product to be included in a store bought game.

Just open the task manager, look for things running and search for their reputation online.

I don't accept the license conditions for PunkBuster because they reserve the rights to do whatever they want with my computer.

The worst thing is that they sometimes use silent installs and claim that you can't install it without accepting the license.

The white listed spyware is usually easy to detect because they have to use the real name of the product to be included in a store bought game.

Just open the task manager, look for things running and search for their reputation online.

I don't accept the license conditions for PunkBuster because they reserve the rights to do whatever they want with my computer.

The worst thing is that they sometimes use silent installs and claim that you can't install it without accepting the license.

maybe you incidentaly know about a things related to that :

i also use proces explorer to check the running stuff - are you able to say about any of your service running that this is a safe and needed stuff - especially this stuf under svchost is safe ?

I also has PnkBstrA hanging , also some GoogleUpdate service is hanging, two apple services (not needed for me i think)

the new version of opera behaves wery weird i got a 20 instances of opera with - crash raport switch hanging on the list

I try to avoid installing applications from old CDs since they can often DLL stomp with broken drivers. Steam have the ability to check the file integrity to prevent this common source of instability.

I think it's best to use the uninstaller provided by the game. You could also try to use some dedicated uninstallers but beware of what they mark as being tied to the program you remove. I have used several times 3rd party softwar and every time it worked quite good but at one unistall it detected some unrelated files and marked them for deletion. Fortunately I caught it before deletion.

Just deleting the game files won't suffice. You could still have some kind of service runnung for that game, game specific files in other directories (User directories) or other registry keys.

As for the processes you talk of Google Updater usually comes with Chrome (for auto updates), thise services from Apple were most likely installed with iTunes, Safari or Quicktime (these are the ones I know of). You can disable them from autostart with windows but you won't get updates. The other one I don't know. You can search it on google.

For spyware, highjackers and other stuff that might remain behind even after uninstallation I use Malwarebytes Antimalware (to mod: edit if considered promotion). A quick scan with the free version or trial should suffice.

In the end it deppends on how much control you want over your PC. Removing registry keys is not a task that you should make without knowing what you are actually doing. Always remember to do a backup of your regiatry if planning to edit it manually.

i prefer manual and conscious control - the processes and services

i think i manage by hand (proces explorer and services.msc) - the registry i mostly dont care

i remember back then the registry was one contagious file whose loading can slow down, now in xp i see the folder of files, maybe it

is not all loaded every time - i can also as i caid delete whole branches under the third party names with del in registry editor (?)

the other folders(it is documents and settings) stuff I also dont care (can leave it or delete manually)

what else it also can be leaved (some files in windows folder?)

is stuff alowed to put something there?

manual and conscious control is better than automatic/unconscious one

but at all i do not know what way of uninstalling to chose (and got a 50 games to remove ;/ )

For 3rd party uninstaller I used Windows 7/8 (or XP in your case) Manager. It searches and deletes all related files and registry keys. I never had problems with it only once, as I said. I'm not sure in your case what would work best.

In the end I think you could try different solutions (doing some system backups along the way) and see what suites you best.

what he wanted to delete in such one case you say?

I am very sorry that there is no clear list of files which some

process (for example installer creates/or changes)

on my previous machine i got also xp instelled only once

and then used almost 5 years (I did only manual deletions

just not used uninstallers, it works quite good till today

I only try to watch the list of running processes and services,

it does not slowed down (it seem even working somewhat

faster than new installation on other faster machine) but

then i began to have sometimes some message box on logon screen that some service failed (I cannot how to diagnose it what it

is exactly) also I got bad behabior when ram and page file

ends - it is just blue screen there ;/ except that it is working

quite fast and good .. do not know how to diagnose this problems

and repair it manually :c

My new installation on a new machine works perfectly good right

now though i am often a largely disapointed by the new wersions of favourite soft - some older are often far better than the newer one

(opera 19 ? some older (10?11? forgot) was better for me, Itunes 6 was cool and fast)