Repairing and Removing Programs : Changing and Repairing Programs

Some large programs let you choose how you want to install the program. For example, you may be given options to do a Minimum Install, Typical Install, or Complete Install. You might do a Minimum or Typical installation to conserve disk space, but later discover you need a feature that only the Complete install would have provided.

Sometimes a program might become corrupted and not work properly anymore. That can happen when you inadvertently delete a file that the program needed. Or it might be caused by some minor glitch that compromised a file that the program uses.

The first step to changing or repairing a program is to get to the Programs and Features applet in Control Panel. Here's how:

You can also get to Programs and Features from the keyboard. Press , type fea, and choose Programs and Features from the Start menu.

The page that opens lists all of your installed application programs. (It doesn't include programs that come with Windows 7.)

Not all programs offer change or repair options. To see what options an installed program offers, right-click the program name. Or, click the program name and take a look at the buttons above the list of program names. Things you can do with that program will be listed in a toolbar above the list. For example, in Figure 1, I clicked Microsoft Office Live Add-in, which offers options to Uninstall, Change, or Repair.

Figure 1. List of installed programs.

In most cases, you'll need the CD (or DVD) from which you originally installed the program to change or repair the program. If you have the CD handy, go ahead and put it in the CD drive. If AutoPlay asks what you want to do with the disk, choose Take No Action. If the installation program opens automatically, just cancel or close that program.

Exactly how things play out from here will vary from one program to the next, so I can only provide some general guidelines and examples. But all you really have to do is make your selections and follow the instructions on the screen. For example, to repair a corrupted program, click the Repair button and do whatever the resulting instructions tell you to do.

The Change option for a program is generally for adding components you didn't install the first time around, though you can also remove any components you don't need. The exact process will vary from one program to the next, but a typical approach is to list all program features in a hierarchical tree, like the example in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Click an optional component.