Perhaps you download dozens of free or low-cost software programs for Windows PCs, and you decide to continue using only a few (this is sounding familiar). There are several time-honored ways to get rid of the programs you don't want, including using the Windows uninstaller, which is found in the Control Panel.
You also could do a Windows restore, but you'll lose everything you've installed or changed since your last boot. There are dangers ahead there, especially if you've downloaded your e-mail or made changes in Quicken, for example, during your latest session. If you know what you're doing, you can get those e-mails and Quicken data back, but you'll for sure lose the programs you wanted to keep. The latter isn't a big problem, since you can download and install them again. Still, computers were supposed to make life easier, not more complicated.
A free Windows program, EasyPC Cleaner, will help you restore your PC to its state before your latest boot. It also will clean your PC of unwanted files -- the ones that were installed when you downloaded and installed the programs you no longer want. This means you won't have to restore your hard drive to an earlier boot, while allowing you to keep the programs you do want without downloading them again.
If that's not enough, EasyPC Cleaner will help you choose the startup programs you want -- the fewer on that list, the faster your computer will boot up. It will find and delete shortcuts that lead to nowhere; help you uninstall programs (true, you could use the Windows uninstall utility, but inevitably stray registry files are left behind); defragment your hard drive to make it run faster; and a bunch of other tasks that break no new ground in a crowded field of Windows utilities. About the best things you could say about EasyPC Cleaner are that it does no harm, it mimics many of the Windows utilities you already have, it's free, it downloads fast, and it has an easily understood menu system.
A caveat here. If you're running a dual boot system on your Intel-equipped Mac, in which you can boot into either Windows or the Mac OS, don't use EasyPC Cleaner. Your next boot could be your last until you perform some tedious fixes.
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Another free utility, Super Quick Shutdown, comes from the same software folks and does stand out in a not-so-crowded field. Super Quick Shutdown will end a Windows session faster than just about any other program I've tried. It also will perform quick logoffs of users and about half a dozen shutdown-related tasks. Again, don't try this program if you are using a dual boot Mac-Windows system. I tried it, and the results weren't pretty.
So, two free programs that do what they're supposed to do. Are they keepers, or will you revert to an earlier boot so there's no trace of your ever having installed them? Up to you, of course, but I tossed them, and then worried about whether they had left behind traces, which EasyPC Cleaner would have found and deleted.
Both programs, for Windows 7, Vista and XP, can be downloaded at no charge from http://www.easypctool.com
