uninstalling programs not used

[dede]

I received a compaq computer from two friends a couple of years ago w/ MS Windows XP SP2 256 MB Ram.  I need to remove some programs so I have room to download digital camera software & some spyware prevention programs.  I currently only have 1.17 gb free space on c drive.

1)I saw that Adobe Acrobat 4.0 & Acrobat Reader 4.0
 were on my pc listed under programs but when i went to add or remove programs they weren't shown---does this mean they aren't really on my pc? i have an older version of Adobe Acrobat 5.0   work & have no immediate plans to download adobe acrobat 7.0
  
2)Also noticed that Mozilla Firefox had 2 programs:  Mozilla Firefox & Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode)---should I have both installed on the pc?  

3)I have safecast installed as a program, probably got it when i installed turbotax past several yrs.  i currently only have turbotax 2005 installed.  if i delete safecast, will it keep me from running turbotax 2005?  i did a google search & couldn't tell if turbotax is still installing safecast as late as 2005 software

4) also installed were a) microsoft digital image pro 7.0 (174 MB), b) Adobme Photoshop 5.0, c) HP photo printing software, & d) microsoft digital image pro 7.0---do i need these if I download software from canon powershot a540 digital camera?

5) wap11 usb program was also on my pc.  i use dial up internet.  assume i should delete this program?

thanks!

[Calum]

Firefox - Safe Mode isn't a seperate program, it's Firefox with no extensions or themes etc
Not sure about the other programs

[patio]

I currently only have 1.17 gb free space on c drive.

I'm suprised that machine isn't completely bogged down yet.
What else is taking up space on that HDD ? ?
Firefox is relatively small; Safecast is for registering and using TurboTax; you could dump Adobe for Foxit a PDF reader that's much smaller...

But i still think you're barking up the wrong tree.
DVD burners are down to about 50 bucks...have you considered one of those ? ?

[soybean]

If you don't use Adobe Acrobat, Adobe's PDF creation software, you might as well uninstall it.  You say it does not show up in add or remove programs.  Download CCleaner and use it's uninstaller.  It may show things that windows add or remove programs does not.  Same thing for Acrobat Reader 4.0.  Also run CCleaner's Applications scan and Windows scan to clean out some unnecessary files.  

Acrobat Reader 7.0 is the best version of Acrobat Reader.  But, it would take for disk space than Acrobat Reader 5.0.  So, try the Foxit suggested by Patio.  

Have you thought about getting a bigger hard drive?  Sounds like to want to use your computer to do some work with with digital pictures.  If you can't free up much space, you might be quite limited in your digital photo ambitions, as far as downloading photos to your computer and doing some photo editing.

[dede]

 in response to patio, i burned some programs to a cd  & then later could not get cds to work as programs would not run properly.  not sure why

i do not want to get rid of adobe acrobat 5.0 now so that i can open adobe acrobat documents & don't have money at the moment to install adobe acrobat 7.0---my question was if i remove adobe acrobat 4.0 will that mess up running adobe acrobat 5.0 or adobe photoshop 5.0?

 I have safecast installed as a program, probably got it when i installed turbotax past several yrs.  i currently only have turbotax 2005 installed.   i did a google search & couldn't tell if turbotax is still installing safecast as late as 2005 software.   if i delete safecast, will it keep me from running turbotax 2005?
 
 wap11 usb program was also on my pc.  i use dial up internet.  assume i should delete this program?

[soybean]

You seem to have a misunderstanding of Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader.  Acrobat is the program used to create PDF documents and is not free.  Adobe Reader (formerly called Adobe Acrobat Reader) is the software used to read PDF documents and is free; anyone can download it.  And the Foxit Reader Patio mentioned, an alternative to Adobe Reader, is a smaller program and would take less disk space.

If, indeed, you have both adobe acrobat 4.0 and adobe acrobat 5.0 installed, why not at least uninstall adobe acrobat 4.0?  Can you give a reason why you need two versions?  And, again, do you use adobe acrobat at all?  If not, then you could uninstall both versions.  

And, surely, uninstalling adobe acrobat will not mess up adobe photoshop 5.0.  Why would it?  Is having adobe acrobat installed a system requirement for running adobe photoshop 5.0?  As far as I know, it is not.

Deleting wap11 usb program should be no problem, since you aren't using wireless Internet connection.

[dede]

i deleted adobe acrobat 4.0 earlier today.  i am currently removing wap11 usb.

I have safecast installed as a program, probably got it when i installed turbotax past several yrs.  i currently only have turbotax 2005 installed.   i did a google search & couldn't tell if turbotax is still installing safecast as late as 2005 software.   if i delete safecast, will it keep me from running turbotax 2005?
  
also, how can i move a program to a thumb drive & then burn it on a cd so it can be used later?  i tried this previously but was unable to run program from cd.  thanks

[patio]

You cannot copy/move a program and have it work at a later time...they have to be installed to work properly ...i wouldn't un-install any programs that you don't have original CD's for otherwise you risk losing that program for good...

[soybean]

You might post your question about safecast here: http://forums.turbotax.com/

[Fed]

How big is your HDD, a stripped down clean install of XP only uses about 200 MBs.
Someone will confirm that # or chew my ear about it.

[soybean]

I believe it takes more than 200MB. The hard disk space requirements for Windows XP Service Pack 2 says "Total hard disk space required if the System Restore feature is not enabled" is 395MB.  

[Fed]

I forgot about SP2.  

[dede]

i only have 256 mb of ram on pc & MS office xp professional w/ front page says it is taking up 463 mb

[GX1_Man]

Memory (RAM) and hard drive space are totally different things.

[spiddey]

Just a thought but if you are hardware friendly with computers or know someone who is..Install a second harddrive you can pick up a 40 gig for cheap its good for things like storing pics or music etc..I and my wife do this so we dont plug up our main hdd..