Windows 7: Programs and Features

In Windows 7 Programs and Features, you can install and uninstall programs and also install updates and view installed updates.

The Windows 7 Programs and Features page shows you all the programs currently installed on your computer, as well as the amount of hard disk space they occupy. It enables you to uninstall programs from your computer if you no longer use them or if you want to free up space on your hard disk.

You can also use Programs and Features to change a program's configuration by adding or removing certain options.

Some programs and features included with Windows, such as Internet Information Services, need to be turned on before they can be used.

There are other features which are turned on by default, but which can be turned off if you don’t use them.

In earlier versions of Windows you had to uninstall a feature completely from your computer in order to turn it off. In Windows 7, the features remain stored on your hard disk so you can turn them back on if you want to.

Turning off a feature does not uninstall the feature, and it does not reduce the amount of hard disk space used by Windows features.