Discerning Necessary Programs?

[Ensis]

Hey, I'm now to this forum, and for that matter, computing in general. I won't say I'm technologically illiterate -- I can do basic things. I have an HP Laptop, with 3GB RAM, and a 250GB hard drive. My question is about the programs I have installed. I opened the Control Panel recently, to look at installed programs, and noticed that I have a lot. If possible, could someone help me figure out which ones are necessary, and which ones I can remove. As of right now I have the following:

• Adobe AIR
• Adobe Flash Player 10 ActiveX
• Adobe Photoshop CS5
• Adobe Reader 9.4.6 MUI
• Adobe Shockwave Player 11.5
• Akamai Net Session Interface
• AVG 2011
• Cisco EAP-FAST Module
• Cisco LEAP Module
• Cisco PEAP Module
• Coby Media Manager (For MP3 Player)
• EdenEternal (MMO)
• Energy Star Digital Logo
• Google Chrome
• HP Power Manager
• HP Quick Launch
• HP Setup
• HP Software Framework
• HP Support Assistant
• HP Wireless Assistant
• Intel Control Center
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Driver
• Intel Rapid Storage Technology
• Java(TM) 6 Update 25
• LightScribe System Software
• Maplestory (MMO)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile
• Microsoft Silvelight
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2005
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 x64 (Four Times)
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 x86 (Three Times)
• Nexon Game Manager
• Open Office.org 3.2
• Pando Media Booster
• Realtek High Definition Audio Driver
• Registry Mechanic
• RtVOsd
• Synaptics Device Pointing Manager
• TweetDeck
• Visual Studio 2008 Redistributables
• Windows Live Essentials
• Windows Live ID Sign In Assistant
• Windows Live Sync
• WinRAR 4.00 Beta 3 (64-Bit)

My main question is this. Which of these files can I remove without damaging the computer? I thank all who answer, but I'd prefer if I got educated answers. In addition, there are some files here that I installed and use regularly, and won't remove.

 

[Indigo]

All of them except for system drivers (anything marked ATI/AMD, nVidia or Intel and for laptops, Synaptics for the touchpad driver(s)) and Antivirus. Programs are not essential parts of a computer, so if you don't use them, uninstall them. Other than the ones I mentioned a moment ago, they can all go.

 

[stroudyit]

This is all subjective, It depends on what you do on your computer, If you read / open alot of PDF files then you need Adobe reader, likewise if you don't edit photos then Photoshop is not required.

I would go back to add/remove programs and look to see when a program was last used, If it has not been used for a while then unintstall. Make a note of what you uninstall and when though.

As mentioned above software programs should not stop your PC from working so worst case scenario you may end up with a file type (eg PDF) that won't open etc.

Daniel Hunt
Stroudy IT
www.stroudyit.co.uk