Disable Certain default XP Applications
Sometimes when setting up computer workstations for company employees and / or family members, you might not want certain default XP applications to be accessible. In this tutorial I will show you how to disable the features Outlook Express, Windows Media Player, and MSN Instant Messenger. Keep in mind that this process does not technically remove these applications but it makes them not available.
Click on Start \ Run type in Control Panel and hit enter.
Now double click on Add / Remove Programs and in the resulting screen click on Add / Remove Windows Components.
In this screen you want to scroll down through the list of available Windows Components and uncheck the items you wish to uninstall. Another one to get rid of is MSN Explorer which is one of the first items at the top of the list. When your finished click Next.
You will see the progress bar while the items are removed and when everything is done you will get the Completion Wizard Screen. Just click Finish and your done.
I just wanted to offer some help in case anyone else has a problem after deleting a certain app from the WinXP list. Among others, I deleted "Sonic DVD and CD Burning" during the day. Later that night, I inserted a CD w/printer software for installation, and my drive would not even appear, much less allow me to get to any programs. I tried uninstalling/reinstalling the device, same w/drivers, and there was the problem of not being able to look on any backup CDs since the drive wasn't appearing… in device mgr, opening the properties of the drive, I found out the windoze couldn't load the driver for various possible reasons. I started searching for my model drive, and since it is OEM for Gateway, no drivers. What solved my problem was a registry edit I found on various forums that comes from Microsoft, evidently this is a problem that is known when uninstalling prgms that are used for CD or DVD recording. This link to the MS Help & Support article is here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314060
I deleted the two indicated entries from the registry, restarted, and everything was fine. Please pass this one as it was pretty scary not being able to see my CD/DVD drive, negating the possibility of using a CD to boot from or get drivers.