How to Make Managing your Installed Programs Easier in Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 [1]

If you install and uninstall a lot of programs, here is a way to make the process quicker and easier. Use a little-known feature in Control Panel that allows you to group installed programs into useful categories. If you have a lot of installed programs, this makes it easier to find things.

One setting that I quite like is being able to group programs that were installed in a specific time frame. Here is how to use it. 

1. Open Control Panel. This is straightforward in Windows 7 but is more complicated in Windows 8. See this tip [3] for a Windows 8 shortcut. Windows 8.1 makes it easier. Right-click the new version of a start button and Control Panel can be opened from the context menu.
2. Click Programs-Uninstall a Program
3. Make sure that you are displaying the Control Panel dialog in “Details” view
4. Place your pointer on the heading "Installed On"
5. Click the down arrow that appears to the right of the heading "Installed On"
6. The figure below shows the calendar that opens
7. Click the generic boxes for pre-selected installment time periods or pick a specific date or range of dates. A range can be selected in the usual way by holding down the shift key.

A display of only programs installed on the selected dates will be shown. This can be useful if you do a lot of program installing as I do.

Another useful grouping is to create a display that shows installed  programs from a specific publisher.

1. Place your pointer on the heading "Publisher"
2. Click the down arrow that appears to the right of the heading "Publisher".
3. A list of all the publishers of your installed programs will appear
4. Put a check by the name of the publisher you are interested in
5. A display with only programs from the selected publisher will appear

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This tips section is maintained by Vic Laurie [5]. Vic runs several websites with Windows how-to's, guides, and tutorials, including a site for learning about Windows and the Internet [6] and another with Windows 7 tips [7].

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