how to remove unused windows hidden programs?

If you want to remove programs that are installed with Windows but are not visible in "Add/Remove Windows Components" such as MSN Messenger in WinXP, the following is how to do it.

1. Click Start.
2. Click Run.
3. Type in: C:\WINDOWS\INF\SYSOC.INF
4. Click Ok.
5. The file, "SYSOC.INF" will be opened.
In there, you will find a listing of programs and you will note that some programs have the word 'hide' at the end. Simply remove the word "hide" but leave the preceding comma. The following is an examples:

BEFORE:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7 

AFTER:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,,7 

6. Exit saving changes. 7. Open Add/Remove Windows Components and you will see the program viewable, that is, you can see "Windows Messenger" there.
8. Now you can remove the previous hidden program in a usual way.