I was trying to gain more memory on my C-drive (6.2 gig) by removing unused programs but when I did that I see that I actually lost more memory. What can I do to gain more memory.

It could be that System Restore & or backup software is retaining the program data.
Norton's Protected Recycling Bin is one example of software that might be saving the files.

Have you run disk cleanup? http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q186099

Gene61,

We're making assumptions that you're looking at the right figures and "removing" your programs the right way but it would be worth checking.

Incidentally, you're not actually talking about memory, that's the wrong terminology. It's free hard disk space that you're trying to increase. My brief article in the D-A-L FAQ section explains the difference - http://www.d-a-l.com/articles/library/7.html

The first basic principle is that you can't increase the total space on your hard disk (your C drive) but it's the FREE disk space figure that you're checking. To see how much free disk space you've got, you can right-click on the C drive in Windows Explorer (or in My Computer) and go to Properties. The pie chart will show you the total size of the C drive, how much space is used up by programs and data and how much space remains free.

Secondly, when you remove programs, you can't just delete them from the Start Menu. You also shouldn't just delete the program directories from Windows Explorer (or My Computer). If you delete a Start Menu shortcut, the program is still on your C drive but you've just deleted the link to it so you can't run it any more. If you delete a program's directory off of your C drive, it will just be moved to the Recycle Bin and you won't gain any free hard disk space at all. Also, it can cause lots of problems doing it this way, even if you empty the Recycle Bin later. The correct way to remove a program is to click on your Start Menu, then Settings, then Control Panel and then double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Control Panel screen. In the Add/Remove Programs screen that opens up, you'll see a list of all of your installed programs and then you can double-click each one that you don't want in order to properly remove it. This bypasses the Recycle Bin and, therefore, gives you some more free space on your C drive.

To empty your Recycle Bin (and reclaim more free hard disk space), right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop or in Windows Explorer and then select the Empty Recycle Bin option.

If you delete a directory from Windows Explorer and/or empty the Recycle Bin and the free disk space doesn't appear to increase, try closing Windows Explorer and opening it again and then check the free space by right-clicking the C drive and going to Properties, as described above.

Let us know if that helps ..... or if you have more questions