is it okay to delete some of this software?

ncs22

Hi. Today I ran a program called Secunia which checks to see if all your software is up-to-date. It found 4 items on my PC that it marked as being questionable. I was just wondering if it's okay to just delete them from my computer? Here they are:

1. C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_04 (I have the more recent C:\Program Files\Java\jre6, so is the jre1.5.0_04 okay to delete?)

2. C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\Flasha.ocx (Secunia called this "Macromedia Flash Player 6.x (ActiveX Control)"...but I already have Adobe Flash Player 10...so can I delete the "Flasha.ocx" file?)

3. C:\SWSetup\Macromedia Flash\Flash.ocx (Secunia called this "Macromedia Flash Player 7.x (ActiveX Control)"...but, again, I already have Adobe Flash Player 10...so can I delete the "Flash.ocx" file? Also, Secunia said that Macromedia Flash Player 7.x was "end-of-life.")

4. C:\Program Files\InterVideo\WinDVD\WinDVD.exe (Secunia called this "WinDVD Gold 5", and also said it was "end-of-life"...can I delete it?)

Thanks very much...

kryyst

The first 1 you can delete, old JRE's get left behind by java and not removed. The newest Java client was supposed to fix that problem, but I've seen no evidence of it doing so yet.

2 and 3 are probably also fine to remove, worse case just get a new version of flash and re-install it.

4 may be safe to delete if you no longer use that program for DVD playback. But a better way of getting rid of it would be to run the uninstall from add/remove.

ncs22

Hi Kryyst...I'll go ahead and delete the old JRE. I'll also delete the 2nd and 3rd options (since I have Adobe Flash Player 10, this should be harmless, right?) But as for the WinDVD, if I uninstall that, will I not be able to view DVD's anymore on my machine? Maybe it's better then to just update this program instead?

Thanks...

kryyst

That's what I'd do.

ncs22

Hi Kryyst...I tried finding a free upgrade for the InterVideo WinDVD 5 Gold...but I didn't find anything free. Are you aware of any free update/upgrade for this? I don't want to pay anything...I'd rather just keep the current software if that's the case..

Thanks

kryyst

Nope none that I know. But I typically just use a codec pack like

http://www.codecguide.com/download_mega.htm

It will allow you to play back dvd's in media player. Then you don't need a stand alone dvd player like WinDVD.

ncs22

Hi Kryyst...thanks for that link! Now I can get rid of WinDVD (which was supposedly compromising my computer's security). I'm not a very heavy user of DVDs (but I still watch them sometimes), nor am I very tech-savvy. Do you think the "Standard" pack would suffice for me (or the "Basic" for that matter?)?

Thanks..

kryyst

Standard pack is fine, basic is missing a couple useful codecs.

ncs22

Hi Kryyst...thanks so much for clearing that up about the codec pack. I just had one further question. As mentioned in a previous post, I have deleted the following 2 files:

1. C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\Flasha.ocx
2. C:\SWSetup\MMFlash\Flash.ocx

The first was apparently the Macromedia Flash Player 6.x ActiveX Control, and the second was apparently the Macromedia Flash Player 7.x ActiveX Control (don't need these anymore since I now have Adobe Flash Player 10). Do you think that deleting JUST these 2 files was enough for completely getting rid of MM FP 6 and MM FP 7? After deleting these 2 files, the Secunia software on my machine stopped listing MM FP 6 and MM FP 7 as threats, and said that they had been removed...but I just wanted to make sure they were totally gone, and that there was nothing else I needed to do...

Thanks

kryyst

I don't know, but I wouldn't worry about it.