One of the problems of Windows is the Add/Remove Programs list.  This list is kept in the Registry.  This list often becomes filled with bad links, because people do not uninstall program using this list when they remove a program.

Several years ago, I wrote a program called, Add/Remove Pro that corrected this problem.  It is here in it's entirety.

The list shows the status of the link (whether it is good or not), the Display Name (what it is called in the Add/Remove Programs list), the Key Name (its other name), and the Uninstall String (the command that is run to uninstall this item).

Below the list are three buttons:  Refresh List (reloads the list and rechecks each item), Uninstall Program (runs the uninstall string thus removing the program from your computer), and Remove Entry (this just removes the item from the Add/Remove Programs list, it does not uninstall the program).

Below these buttons are some tabs.  These give some good information about this page and how to use it. 

The Finder tab provides a means by which you can easily check the validity of the status icon and the uninstall string.  When you select an item from the Add/Remove list, it's uninstall string will be put in the Uninstall String textbox of the Finder.  To check, highlight the filename starting with the drive letter.  Press the "Paste Highlighted Text below" button and the highlighted text will be put in the bottom textbox.  Then press the Find button, and the Finder will tell you if it could find that file.  If a file cannot be found, that is a good indicator that that program has been deleted, but the Add/Remove link remains.  You can use the Remove Entry button to remove the selected entry from the list.

The Change Uninstall String tab allows you to change the uninstall string.  The uninstall string was placed in the registry when its program was installed on your computer.  Sometimes people move the program or it points to a temp directory which has been deleted.  This makes the uninstall string bad and will keep the program from being uninstalled.  If you know where the uninstall information is, you can change the uninstall string to point to the known location.  It is important that you only change the part of the uninstall string that has the location of the uninstall information in it.  The uninstall string often consists of additional commands and parameters which must be there for the uninstall to work.  If you do not know what you are doing with this, please do not mess with it.  Once you have the string changed, click on the Save Changes button to save the changes in the registry.  The old uninstall string will be put in the VacBag.

The All Entries tab shows all of the entries in this section of the registry.  This is given because some entries may be hidden.  Usually hidden entries are hidden for a reason, so be careful before removing.