When I go to the add or remove programs on my computer there are some programs in the list that are no longer on my system, but still appear on the list of programs to remove. How do I get rid of them from my list? I am running Windows XP
Also there are about twenty or so items called "Windows XP Hotfix followed by various letters and numbers" Can these be removed or should I leave them?

Start -> Settings -> Taskbar Properties.

Click the "Start Menu Progems" tab and then click the "Delete" button.

twenty or so items called "Windows XP Hotfix followed by various letters and numbers" Can these be removed or should I leave them? Leave them.. They are there to improve your system *sigh* (the *sigh* was at M$)

Try doubleclicking the programs that arent present on your computer on the list you are talking about. Sometimes a box will pop up and ask if you would like to remove the program from the list (as you already - probably - uninstalled them). If that is not the case, then there are some programs that will allow you to edit the list over programs in Add/Remove Programs, but they should be used with caution, because if you accidently swipe a program of the list that still is present on your harddrive you might be unable to remove it later.

Hope that helped! :)

Good Luck!

My guess is that those programs were deleted from the system rather than uninstalled. Either that, or the unistall program was not very thorough.

In either case, the registry entries remain behind telling the system that the application is still installed. If you cannot uninstall it from the control panel currently, you could try modifying the registry manually (if you're brave, foolish, extremely knowledgable, or some combination of the above). There are some utilities that can clean up the registry for you as well, though I've never used any.

The Hotfix ones, I'd tend to leave alone, but I'm not as familiar with XP, having never actually used it before....

Hope this helps some. :)

There is a tool called Reg Organizer, which cleans your registry, it searches for bad keys, etc.

Reg Organizer (http://www.topshareware.com/Reg-Organizer-download-2825.htm)

I'm not sure if it is safe to use, if it isn't, a format would be handy :)

Edit:
A hotfix is a patch, meaning, you update your system!! :thumb:

TweakUI should fix all your problems, next time remove the program the MS approved and trademarked way!

I used Advanced XP Tweak. Probably almost the same thing. Got it all taken care of. THe wierd thing is, I don't remember having the programs on my computer or removing anything, the right way or wrong way. Wierd.