Like me, you want full, complete, and utter control over your computer. I guess Microsoft's corporate policy isn't exactly about options, but hey, that's what TSS is for -- to give you back control over your own machine.

Windows 2000 or XP doesn't let you add or remove all the programs it installs by default. Multimedia applications, the XP messenger, games, accessories, and accessibility options do not show up in the Add/Remove Programs dialog box. What if you want to get rid of them? Here's how to make Windows treat these applications just like it treats all the others.

1. Unhide all files
2. Search for sysoc.inf. Open it in notepad.
3. Look for the "Old Base Components" section in Windows 2000, and "Components" in XP. It will look approximately like this (depending on your version):
   
   ; old base components
   Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,HIDE,7
   AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,HIDE,7
   CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
   media_clips=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,mmopt.inf,HIDE,7
   MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
   AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
   Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
   MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
   
   The word "HIDE" in an entry hides that application from your Add/Remove Programs dialog box. To add games to the Add/Remove menu, delete the word HIDE from its entry (but leave the commas that surround it). You also have to remove "HIDE" from "AccessUtil=" for this tip to work. To unhide games, for example, my new "Old Base Components" Windows 2000 entry will look like the following:
   
   ; old base components
   Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
   AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
   CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
   media_clips=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,mmopt.inf,HIDE,7
   MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
   AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
   Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
   MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
   
   
4. Save the file. Check for the new entries in the Add/Remove Programs dialog box after you restart your computer.

There now, that wasn't so bad, was it? Fight Windows conformity with this simple tip from "The Screen Savers."