Do you have programs installed on your computer that you no longer use today? The vast majority of users who have a Windows PC usually download applications that can be useful in the short term, but we never remember to get rid of them when we are barely using them. However, one of the worst consequences is that our data is at risk when some of it becomes obsolete. In the following lines we describe why it is dangerous to keep obsolete tools.
When you buy a PC, one of the first tasks you do is start downloading and installing programs that can be productive and that you use regularly. However, you may have control over everything you have stored, but it is not always beneficial to protect your personal information. Many of these applications stop receiving updates, which can be quite harmful for all the sensitive documentation that you keep in Windows, and is even counterproductive for the performance of your PC if it is causing problems or failures while you carry out your work. daily. These are some of the reasons why it is necessary to delete them from your hard drive, but there are even more.
Why do many applications become obsolete?
You may not have realized it, but many of the applications you have on your PC could be harmful to your personal data. However, this small oversight is more common than you think and many users end up postponing the elimination of everything that they no longer use frequently. The truth is that many of these programs become obsolete, that is, they do not have support from their developers.
That doesn’t mean they don’t continue to work, but it will always be more convenient to update these tools with alternative solutions or more recent versions. For example, Microsoft has already announced that it will change the old Outlook for a more modern interface and will no longer offer security patches or updates for previous versions.
There are other compelling reasons why it is not worth continuing with the same software and that is that its creators decide to abandon their projects due to the high cost of constantly updating them so that they are compatible with all operating systems and the management of their internal codes. or improving its characteristics requires more sophisticated work as well as more resources.
What security risks are you exposed to?
The problems that forgotten programs can cause are extremely harmful, since any security breach that can be identified by a group of hackers is key to causing real havoc on your device. The door is open to potentially dangerous malware viruses and your credentials can become a gold mine for these hackers. In this context, obsolete programs are usually not updated and, therefore, are not well supported to defeat unauthorized third-party agents.
At the same time, as we mentioned at the beginning of the article, your PC may suffer incompatibility errors, causing the computer to run slower than normal and you are forced to forcibly close processes.
How to remove obsolete software?
You can do a search for all those applications that are no longer supported or are outdated. To do this, simply open the start menu and select Settings. Then go to where it says Applications and then to Installed applications. You can also try typing “Programs” in the taskbar search space and choosing the Add or Remove Programs option. It will take you to the same section.
Here you’ll see a list of everything you have installed, and you can manually sort it by Install Date to check for older software. If you have already located the applications in question that you want to delete, click on the three dots to the right of the name of each of them and choose Uninstall.
Ensuring that your Windows computer is away from obsolete applications will ensure greater security and prevent cyberattackers from taking over your passwords, as well as avoiding connection and performance failures that they may cause.
