What is an installed program or software on my Windows 8 computer?

An installed program should actually be called installed software, because multiple programs are usually put together as a software package, which will be installed and registered to Windows 8 as a single unit.

When a software is installed and registered on you Windows 8 computer, it will be properly managed by the Windows 8 system. Programs included in the software package will be made available to you in a number of ways:

• Start screen - An Installed Program will be listed on the Start screen. For example, if Adobe Reader XI is installed on your computer, you will see an Adobe Reader XI icon on your Start screen.
• Programs search box - An Installed Program will be searchable in the apps search box For example, if Microsoft Office 2013 is installed on your computer, you can type in "word" in programs search box and select to run "Word 2013" program from Microsoft Office 2013 software.
• System tray icon - An Installed Program may present icons in the system tray to provide you quick ways to access the software. For example, if McAfee antivirus software is installed, a McAfee icon will show up in the system tray to allow you to view the monitoring status, make configuration changes, etc.
• Folder and file context menu - An Installed Program may add commands in the folder and file context menu on Windows Explorer to provide you quick ways to open or process the folder or file with the software. For example, if WinZip software is installed, the WinZip entry will be added to the folder and file context menu. You can ZIP the selected folder or file with this context menu entry.
• Startup Programs - An Installed Program may be configured as an startup program to be executed at the system startup time.
• Services - An Installed Program may add services that will be running in the background all the time.
• Scheduled Tasks - An Installed Program may add scheduled tasks to be executed according to some predefined schedules.

Installed Programs may get outdated and contains security vulnerabilities. And sometimes malware (Virus, Worms, Adware, Spyware) can get installed into your computer as part of other software installation or by clicking links on malicious emails or Websites. So understanding how to manage installed programs is very important to keep your computer secure.

⇒ View Installed Programs in Control Panel on Windows 8

⇐ Uninstall Old or Bad Programs and Software on Windows 8

⇑ Uninstall Old or Bad Programs and Software on Windows 8

⇑⇑ Windows 8 Installed Programs