Cloudy future for Windows computer?

Q: At some point, someone installed Apple iCloud on my Windows computer. I would really like to remove it, but when I look in Add/Remove Programs I don’t see it. I know it’s on my PC because I can see it running in the Taskbar. How can I get rid of this?

© Handout / Apple

Someone installed Apple iCloud on my Windows computer. I would really like to remove it, but when I look in Add/Remove Programs I don’t see it.

A: With Windows 10 and the introduction of the Microsoft Store, there’s another way to install programs on your PC, and that is in the form of Apps.

Apps are kind of like apps on your phone or a tablet in that they are a smaller, more compact version of what many of us might consider a full-sized application such as Microsoft Office.

To see what apps are installed on your computer, click on the Search box and type Settings. Then open Settings and click on Apps.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Read more Helpline columns from Jay Lee

Here you will see the apps installed on your PC, and I am betting iCloud is in there.

You can easily uninstall from here.

To make things even more confusing, there are app versions of applications such as Word and Excel that can cause some issues when trying to install the full version of Microsoft Office.

I recommend checking your installed apps just to see what might be lurking there. Many computer vendors will populate the installed apps in much the same way the like to pre-install other software programs on a new computer.

Q: When I use File Explorer, it shows redundant D and E drives. If I click on either it shows all the files as normal, so I don’t see any difference there. I’d rather see the correct display of one D drive and one E drive. Is there a way to correct this?

A: This is not an uncommon problem with Windows 10. I have seen many computers that show redundant drives, and the fix involves editing the registry.

Now, before you go playing with the registry, it’s important to mention that an incorrect edit in the registry can lead to a world of hurt. If you decide a registry edit is needed, be sure you back up your registry so you can recover from any problems you might inadvertently create.

If you are not sure of what you are doing, please enlist the assistance of someone you know who has a little technical expertise.

I offer this advice as learning to edit the Registry can be very helpful in resolving computer problems but I also caution that this is not something for the faint of heart.

To fix the problem, run Regedit and drill down from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to SOFTWARE, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, Explorer, Desktop, NameSpace and then DelegateFolders and look for the key {F5FB2C77-0E2F-4A16-A381-3E560C68BC83} and delete it. This will remove all of the duplicate entries for your disk drives in File Explorer.

[email protected]