HOWTO: Remove Games from Windows Setup, Add Remove Programs |
Q203492
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows 95
- Microsoft Windows 98
- Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
SUMMARY
This article describes how to prevent GAMES from appearing under Accessories in the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs. Accessories is on the Windows Setup tab in Add/Remove Programs.
MORE INFORMATION
To remove the option for GAMES under Add/Remove Programs, rename the section [GAMES] to [NOGAMES]:
- For Windows 95 the file to modify is Windows\Inf\Applets.inf
- For Windows 98 the file to modify is WINDOWS\Inf\Appletpp.inf
Administrators can automate the process by adding a line similar to the following in the login script:
Cscript \\<server>\<share>\NOGAMES.VBS //T:5 //B
Where <server> is the name of the server and <share> is the name of the share. //T:5 Terminates the script after five seconds if it is still running. //B Tells the script to run in non-interactive mode.
Sample Code
The NoGames.vbs sample below automatically renames the section to NOGAMES.
NOTE: Windows Script Host (WSH) must be installed on a Windows 95 machine to run VBScript. For more information on WSH and how to install it please visit the Scripting Web site on the MSDN Scripting site. Using a text editor, create a VBScript file called NoGames.vbs with the following lines:
' NOGAMES.VBS removes games from Add/Remove under Windows setup ' Windows 95 requires Windows Script Host to run the script. ' Windows Script Host is built into Windows 98 Const ForReading = 1, ForWriting = 2, ForAppending = 8 '*** The following 3 lines get the path of the INF folder Set WSHShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") Set WshSysEnv = WshShell.Environment("PROCESS") INFfolder = WshSysEnv("WINDIR") & "\INF" '*** The applet function returns the name of the INF '*** that has the game section based on Windows version. Function Applet() WinVerPath = _ "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\VersionNumber" On Error Resume Next WinVer = WSHShell.RegRead(WinVerPath) If WinVer = "4.00.950" then Applet = INFfolder & "\APPLETS" 'Win95 or Win95a ElseIf WinVer = "4.00.1111" then Applet = INFfolder & "\APPLETS" 'Win95b or Win95c ElseIf WinVer = "4.10.1998" then Applet = INFfolder & "\APPLETPP" 'Win98 ElseIf WinVer = "4.10.2222" then Applet = INFfolder & "\APPLETPP" 'Win98 Second Edition Else WScript.Quit 'Unknown version exit script End If End Function '*** The following section copies the file to be modified '*** to *.bak then recreates the original file with [nogames] Set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") File1 = Applet() & ".INF" 'path and file with [games] File2 = Applet() & ".BAK" 'name of backup file. fs.copyfile file1, file2 'copy file1 to file2 Set A = fs.OpenTextFile(File2, ForReading, False) Set b = fs.CreateTextFile(File1, True) Do While a.AtEndOfStream <> True textline = a.ReadLine if StrComp(trim(textline), "[GAMES]", vbTextCompare)=0 then textline ="[NOGAMES]" end if b.WriteLine textline Loop a.Close b.Close
REFERENCES
For additional information on scripting, and the Windows Script Host, see the MSDN Scripting site.
Additional query words: Freecell hearts minesweeper solitaire games
Keywords : kbOSWin95 kbOSWin98 kbWSH
Issue type : kbhowto
Technology : kbWin95search kbWin98search kbWin98SEsearch kbWin95 kbWin98 kbWin98SE
Last Reviewed: December 15, 2000 |