If your PC suddenly starts acting up, Windows keeps crashing, or certain things no longer work as usual, you have several options. Rescue media such as the First Aid Kit or Tuning-Software, for example, can help you clean up and repair the PC. Often, it’s also a good idea to completely reinstall the PC.
Create Your Own List of All Windows Programs
To be able to continue working as usual after reinstalling Windows, you should have a list of all your current Windows programs ready before the reinstallation. So you don’t have to write them down manually, here are a few tips on how to easily create this list yourself.
For Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and Windows 11
Go to System Information:
You can open the System Information using these two commands, among others
- Windows + R
- Enter this parameter here: “msinfo32.exe”
Within the System Information, now select the Program Groups node under the Software Environment tab. Here you’ll find all installed programs, which you can get into a list as follows:
- File Export …
- Save and secure this text file
Admittedly, the list looks a bit confusing as a saved .txt file, but if you select the contents of this .txt file and then transfer it to Excel, you’ll have everything neatly organized in a list.
List of all programs: Option for advanced users under Windows 10
For Windows 10, there’s another way to create this list. It’s a bit more complicated, but the resulting list is clearer. For this, you use the “Windows PowerShell” tool. You can find this in your programs.
Enter this command in Windows PowerShell and click Enter:
Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher, InstallDate | Format-Table –AutoSize > C:\XXX\Programlist.txt
Note: You need to replace the “XXX” with your desired file path – e.g., C:\New-Folder\Programlist.txt
Of course, this path must already exist. You can also have the list created on a different partition. You can also name the document as you like. But leave the first part of the command unchanged.
And one last note: Portable programs that don’t need to be installed won’t appear on this list.
Have fun trying it out
