When I use the Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Windows 2000 SP3 "Set Program Access and Defaults" feature to remove access to a program, why doesn't the OS remove the actual program?

A. Microsoft's agreement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) states that the company has to remove visibility of its components, not the actual application code. The "Set Program Access and Defaults" feature doesn't remove the application executables and resources--doing so would have caused additional problems because many Microsoft applications interoperate with other parts of the Windows OS.