I just purchased a refabbed HP with Windows 7 which has it. I'm thinking about taking it off, too, but need to find out how to reinstall it, just in case.

Like many of the annoying process and CPU-hogging Dell utilities, Answer Works (which also comes as "Answer Works 4.0 Runtime - English," for those using even older Dell laptops), doesn't really need to be on your PC.

What is AnswerWorks exactly? From what I've learned doing some quick research, AnswerWorks is a cross-lingual question answering engine that lets companies add a language interface to your PC's Help system, as well as knowledge databases on the Web. A user can type something in, and AnswerWorks offers suggested topics.

In other words, it's probably powering a lot of the Dell Help files. If you type in "i need help" in the search box it may also bring up related topics such as "support," "customer service," etc.

I'm not even sure that AnswerWorks is still used by contemporary software - so I've removed it. I haven't had any issues nor noticed a difference since the removal of "Answer Works 5.0 Runtime - English," but your experience may be different, so proceed at your own risk.

Just like the previous poster, I'm trying to make my PC faster by cleaning up some of the unnecessary software in my program list. When I'm browsing my list via "add or remove programs," one of the first things I come across is "Answer Works 5.0 Runtime - English".

What on earth is this? I'm on a Dell laptop. Any help is much appreciated, as well as any additional tips that may help me speed up my aging laptop.