Why does installing a game/program sometimes take several hours, but uninstalling usually take no more than a few minutes?

Question

Why does installing a game/program sometimes take several hours, but uninstalling usually take no more than a few minutes?

In: 3666

Answer 1

inside the disk the computer knows a program/game is stored from “this point to that point”, everything that needs to happens (the code) is figured out in between. So when installing it it copies one piece, then the next, then the next…etc…. all in sequence until the end. You play the game and everything is figured out in between the “bookends”, where the code starts and ends.

When you tell it to uninstall it tells the computer this space is now available, not reserved any more, it’s no longer off limits, this space is available to store new stuff…. but it’s not actually over written until the disk needs the space… so basically it says this space is available to store stuff but may not use it until it needs it.