Clean uninstall programs...how to?

[Guest]

How do I do clean uninstall of a program from my pc? e.g. do I search for
entries relating to that particular program and when I find them, right click
on them, and press delete.(what do I do?)
There are programs that do not completely uninstall and I do not want my
registry bloated by chaff. I want to be able to remove them.

Thanks.

 

[axipolti]

I would NEVER delete a program manually. Use that program's UNINSTALL
feature or go to ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS and delete from there.

If you delete any part of a program manually, ADD /REMOVE will usually
not remove the rest. You have to RELOAD the program back onto that same
partition, and then use the UNINSTALL PORTION of the program or
ADD/REMOVE.

Mike

 

[Guest]

I would NEVER delete a program manually. Use that program's UNINSTALL
feature or go to ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS and delete from there.

If you delete any part of a program manually, ADD /REMOVE will usually
not remove the rest. You have to RELOAD the program back onto that same
partition, and then use the UNINSTALL PORTION of the program or
ADD/REMOVE.

Mike

I agree with you about using the ADD/REMOVE in the control panel or that particular program's uninstall mechanism, but what I mean is that you have used ADD/REMOVE but the program does not completely uninstall and it leaves orphaned entries behind.(maybe because it was badly written or it was open when you removed it.) Secondly do 'Registry Mechanic' and other programs like it really work in situations like this? Thanks.

 

[beamish]

Hello, I am not a person of hardware/software knowledge. Have been doing the
following for several years. After program removal from add/remove-check the
start menu for dead link - open explore check program files for folder -
then use a registry program such as "JV Power Tools" to see if the removed
program is listed, if it is remove the item listed. I enter regedit use the
programs name in find and the company name. At this point without training/
information I make a decision to remove or leave found items. If removing I
use export to save removed items in case of a mistake, I delete the items
then reboot. Microsoft has a lot of legacy items in the registry, the
program you remove may" in part" have legacy entries. I have removed 1000's
of entries over the last several years without creating a "known" problem.
"knock on something" I also have GoBack and Acronis True Image installed. To
save me from whatever. Do not recommend this path as there is a good
possiblity of creating a major problem. I add and remove programs on a
weekly basis, this is my rational. If your computer is important unless you
are trained I would not recommend using regedit or any registry tool.
Take Care.
beamish.

 

[Guest]

Once you use Add/Remove, then there are two additional things you can do.
First, go to C:/Program Files and make sure that all of the folder for the
uninstalled programs are gone. If not, delete them. If any of the files
cannot be deleted, then delete as much as you can, reboot, then try again.

Second, create a system restore point (for safety), then use regedit,
navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software, look for a folder containing the
name of the program (or the name of the vendor) that you uninstalled, and
VERY CAREFULLY delete that key. Do the same thing under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER