Using System Restore to ensure proper Uninstall of programs

[Crazy Horse]

I don't know if what I have in mind represents a good approach or not
but...

I've been manually creating system restore points just before and just
after installing application programs, with the idea that I can use
these restore points to better ensure the complete removal of a program,
should I need to do that.

To elaborate somewhat... I've often gotten the impression (at least in
the past on my Win'95 system) that going through the Control Panel to
uninstall software (Add or Remove Programs) does not always remove all
traces of a program's installation. And it's occurred to me that
perhaps one can leverage XP's System Restore facility to more thoroughly
remove an installed program, assuming of course, the program to be
removed is also the most recent one installed.

The scenario would go something like this:
1. System Restore back to the point immediately following the
installation of the program targetted for removal;
2. Use Add-or-Remove-Programs to perform a normal uninstall;
3. System Restore back to the point immediately prior to the
installation of the program that was just uninstalled in step #2.

Perhaps, System Restore is meant to be used strictly for restoring a
misbehaving system configuration back to a previously healthy state, and
should *not* be used for any other purposes. Or perhaps not. Thing is,
I just don't know.

I'd love to hear any comments others might have on the general
advisability or inadvisability of this approach.

Thanks ahead of time...
_______
-CH
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

 

[davetest]

I don't know if what I have in mind represents a good approach or not
but...

I've been manually creating system restore points just before and just
after installing application programs, with the idea that I can use
these restore points to better ensure the complete removal of a program,
should I need to do that.

To elaborate somewhat... I've often gotten the impression (at least in
the past on my Win'95 system) that going through the Control Panel to
uninstall software (Add or Remove Programs) does not always remove all
traces of a program's installation. And it's occurred to me that
perhaps one can leverage XP's System Restore facility to more thoroughly
remove an installed program, assuming of course, the program to be
removed is also the most recent one installed.

The scenario would go something like this:
1. System Restore back to the point immediately following the
installation of the program targetted for removal;
2. Use Add-or-Remove-Programs to perform a normal uninstall;
3. System Restore back to the point immediately prior to the
installation of the program that was just uninstalled in step #2.

Perhaps, System Restore is meant to be used strictly for restoring a
misbehaving system configuration back to a previously healthy state, and
should *not* be used for any other purposes. Or perhaps not. Thing is,
I just don't know.

I'd love to hear any comments others might have on the general
advisability or inadvisability of this approach.

Thanks ahead of time...
_______
-CH
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

I've used this approach many times myself, but it's use is
very limited. I've found it useful when I can install something,
evaluate it, and uninstall / system restore in a period of
no more than perhaps a week at most.

Beyond that, you'll probably inadvertantly uninstall something
you didn't intend.

I've found if I keep it very limited this way, it's useful.
Just Add/Removing programs very often leaves a bunch of dead stuff
in the registry.

There's a piece of freeware called total uninstall
http://www.geocities.com/ggmartau/
That's worth checking out.
Dave

 

[Crazy Horse]

I've used this approach many times myself, but it's use is
very limited. I've found it useful when I can install something,
evaluate it, and uninstall / system restore in a period of
no more than perhaps a week at most.
Beyond that, you'll probably inadvertantly uninstall something
you didn't intend.

---------------------------
That's about how I would expect things to go. In the particular case
now facing me, I'm about to uninstall the Lotus office suite and then do
a reinstall of a (much) later version. Since it's the same product set,
it's occurred to me that this might be a special case where using the
System Restore approach is really unnecessary. On the other hand, I
guess it can't hurt anything.

As for your point about "inadvertantly uninstall[ing] something" else, I
know what you mean. But I've kept pretty good track of what I've done
in the intervening time. And in fact, the only thing I've done is
install some ATM fonts. So, just to be on the safe side, I may delete
those before doing the rest of the work, and then reinstall them after
I've completed the reinstallation of SmartSuite.

I've found if I keep it very limited this way, it's useful.
Just Add/Removing programs very often leaves a bunch of dead stuff
in the registry.

Thanks for the corroboration... that's been my experience too. And I
really like the idea of trying to keep the Registry clean.

There's a piece of freeware called total uninstall
http://www.geocities.com/ggmartau/
That's worth checking out.

Thanks for the tip. I already have similar shareware (meaning I had to
pay for it after an initial trial period) which I used on my Win'95
system. Perhaps I should start thinking about dusting it off (i.e.,
upgrading to the latest release) and being prepared to use it on my new
(XP-Home) system.

Anyway, thanks again for your help.
_______
-CH
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

 

[davetest]

As for your point about "inadvertantly uninstall[ing] something" else, I
know what you mean. But I've kept pretty good track of what I've done
in the intervening time. And in fact, the only thing I've done is
install some ATM fonts.

It's not even just installed apps.

I once downloaded a program in order to try it within the
next few days. The following day, I forgot all about the
download, and did a system restore to a time just before I
downloaded the EXE file.

I had to re-download the file, since system restore had
cleaned it up!
Dave