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Introduction
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| This group of programs has two sub classes: Windows uninstaller replacements and application uninstallers. |
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Discussion
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The Windows Add/Remove Programs applet in the control panel constantly annoys users with its limitations. MyUninstaller is a more capable product than the Windows version. It gives you much more information about each installed program including product name, company, version, uninstall string, installation folder, and Windows Registry details. It also allows you to delete orphaned and obsolete entries from the list, as well as the ability to save a list of all installed applications into a text file or HTML. My favorite feature is the ability to sort programs by the date installed which is great for quickly uninstalling programs you are just trying out. As no installation is required, it can be run from a CD or USB drive which makes it an excellent addition to your diagnostic toolkit. An alternative that offers similar functionality is Safarp. It's great strength is its speed - it loads in a flash. Safarp can be be run as a stand alone program or installed and integrated into the Control Panel. Windows Installer CleanUp Utility from Microsoft supplements rather than replaces the applet. It cleans up dead entries in the Windows Add/Remove programs panel and tidies up the corresponding Windows uninstaller registry entries. None of these programs can of course, remove leftover registry entries, DLLs and files that belong to defunct programs. To do this you need an application uninstaller i.e. a program that monitors the original install so that it can work out exactly what changes are made during installation. My top selection in this group is ZSoft Uninstaller. Like all programs in this class, you need to tell ZSoft Uninstaller to monitor an installation before you do the install otherwise the uninstaller doesn't know what has changed. ZSoft Uninstaller does this by taking a file and registry snapshot both before and after the install and then does a comparison to find what's changed. A good second choice is Total Uninstall 2, the last free version of the commercial product Total Uninstall 2 which is still available from some download sites. It doesn't offer the impressive features of the latest commercial version but is quite capable if a little slow compared to ZSoft. A third possibility is Revo Uninstaller, an uninstaller that works rather differently. It can uninstall a program without the need to monitor its installation. It works by automatically doing what an experienced user would do manually. It removes all the program's files, autostart entries and removes all obvious registry entries. This process can never be better than an inspired guess, but it's sure better than nothing. I ran some tests by getting Revo to uninstall a product whose installation I had monitored using ZSoft Uninstaller, a before and after uninstaller. Revo did a fine job, though not quite as good as a skilled user would do manually. There were still some remains left over, notably files stored in the user/local settings folder. That said, the leftover files did no harm other than take up disk space, and they certainly would not interfere with the normal operation of the PC. When you ask Revo to uninstall a program, it first looks for the product's uninstall program and will run that program if it is found. Only if the search fails will it try to remove files and registry entries itself. Revo can also act as a before and after uninstaller, but frankly this is not its forte. The freeware utility ZSoft Uninstaller is a better choice for this. I was very impressed by Revo. It is the only freeware product I know of that will make a decent job of cleaning up a failed install. It's not perfect in its un-installation, but it does a fine job in the circumstances and offers a lifeline to average users. Next time you encounter a failed uninstall, remember Revo. The before and after approach used by these products is not foolproof as other files may change in your system during the install which are unrelated to the installation. If you then uninstall these changes will also be reversed with possible harmful consequences. It's not likely but possible. That's why I recommend using this kind of uninstaller only when the uninstaller provided with the program fails. There's no point risking problems when you don't have to. |
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1.45 
Unrestricted Freeware 
98 - Vista
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Will Revo Uninstaller remove jar_cache.tmp files? I want to remove ALL the jar-cache.tmp files from my desktop.
I tried Revo...but it doesn't uninstal programs that I want uninstalled! Maybe I'm doing soemthing wrong. The program I want deleted (Windows Movie Maker)doesn't show in the list and isn't recognized bij the Hunter. However if I have my computer search for the program, it can find it and I can run it from the search finds. How is that possible? If I run the search it finds the program in the Local Settings/Application Data file (where I found a bunch of stray stuff, like folders for programs I uninstalled ages ago). I am NOT a very skilled, experianced user and don't want to delete things my computer needs. However I do want to keep it in prime condition and with enough room to run programs I DO want to use. Any advise?
Bill Pytlovany who is the author of WinPatrol has a good explanation about this here:
http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/2006/04/removing-windows-movie-maker.ht...
Seems you're out of luck!
Windows Movie Maker is part of windows, and comes installed with it. I don't think you can uninstall it. It does not show up in Add/Remove programs, so you can't delete it from there. Revo Uninstaller helps to uninstall the items which it can find in the Add/Remove list. That's why Revo won't be able to uninstall it.
Anupam
In Win7, I understand that Movie Maker can be separately installed, but I'm not sure if it can then be un-installed as I've not tried it :>)
Movie Maker isn't part of Windows 7 (any version.) Microsoft recommend that you use Windows Live Suite Movie Maker, although from what I've read it's greatly cut down from what was available in XP.
There is a standalone version of Movie Maker, 2.6, designed for Vista, that is supposed to work under Windows 7. It is available here.
I'm sure it would assist others if you could post whether this works or not in the forum.
Thanks,
Rik
I think if you are able to install it, then you will be able to uninstall it as well :D, unless they decide not to let you do that :P
Anupam
If you leave Revo in it's default mode when uninstalling, I've found this to be the best choice of the four(4) options it provides when you send it on it's way. It also has 'HUNTER' mode which is marvelous at killing rogue apps that might not appear in the listing. Revo is (IMHO) the best uninstaller out there right now, and with each update (frequent) they add some nice touches and speed the process up a bit more. I've now given this to users I support, so they can run it as needed whenever they need to uninstall something - and as a direct replacement for Win Add/Remove Programs.
I first started using Revo when I needed to repair a corrupt .net framework install. After hours trying various methods to uninstall .net, in order to reinstall it properly, and failing, I came across Revo which solved the problem in minutes. I have been using it ever since.
Only once, though, the post-uninstall registry scan brought up over 400 keys, which were clearly unrelated to the program. I had the good sense not to delete them, but it could have been dangerous. That was an earlier version, and I am sure that such issues have been resolved in subsequent versions.
Looking forward to trying Zsoft.
I'm always shivering while using Revo to remove shared components.
This is not an unnatural reaction. I too have suffered from the odd issue but only when Revo is set to advanced mode. Users should also be aware that these issues are very system specific and what might be a problem on my machine might not affect others or vice-versa. Also, my issues were all network related and therefore only involved the removal of connected software like firewalls. In truth I believe that the majority of apps can be adequately removed using the moderate, or even safe setting. Those who's remnants may cause conflicts with new software usually have their own dedicated removal tools, like BitDefender for example, in which case it is a better option to use these. These more aggressive removal tools are a bit like security software. If you are unsure about how to interpret and deal with the results and options displayed, then the safest path is to use only the Windows add-remove facility and/or a vendor's own uninstall tool.
if someone is rewriting this article i would like to suggest a rewrite in 2 sections: 1- general purpose uninstallers (revo, zsoft, myunninstaller, ashampoo...); 2- specific uninstallers (norton, mcafee, kaspersky... removers, appremover, pcdecrapifier, flash remover(by adobe), javara, .NET Framework Cleanup...). the softpedia 'uninstallers' tag for instance shows a lot of freeware to start with, it would be usefull to make some sense out of that...
I think that's a good suggestion. Maybe a different article for the individual uninstallers would be good.
Anupam Shriwatri
Another is:Argente Uninstall Manager 2.0.2.6.Have posibility to backup before uninstal,configure general and advanced,delete invalid entries automatically if you want,methodes to use:normal and professional.
With Revo you must to know how to work,to go where you see + and where the :numbers and characters are thicken to delete and next to make a whole selection of what remain and delete.You must to be concentrated to not escape something ore to delete what is good and work fantastic.
It does require you to make more clicks than what seems necessary. But it's all pretty automatic for me now. By the way, I always use the advanced option and delete everything, and have never had a problem. But that's not a recommendation, just personal experience.
A word of caution about deleting everything by default: I've learned from experience to check carefully before deleting. That lesson was learned after a system restore point saved my bacon!
Revo Uninstaller is the best.
how about brute force uninstaller?
Ashampoo Magical Uninsatll is also good and now it is free. At least it is much better than Revo that leaves a lot of crap behind after uninstallation.
To me ZSoft Uninstaller is an easier way to use. And works very well.
Absolute Uninstaller works better than any other uninstallers and with lots of features. read more at Great free software utilities
Not better than Revo.
And not better than ZSoft Uninstaller also, definitely (ZSoft does an excellent uninstall when you do a install log!).
As a note for those who are using Linux RevoUninstaller works with Wine. Thats important as sometimes uninstalling on Wine can be difficult and this makes it easier. Haven't tried any other uninstallers as I use Revo in Windows and now in Wine.
Tony
First, This article is 5 months old...
so be cautious until it updates....
Second, Revo Uninstaller is version 1.75
i know that cause i use that one...
So, someone needs to update this article....
good luck
I will be updating it soon. Thanks for the reminder.
Revo is Ok with a normal sucessful install. I had a unsucessful install with Adobe Reader 8.1.2 in Vista, Z-Soft would have worked - I think - if I had monitored it. But I didn't, and every time I tried changing it using exe in Adobe folder or stand-alone installer, Windows Installer give me an error saying it could not continue. Adobe created an utility to fix the problem, but when I loaded it it said no Adobe installation was found. Go figure. This is where Windows Installer Cleanup Utility 3 come in, fixing the error (but it was not able remove the program ?!?). That allowed me to use Revo Hunter Mode to uninstall program from the Adobe open window. With thorough scan selected, Revo removed more than 100 entries, but in the end, because lots of *.dlls where still registred and I couldn't simply remove them using Explorer (permissions stuff, also no take over allowed), I had to do registry search and delete with free Registrar, using Erunt for backup. That fixed that awfull problem, fortunatelly not too common.
try Your Uninstaller Pro..
That is not free.
Well, the best installation monitoring is RegShot; you'll be amazed how fast it is! It's much faster than Total Uninstall 2 or InstallWatch.
http://regshot.blog.googlepages.com/regshot ==> Original
http://www.czechcup.com/regshot/ ==> New enhanced Russian version
Note that it cannot be used as an uninstaller for an already installed (existing) application.
Both of these links are dead.
Hey Good article,Thanks for it.
From their website:
Regshot is a small,free and open-source(GPL) registry compare utility that allows you to quickly take a snapshot of your registry and then compare it with a second one - done after doing system changes or installing a new software product. The changes report can be produced in text or HTML format and contains a list of all modifications that have taken place between snapshot1 and snapshot2. In addition, you can also specify folders (with sub filders) to be scanned for changes as well.
Thus, Regshot does not appear to truly fit into this category. It is not an uninstaller per se. Instead, it takes a before and after snapshot of the registry and then produces a text file (or html) that lists all the changes. It might be a good program, but it does not fit into this category.
This is a registry compare utility...
I could not get the Beta version of Microsoft Web Expression to uninstall after it had expired - no matter what I tried. Very frustrating!!
Revo Uninstaller took care of it completely. I had to reinstall a few components in MS Office but aside from that it did a great job!
Thanks Gizmo!!
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