Unable to remove ANY programs thru the Add/Remove Programs window!

I went to uninstall some junk programs from my computer, and NONE of the programs in the Add/Remove Programs window have the Remove button. Is there any way to fix this or reverse it? confused

 

Try this:

Click Start, Run and type REGEDIT. This starts the Registry Editor. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SOFTWARE
\Microsoft
\Windows
\CurrentVersion
\Uninstall
\<Program Name>

Click on the + next to the Uninstall key to reveal the subkeys.

You will notice sub keys with a series of numbers. Click on each of these number series one at a time and look in the right pane for "Display Name", this is the name reflected in Add/Remove Programs.

In the right-pane, do the following:

Look for the REG_DWORD(s) "NoRemove" and "NoModify"

Double-click NoRemove (REG_DWORD) and set it to 0
Double-click NoModify (REG_DWORD) and set it to 0

If NoRemove is set to 1, the Remove button will be unavailable
If NoModify is set to 1, the Change button will be unavailable

 

Tried that, but there are nowhere near as many listings as there are on add/remove programs, and not any that i would want to get rid of anyway...

Aside from that, I only see No Repair and No Modify on a few of them, but I have yet to see No Remove.

Where do I go from here?

 

1. No
2. Yes
3. No, would that make a difference?
4. Yes

 

If "NoRemove" does not exist, create it and set the value to 0.

To create, right click in a blank area of the right pane, this will bring up "New".

Select "DWORDvalue".

Type in NoRemove, hit Enter.

Double click on newly created DWORD and type in 0 (zero).

See if this will get the buttons back in Add/Remove

You may have to reboot for changes to take place.

 

Suggest you try:

1. Using System Restore to go back to a point when Add/Remove programs is all fine. You shouldn't wait too long if you want to use this option as your system only maintains a limited number of restore point entries. Wait too long and the one you want might be lost from System Restore too!

2. Try reinstalling each product. In some cases, Setup might ask if you want to Repair or Remove. In any case, try repairing first if that's an option for you.

I do have to agree with TimW, could be a malware issue. Run spyware/virus scans before doing a System Restore.