Best way to uninstall any program

I have a general question for which I'd love to see some good advice. Assuming a program comes with an uninstaller or the program appears in Add or Remove Programs, what's the best way to conduct the uninstall if (a) you are not an expert with computers, and (b) you want to keep the process as simple and safe as possible, yet reasonably effective?

What do you think of this process?:

1. Use the program's uninstaller if it has one. If it doesn't, then use Add or Remove Programs

2. Check C:\Program Files and delete any entry that looks like it's associated with that program

3. Run Ccleaner for the Registry

(PS - I tried posting a similar thread on Wilder's Security Forum because I have Eset Nod32 on my pc...but got no responses as of this posting.)

 

>> I have a general question for which I'd love to see some good advice. Assuming a program comes with an uninstaller or the program appears in Add or Remove Programs, what's the best way to conduct the uninstall if (a) you are not an expert with computers, and (b) you want to keep the process as simple and safe as possible, yet reasonably effective? keywest928 <<

Actually, the best (not to mention 'safest') answer that I can think of would be to use ZSoft Uninstaller which is a freeware program that is specifically designed for uninstalling programs in an efficient manner. The program keeps track of changes made during software installations; and removes software installations more completely; and even allows the user to choose to "hide entries" from the uninstall list.

This ZSoft Uninstaller program is far better IMO than using the Windows built in uninstaller because loads faster and let you choose if you want to delete some leftover registry entries and the folders in your Application Data.

This particular freeware program consistently gets excellent reviews on software sites that allow "unedited" critical review by users. On many of these larger freeware/shareware websites; such as softpedia.com, download.com and freewarefiles.com the ZSoft Uninstaller has been downloaded tens of thousands of times.

Additionally, if you don’t like that one, these two Revo Uninstaller 1.42 and MyUninstaller 1.38 are both freeware as well; and both of them work very well as an alternative to using Windows Add/Remove.

Important Side Note: These programs require a certain amount of technical 'expertise' prior to actually using them. Therefore, if you decide to download, install and then try out any of the programs listed above; a thorough read of the included "HELP" files is absolutely essential in order to get the most out of using them.

Good Luck!

 

"Actually, the best (not to mention 'safest') answer that I can think of would be to use ZSoft Uninstaller which is a freeware program that is specifically designed for uninstalling programs in an efficient manner. The program keeps track of changes made during software installations; and removes software installations more completely; and even allows the user to choose to "hide entries" from the uninstall list."

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Compuable,

Thanks for the response. I have a follow-up question. If ZSoft Uninstaller works by keeping track of changes made during software installations, then how does it effectively remove programs that I may want to uninstall that were on my system before ZSoft was loaded?

Again, thanks for your input and I'd value the opinions of others as well.

 

"Unfortunately, most software programs leave some entries behind *but* only a tiny number of programs that do that cause problems with those left behind entries."

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Steve_East9,

Thanks for the input. Bear with me; I'm not sure I completely understand the above quote. Are you saying that it's very rare for left-behind entries from uninstalled programs to cause problems if I follow the 1-2-3 approach listed in my first post in this thread?

 

Thanks. One of the things I continue to learn in life is to try to keep it simple when possible. Sure, there are times when the right solution is a complicated one. But, at some point in any process the law of diminishing returns kicks in (i.e., the amount of input effort isn't justified by the resulting output).

I'll continue to monitor this thread and welcome any other opinions.

 

And when you've finished running CCleaner and all the other suggestions, you might try Advanced WindowsCare v2 Personal 2.6.0.835
from http://www.majorgeeks.com/Advanced_WindowsCare_v2_Personal_d4991.html
to clean out what is still left over.
Size: 5.99 MB License: Freeware Requires: Win XP/2K/2003 Downloaded: 737382 Times Rating: 4.60 (3125 votes).

A great program, IMO. Bazza

 

> Compuable, Thanks for the response. I have a follow-up question. If ZSoft Uninstaller works by keeping track of changes made during software installations, then how does it effectively remove programs that I may want to uninstall that were on my system before ZSoft was loaded? keywest928 <

Excellent question... However, since I do not know the answer; I believe your best bet would be to post this question in the official ZSoft Software Support Forum in the "General Support" section of the forum.

You could also try contacting the program author directly here on this webpage form.

Good Luck!

 

Steve, I use AWC every day. I must be lucky (for a change) as I have never had any problems with it (using the defaults). Bazza

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Compiling the above comments with my first post, here's my edited sequence procedure. Again, my goal is to have a general program removal process to follow that is a good balance of simplicity, safety, and effectiveness (with the understanding that there may be some rare exceptions). Do you think this covers it?

1. Check with the software mfg to see if they have a special removal tool (e.g., Norton)

2. If not, then use the program's uninstaller if it has one. If it doesn't, then use Add or Remove Programs

3. Check C:\Program Files and delete any entry that looks like it's associated with that program

3A. If the intention is to permanently remove the program (versus a reinstall or update), then conduct a search in Windows Explorer for any other files/folders and delete them.

4. Run Ccleaner (at least 2 times) for the Registry

 

Much thanks to you and the others that provided opinions and suggestions. I appreciate the input.

As an aside, my experience with Major Geeks is only about a month old, but I am impressed by this web site. From the listed freeware recommendations to the articles about pc maintenance to the forum sections, there's a lot of good information to be gleaned. It's generous of you and the other participants to share your knowledge and experiences. Maybe someday I'll be able to do likewise for other newbies.

My next task: I downloaded and installed Comodo Firewall Pro a few days ago. Now I have to figure it out! Probably a new thread coming....