uninstall programmes dilemma

aimeelou · Dec 21, 2009

Hello Geeks,

I've been given a PC, that could be okay, if it were not so clogged up with tons of unnecessary programs.

As is usually the case, it came without a disc (XP Home), so I just can't do a reinstallation job.

I went to add/remove programmes, but when I tried to delete them, many of them came up with the message that they could not be deleted because the installation file could not be found.

I think these progrmmes could have been installed onto an external hard drive and that is why the intallation files cannot be found, but if that is the case, can I still get rid of them?

DavidGP · Dec 21, 2009

Hi

What brand PC is this and what model version?

You could try PC Decrapifier but thinking with add/remove not finding the uninstaller then this may not but worth a go anyway.

Do a quick check for me and open My Computer, C: Drive and then Program Files and do you see any folders with the names of those applications, you may have to open all the folders to check as some are called my the application name e.g CCleaner or some by the develpers name as in Piriform (who are makers of CCleaner) if they are then check for any uninstaller file their, could be called unwise, unins00x (where x is a number) or uninstall/er

If none of those are listed then try this tool in the Windows Installer Cleanup tool, and once run check for the names of those applications you wish to remove, but be careful as this application is powerful and will remove full the applications, so if you dont have the CDs or files for ones you accidently remove you wont get them back.

plodr · Dec 21, 2009

Revo Uninstaller

helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs installed on your computer even if you have problems uninstalling and cannot uninstall them from "Windows Add or Remove Programs" control panel applet.
Click to expand...

http://majorgeeks.com/Revo_Uninstaller_d5706.html

Imperfect1 · Dec 22, 2009

And AFTER you've uninstalled as much as you can of your programs and applications through Add/Remove Programs and the suggested apps, do an Advanced Search for any remnants not deleted by the system. (In fact, you can sometimes delete programs and apps this way, when the system won't allow you to delete them any other way.) Just enter into the Search pane, one at a time, each of the names of the program/app (and the publisher) as well as some associated words, and do multiple searches, deleting each file that shows up, until you're sure that nothing remains.

PS: A word of caution: Occasionally, some of the files that will come up in the search may NOT be associated with the application you're trying to delete. If you're not sure, don't delete those files, because you might be deleting something integral to another file or application. You have to be very careful! However, if you do delete something by accident, fortunately, you can always recover it from the Recycle Bin when you catch your mistake.

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uninstall programmes dilemma

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