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January 26, 2008

Completely Uninstalling Windows Applications

When you uninstall a Windows application, the uninstaller doesn't remove all the files and registry entries created by the application. Sometimes the developers were too lazy or they thought those files might be needed if you reinstall the application. The end result is that your computer loads slower because your registry contains more entries and the hard drive stores unnecessary files.

Revo Uninstaller is a software that lets you completely uninstall programs and it's easier to use than the built-in "Add or remove programs". You can search for a program or locate it in a more intuitive way: enter in the Hunter Mode, open the program you want to uninstall and drag the target to your program's window.


After finding the program, Revo Uninstaller analyzes the program's data, launches the uninstaller and shows you a list of leftovers (files, folders, registry entries related to the application). The application does a pretty good job at identifying them, but you should still check the results before selecting everything. "Even if you have a broken installation, Revo Uninstaller scans for an application's data on your hard disk drives and in the Windows registry and shows all found files, folders and registry items so you can delete them."


Revo Uninstaller also includes a junk files cleaner and a way to remove the history from browsers, Microsoft Office and some Windows application, but CCleaner is a better application for this.

17 comments:

  1. hey, thanks for your blog
    I read it on bloglines feed reader and never comment or say thanks
    but I want you to kow that I enjoy it.

    Thanks!

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  2. I wonder how (and how well) it can find all files/registry settings associated with a program...particularly for programs that may have shared files. While it's nice that it does a more complete job than some uninstallers, I'd be worried about it misidentifying or attempting to remove shared components and messing up another application.

    Other than that it sounds like quite a useful app.

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  3. Thank you again Ionut. This is a major problem in Windows, when uninstalling softwares. Mac Os is way to better when doing that, because the system don't write files in may places like Windows. But, as a web developer, I cant use another platform.

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  4. As useful as it is, the app does have one flaw which makes it useless to me; a lack of 64-bit support. This is a shame as I found it useful in the past when running 32-bit versions of Windows.

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  5. Thanks! I once had a program that refused to uninstall from Add and Remove Programs. It just didn't have any effect. Revo Uninstaller had that out of my hair in no time :)

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  6. Ok, when you have some software that doesn't want to get uninstalled, this is a great tool. I remember there was another one, but I cant recall it's name...
    But... what does this have to do with Google?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, the screenshots create a plausible connection with Google. Over the months, I had a good habit of highlighting some excellent software and I'll try to continue to that in the future. There are many sites that write software reviews, but I only write about applications that are both free and of the highest quality.

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  8. Great program Much better than the defualt "add/remove programs" in windows. Thanks for the heads up.

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  9. > When you uninstall a Windows
    > application, the uninstaller
    > doesn't remove all the files
    > and registry entries created
    > by the application.

    Wrong. The vast majority of the time, it DOES. Only a few badly written uninstallers don't remove registry keys.

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  10. They remove SOME registry keys, but NOT ALL of them.

    Many apps also leave files on your computer. For example Safari for Windows, which uses Windows Installer, "forgot" to delete 708 files (7MB) in a folder from Application Data.

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  11. @Aleph Ozuas :
    You must not be a very good web developer, if you are able to use only one platform: a Mac. What can't you do in Windows?

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  12. Oh no, you get me wrong Flatline, hehe, maybe the bad English. What I tried to say is that: I need to use Windows, because my clients (and 90% of internet users) use Windows. I have Mac, but need to use windows. Get now? Or do I need to be very, very explicative? Hehehe, you are very funny...

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  13. It's really useful information. I hate to delete the remaining files and folders after uninstalling applications. This will do the boring work for me. Thank you.

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  14. Wow. Thank you--what a GREAT utility. I am running on a Windows XP on a virtual machine on my Mac and was running into problems uninstalling some apps (e.g., older versions of TortiseSVN, WebWorks, SnagIt etc. that I am upgrading). Revouninstaller solved all my problems. It really works--it's thorough and clean. Phew!

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  15. thank you this software worked well

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  16. but i will recommend mirekusoft uninstaller instead of revo uninstaller. please check it how mirekusoft perform well than revo uninstaller.

    ReplyDelete

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