Recipe 4.2. Removing Unruly Applications

Problem

You want to uninstall an unruly application and make sure no remnants of the application are left behind.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

Before uninstalling the application, look through your hard disk to see where the program stores its files and folders. Then choose Start Control Panel Add or Remove Programs, scroll to the program you want to uninstall, and click Change/Remove and follow the instructions. After you run the uninstallation routine, look for those files and folders, and delete them if they haven't been deleted. Often, this is in C:\Program Files\<Publisher>\<Program Name>.

Also, before you install the program, create a restore point so that you can restore your system to the state it was in before installation. That way, if you run the program and decide you don't want to use it any more, you can immediately revert to your system's pre-installation state. To set up a system restore point, see Recipe 19.5. Then, after you've installed the application and decided not to use it, revert to that restore point instead of using the uninstallation routine it's more thorough.

The restore point solution will only work if you use it directly after using the application for the first time, and if you make no other system changes. If you make system changes, after you install the software, and then revert to the restore point, you'll not only uninstall the program, but you'll also wipe out all the system changes that you made.

Using the Registry

After you've run the uninstallation routine, run the Registry Editor, search through the Registry for any keys and values the program left behind, and then delete them. Frequently, you can find the settings for the program at \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\<Publisher>\<Program Name> where <Publisher> is the name of the software company that made the program and <Program Name> is the name of the software package (in the case of companies with multiple products like Symantec or Adobe).

You should also make sure that no parts of the program are still being run at startup. To do that, check the following two keys and delete any relevant entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Using downloadable software

RegSpy is shareware available from http://www.utils32.com/regspy.htm that tracks changes made to the Registry whenever a program installs and runs, and lets you roll back the changes the program makes. So run the program, and use the program's ability to build rollback scripts, which will let you review all Registry changes a program makes, step-by-step, and then roll them back. After you uninstall a program, run RegSpy and roll back any Registry changes the uninstallation program missed. RegSpy is shareware, and free to try, but costs $19.95 if you continue to use it.

Discussion

Unruly applications can cause a variety of problems. They might leave behind DLLs that load every time you start Windows, even though the original program is gone, which takes up memory and can cause system conflicts. They may also leave behind Registry entries, which cause similar problems. In both instances, your system performance takes a hit loading resources for programs that no longer exist. The programs also might leave behind unnecessary files and folders, which takes up hard disk space.

See Also

Registry First Aid is an excellent tool for checking for Registry entries that have been left behind by unruly programs. It will also check for other Registry problems, such as incorrect and outdated entries. You can get it from http://www.rosecitysoftware.com/reg1aid/. It's shareware and if you continue to use it after 30 days, you're required to pay a $21 registration fee.