Is there a complete program removal tool?

[Xion]

Hey everyone,

I was just wondering if there is a program out there that removes a program completely including all keys related to that program in the registry.

Thanks.

Dave

[Xion]

Originally Posted by pam123 There used to be several for '98 but the I haven't come across any for XP.

Do you recall the name? Maybe they updated so it is compatible with XP now?

Thanks.

[pam123]

Not for XP.
It was tried with 98, and the results weren't good ( no class action suits but it came close ).
With XP you just need a good registry cleaner to use afterward.

edit : It wasn't updated it was dropped.

[Xion]

Originally Posted by pam123 Not for XP. It was tried with 98, and the results weren't good ( no class action suits but it came close ). With XP you just need a good registry cleaner to use afterward. edit : It wasn't updated it was dropped.

Interesting. Okay here's my situation:

On a popular online poker game client, it only allows one account per computer. I want to open another account for another family member who wants to play. Now here's the problem, I used CCleaner to clean the registry as well as manually find any keys related to that client and deleted it. I try to install the program again and it still recognizes my old player ID and that I can not create a new account. I think there is a hidden key somewhere, is there a way to search for this?

I think this is ridiculous.

Any insight would be appreciated.

[pam123]

Let's see if I understand this correctly.
You can re-install the program without trouble but the site recognizes you buy your old ID?
You've got the equivalent of a cookie on your machine try clearing your History but if it's recognizing your machine by some combination of IP address/email then you may be stuck.

[Xion]

Originally Posted by pam123 Let's see if I understand this correctly. You can re-install the program without trouble but the site recognizes you buy your old ID? You've got the equivalent of a cookie on your machine try clearing your History but if it's recognizing your machine by some combination of IP address/email then you may be stuck.

Hey pam123,

Yes, I uninstalled the client. Deleted all cookies, deleted all registry keys related to it (hopefully) and changed my MAC address. However, when I reinstall it it still somehow recognizes that I already signed up and that only 1 account is allowed per computer. I'm thinking of using system restore, I'm sure that would do the trick but my system restore is disabled .

My conclusion is that there is a hidden key in the install file that recognizes that I signed up already. When I resinstall the program, is there a way to see what files are being installed (like a summary)?

Cheers.

[pam123]

The answer to that is no.
If you can't find it in the registry and in the "usual" locations any program that could find it for you would have had to be up and running the first time you installed that poker program.
That's assuming there was a program that could do that out now.
Also, we're now considering some form of hidden software that may have a self-reinstalling function.
That's the sort of thing that's usually found with malware and I'm betting the EULA for that site would make interesting reading.
Bottom line, to change the account you're going to have to format.

[mojo]

Your profile information for the game is most likely in 1 of 2 places, just like almost every other windows program in existence.

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data
or
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data

These are hidden folders, so make sure you have them enabled.