Getting rid of deleted programs

[redvette]

I don't know if this belongs here or not, but I am sure I will be directed to the right place after this is found.

Simple question is this....Why is it such a big deal to simply remove some thing you have installed, either over the Internet or from a disk or what ever. They make you jump through hoops, takes a lot of time finding everything, etc.

You in good faith have installed this and decide you did not like it or some other reason you want to remove it, and 9 out of 10 times this is very difficult to do. You would simply think you remove it with your control panel or did a search and removed it that way, and any way you do it, it is not completely gone. Years later you can find bits of it by accident some times. Why is this.?

Example I installed Nero 9, decided I did not like it, and it has taken me a large amount of time to remove it and it is still not completely gone. There are files that simply will not go away. How do you deal with things like this. Is there a program or what ever that you can use to get rid of it once and for all, and not find little bits of it here and there all the time. When I want some thing gone I want it gone. I think some manufactureres do this delibertly. Am I right here.? I have a program listed in my add and remove from Roxio, that I uninstalled years ago, and no matter it will not go away. It is listed there but no value is listed on the right side, so I assume it is not still active.

Thanx.....Gunny

[shadowpr]

I usually use ccleaner to uninstall programs. After it uninstalls, I then run the reg scan from ccleaner and let it get id of the rest.

That usually does a good job for me. Beyond that, just look for folders that remain and delete.

[redvette]

Hi Shadow

Ya I use it too, just thought there was a better one. Thoes entries in my add and remove, it just bugs me they are there and you cannot get rid of them, even if they don't do any thing. I just like things neat and tidy. :-) If they are not doing any thing why are they still there I think is a logical question.?

Thanx....Gunny

[glc]

CCleaner can delete those entries for you. Look in Tools.

[rjfvillarosa]

Gunny. I know this is a bit long winded But, if you are not sure if you are going to like/keep a program, create a restore point prior to installing it. If it jerks your chain and you no longer want it you can uninstall it and do a system restore, or just do a system restore and it will be gone. Don't forget, if you do a system restore any other applications or updates you installed after the restore point will be gone as well.

[redvette]

GLC... I know what you are talking about in CCleaner, I have used it before. But it will not get rid of some old Roxio crap. I have tried it. It says some thing about Roxio has to be installed again in order for this to be removed, tried that too, but it will not accept my registration code now, so that is out of the question. I will never use or buy another Roxio product again as long as I live. :-) I think it was uninstalled before not using the uninstall with Roxio instead it was uninstalled using some other means. Causing this problem I think. Totally ridiculous. I have worn out the registration approach, using it so often looking for old Roxio crap.

villarosa-----Good idea, just don't think of doing it that way very often, I will try to remember that the next time. Long winded, I am the long winded champ on here, now now be nice. Ha ha ha

Thanx....Gunny

[not important]

Get rid of Roxio: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/U...oxio-Zap.shtml
Get rid of Nero: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/U...l-Bundle.shtml

[avair]

Hi you can download a program called Nero clean tool google it and see

[redvette]

Hi Gang

These look like great uninstallers, but one problem, since these are not active programs they don't show up. They are in my Add and remove programs, and when you click on the tools with CCleaner they show up there. But like I said they are inactice I guess you call it, they will not be removed. They are there in name only I guess you would say. I did not see a search on any of these uninstallers, if they had that I might be able to do some thing that way.

Thanx....Gunny

Gunny, download this free program and use it to remove/uninstall programs you don't like, use, or need anymore, http://www.revouninstaller.com. Program works great, its easy to use and also makes sure the registry gets cleaned.

[glc]

Gunny, I am saying that using the CCleaner tools, you can remove those leftover entries in add/remove programs. "Delete Entry" is one of the buttons.

[not important]

The links I put in Post #7 wshould completely rid your PC of those two programs. They always work for me.

[redvette]

Hi gang

I want to thank you all for all the good responses. Now I have Revo uninstaller on my comp and it does work great but the ones I am referring to are not on the list, when I open Revo. They only so far as a i know show up with my add and remove programs and when I click on CCleaner under tools.

Now GLC, I have tried this with CCleaner and when I click on one of the 10 Roxio entries this little box jumps out that says, (cannot delete MSI installer). I would appreciate any one that knows what that means. What is a MSI installer, never heard of that.

And not important, I did run those you have in post 7, and they were great found a lot of crap, clear back to 2005, but no Roxio stuff was found. Maybe you all are missing some thing I have said a couple of times here, I think they are there in word only, no values, etc. But I am not sure of that, cause my way of thinking is, they have to be more to them if they are still there, after so much effort has been put into getting rid of them, and some thing is holding on to them, so I am thinking I need to get rid of them. I have never had such a program that makes you jump through hoops just to get rid of it. I will repeat, never will I again install any thing from Roxio. My way of thinking is they do this deliberately, and because they do this makes them a very poor Co in my estimation.

Thanx...Gunny

[rjfvillarosa]

Your not on your own there Gunny. My pet hates are printer and camera software.

[glc]

Gunny, you want to delete the entry, not the program itself.

[redvette]

villarosa... I could not agree with you more, they are some of the worst. But this Roxio is a bugger to get rid of. Usually there is a way if you really look for one but this one is really trying my patience. It is a matter of not letting it go now, there will be a way, trust me.

Thanx....Gunny

[redvette]

GLC... I know what you are saying and thinking, that dummy is not doing it right. But I have clicked on every single entry there is under Roxio, in CCleaner, and trust me that little box pops up with each one. Same message too. I believe the program is gone alright, but what is left then.?

Cannot delete MSI installer, that is what it says.

Thanx....Gunny

[redvette]

Hi gang

Ha ha ha ha chalk up one more for the good guys. I finally got rid of them, I told you there has to be a way. Went to Majorgeek.com forum, found a post telling this guy how to get rid of problem programs. It is called Windows Installer clean up. A very small program, I used it and they are gone both from my add and remove and from the list on CCleaner. Made my day.

Thanx...Gunny

[StarStuff]

I've been reinstalling and updating some software following a recent hard drive crash (big thanks to GLC for help in buying/installing a new HD, BTW!). Several issues have popped up that I'm getting very frustrated over, one of which is due to an annoying program called Driver Detective that I tried out and found to be one of your typical bait-and-switch programs ("free" download, once installed, analyzes your system, all right, but won't do anything about it until you pay the registration fee -- which you don't find out about until the "damage" is done).

Anyway, I uninstalled the program, ran CC Cleaner to clean up the registry, and thought it was gone until I ran the Auslogics Disk Defrag program and it popped up several fragmented entries for Driver Detective in the hidden/protected system folders under C:/Windows/Installer and C:/Windows/Assembly. I'm unable to delete them and they're a bloody thorn in my side. Plus, I'd like to know how to remove similar remnants of uninstalled software in the future.

I've tried the Windows Installer Cleanup tool and it doesn't even see these files, let alone do anything about getting rid of them.

Any suggestions?

[redvette]

Hi Star Stuff

This may not help right now but a good program to use in the future is Revo Uninstaller. You might go into the registry and do a search there, but be careful. Some of these programs install with a uninstaller too. So check on that. I know this Driver Detective is a bad site once it grabs hold of your computer. More and more these bad sites are worming there way into a persons computer, you have to be very careful about what you install, be sure before you click to install it is installing exactly what you want.

You can try a system restore too, some times this gets rid of previous installs like this Driver Detecive, and you can do a windows search and get rid of any traces of that site.

Let me know if any of this helps if not we can try others

Thanx and take care....Gunny

[StarStuff]

Originally Posted by redvette This may not help right now but a good program to use in the future is Revo Uninstaller. You might go into the registry and do a search there, but be careful. Some of these programs install with a uninstaller too. So check on that. I know this Driver Detective is a bad site once it grabs hold of your computer. More and more these bad sites are worming there way into a persons computer, you have to be very careful about what you install, be sure before you click to install it is installing exactly what you want.

You've got that right! Lesson learned, I hope.

Originally Posted by redbette You can try a system restore too, some times this gets rid of previous installs like this Driver Detecive, and you can do a windows search and get rid of any traces of that site.

Too late, I'm red-faced to admit. But I do have a side question to ask, which I'll elaborate on in the rest of this post, concerning the mysterious disappearance of my System Restore tab.

But let me continue:

I went to the Switch User function to be sure I had administrator rights, and I did. The only two options as far as users go were my regular user and guest user, which is turned off.

But then, on some inspired whim, I rebooted into Safe Mode and the screen came up giving me the option of my regular user or Administrator. I chose Administrator and not only was I able to turn off the "Read Only" option in properties for the stubborn DriverDetective files, and then remove them, but I was also able to access the System Restore tab.

Once I restarted normally, the pesky files were gone but I still have no System Restore tab as regular user.

Any ideas about this? And why, if I've designated myself as a user with administrative rights, can't I do the things I just mentioned without having to boot into safe mode and signing in as Administrator? Puzzling...

Thoughts?

[redvette]

Hi Star Stuff

One thing I have learned is most of these bad sites, viruses, Trojan's, take away your restore properties, I guess they don't want you to be able to do this and mess up their stupid game. And I do know too getting your restore properties back can be a challenge.

There are a lot about these Administrator rights that are not very clear to me, and a lot of other people, and doing the safe mode thing. I assume you are using XP. asking this because they have changed the Administrator issues with Vista and Win 7 systems.

To get back my restore point I have had to do a reinstall of my system. I have tried the repair of it too. So you might try that as a last resort. As they all say make sure all your stuff is backed up, before attempting any of this. You might want to place at the bottom of your posts a brief description of what you have on the computer that you are having the problem with. Like XP, SP 3, IE8, and so on

Thanx and take care......Gunny

[glc]

With XP Home, you have to use Safe Mode to access the Administrator account.

Even if you have admin rights with your user account, there are still file ownership issues.

[redvette]

Hi GLC

You sneaked up on me. I am sure you are much better at answering this then I am.

Gunny

[StarStuff]

Thanks for the explanation, GLC. I'm making a note of that for future reference.

I can't understand why you can't just copy whatever file is needed to whatever directory requires it, to restore the System Restore tab to your user account. If some malicious site can erase it, you should be able to restore it, yes? A total reinstall seems pretty drastic.

Since the System Restore tab is present when I log in under the Safe Mode Administrator account, it's obvious that the proper file(s) are present somewhere on my system.

While we're talking about not being able to delete files, I'm experiencing a sporadic issue with files not being able to be deleted from the Recycle Bin. They're not uninstalled program files, they're files I've just deleted. Usually I don't have a problem but three or four times since the reinstallation, I get a message that I don't have permission to delete the file, that it's in use by "De1" or something like that. The only way to delete it is to restart in Safe Mode as an Administrator and empty the Recycle Bin as usual.

In all the years I've had this computer I've never run into these problems. I don't understand it, I'm just putting the files back that my computer came preloaded with, right? Why these new, mysterious glitches?

BTW my sysem is a Dell Dimension 4600 2.66 MHz, 2 GB RAM, Windows XP Home Edition (OEM). Video card is an nVidia GeForce 7600GS with 256 MB memory.

[glc]

You may want to start over, and this time be more careful what you install.

[redvette]

Hi Starstuff

Ya as drastic as it may sound, doing a reinstall is the only option some times. That is if you want to get your computer back to where it was. There are risks no matter what you do when you get one of these hard to remove items. They invade everything. And you can literally spend days trying to get rid of them and then only to find you cant. I think we all have been in the situation at one time. This just points up how important doing back ups of your system is. Just remember having a good virus protection program can give you false security in a way making you think I don't have to be careful now, I can go and do what ever I want and it will protect me. Wrong even the best can be beaten by some of these hackers, just remember that. I bet even GLC will agree with me there.

Thanx and take care........Gunny

[davids2004]

I like using revo uninstaller. Does a good job for me.

[redvette]

Hi davids2004

Ya I use Revo uninstaller a lot too, but for some strange reason not all can be deleted this way. When you have some bad guys floating around in your computer system, Revo is not going to help you. It takes drastic measures to get rid of certain bad guys, hence my comment on doing a reinstall. Some times you just have to bite the bullet, and do it. Which brings up the fact of how important doing proper backups are. And being very careful on what you click on, that is first and foremost step to take in making sure you do not good up your system. If you arn't then you will be on this forum asking questions as to how do I solve this problem. :-)

Thanx....Gunny