User question
Good day.
Tell me how you can completely remove the program from Windows. I tried it in different ways: through the START menu, through the installation and removal of programs, manually deleted the folder, etc. Anyway, when you reinstall it, the installer writes that you already have it and you must first remove it ...
Thanks in advance, Alexander.
Hello.
Known issue. I must say right away that the built-in utility in Windows for installing and removing programs is far from ideal, and often cannot perform its functions (besides, after its operation, a lot of "tails" remain in the system, both in the registry and simply, among temporary files) ...
In this article, I will consider several ways to solve your problem. So...
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"Complete" removal of the program from Windows
In most cases, this happens due to the fact that the user uninstalls the program in a very simple way: goes into the explorer, finds the desired folder in the Program Files directory and presses Delete (result: program files are deleted, but registry entries remain ...) .
To prevent this from happening, you need to uninstall programs (at least) using the standard installer built into Windows. A few words about this in paragraph-1 below.
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❶ Classic uninstallation of the program through the control panel
In the Windows Windows Control Panel, go to the address: Programs \ Programs and Features .
Next, you need to find and highlight the program you are looking for, then press the button "delete" (ideally, the installer will start and the program will be uninstalled in a few steps).
Control Panel - Programs - Programs and Features
(This will not help the author of the question, but within the framework of the article I recommend starting to deal with the question from this very step).
By the way, in Windows 10, you can delete applications through the system settings (to open them - press the key combination Win + i). See screenshot below. 👇
Windows 10 - apps - apps and features
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❷ If "Programs and Features" did not help anything
For example, if the required program was not in the list, then you can try to manually find the uninstaller.
Remark!
Many users simply delete the program folder from the system drive "C: \".
But such a step will only add free space on the HDD, the system itself will assume that the program is still installed (after all, the same entries in the system registry have remained).
And for the correct removal, you need an uninstaller (a special small utility from the developer to remove his program).
The uninstaller is usually always located in the folder with the installed program. It is a file "Uninstall.exe" (note: there can be various derivatives of the form "unins000.exe").
Most programs are installed in the following folders by default:
- C: \ Program Files (x86) \
- C: \ Program Files \
Therefore, if it was not possible to uninstall the application through the installation and removal of programs, you need to go to one of these folders, then find the directory of the program (which you want to delete), and see if there is a similar file there.
By the way, when you hover the mouse over such a file, a small window appears, like "File Description: Setup / Uninstall" (see screenshot below).
Uninstaller of the program
In general, if there is such a file, you just have to run it and follow the instructions.
Important!
By the way, for some software, developers post special uninstallers on the official sites. They are just an ordinary application that will check your system, and cleanly remove all traces of the once installed program.
For example, there are similar uninstallers for antiviruses (Kaspersky, Node 32, etc.).
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❸ Utilities for complete removal of problematic software
If the previous steps were unsuccessful (as well as for cleaning the system registry from the tails), there are special utilities to remove faulty programs.
They will show almost all installed programs (as opposed to "Add or Remove Programs" in Windows), and can forcefully and completely remove any of them!
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IObit Uninstaller
Website: //ru.iobit.com/advanceduninstaller.php
An excellent program for tracking installed software, Windows startup (the utility warns when someone intrudes there), and for completely removing any software from the system (including the tails that the standard installer leaves in Windows are removed).
In addition, the utility is free and works in all versions of Windows: XP, 7, 8, 10.
How to uninstall a program in IObit Uninstaller - just select the required application and click on the trash can icon
Main advantages:
- the ability to clean the browser from add-ons and toolbars (adware, various banners, links, etc., which is now often embedded in browsers);
- the presence of the function of forced removal of applications;
- the ability to deeply check the system for the presence of the remaining "garbage", "tails" from the old software;
- The utility is free and supports Russian!
IObit Uninstaller - automatically found the remaining registry entries (tails)
👉 Help!
You can see the complete process of uninstalling the program in IObit Uninstaller in this article.
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Geek Uninstaller
Website: //geekuninstaller.com/download
On the one hand, it is a very simple utility for removing programs, on the other hand, it is a powerful tool for cleaning your system of unnecessary software (so that there is not even a trace of the fact that it was once present ✌).
The interface of the utility is simple: after launching it, you will see a list of installed programs - opposite each installation date and its size (by the way, the entire list of programs can be exported to a regular html file). After choosing the desired program, you can:
- try to remove it in a standard way (uninstallation);
- if it did not work, delete it forcibly;
- you can simply delete the entry about it from the registry;
- the utility will also help you find the program's website, the folder on the disk where the program was installed, and registry entries associated with it.
Geek Uninstaller main window - an example of uninstalling an application
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CCleaner
Website: //www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download
One of the best free solutions for cleaning and optimizing your system. Within the framework of this article, interesting additional functions of this utility (which are located in the "Tools" menu):
- uninstallation of programs (you can carry out standard uninstallation, but if it did not work out, you can simply delete information about the program from the system and the registry (in this case, the folder with the program files will need to be deleted manually));
- there is control over Windows startup;
- the ability to search and delete duplicate files;
- removal of toolbars and add-ons in browsers, etc. (see screenshot below).
CCleaner - additional options
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❹ Removing a key manually from the registry
It also happens that utilities are powerless (although rarely, but still). In this case, you can manually delete the keys and "tails" from the program from the registry, and then delete its folder from the directory Program Files on the system drive "C: \" (with all its files).
To enter the system registry, you must:
- push buttons WIN + R - the "Run" window should appear;
- in the "Run" window enter the command regedit and press Enter (example in the screenshot below).
regedit - open the registry editor
👉 Help!
There are several ways how you can open the registry editor - see the instructions.
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The registry is a large database with many different directories and keys. We need to find the following branch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Uninstall.
It is in this branch that the keys for almost all installed programs in Windows are contained. Opening it, you will see that some of the programs have a familiar name, another part: incomprehensible numbers with letters ...
Registry editor
To find the keys for a specific program, right-click on the directory Uninstall and press "To find" ... Next, type in the name of the program (in Latin) into the search line.
Finding the program key
Then the editor will provide you with the found data. You just have to remove them, and then reinstall the program (for example).
Removing keys from the registry
Also note that some utilities for uninstalling programs can automatically find entries in the registry (for example, in IObit Uninstaller, just right-click on the application, and select "Open in Regedit" ).
Location of the application and its branches in the registry / IObit Uninstaller
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👉 Tip # 1
When uninstalling a program, you often come across the fact that some folder or file is not deleted (all sorts of errors appear, that this cannot or cannot be done, etc.). In this case, I recommend the following instructions.
👉 Tip # 2
It also happens that the program is not deleted due to the fact that it requires administrator rights, or writes that it is already in use. In this case, try to boot the system in safe mode and uninstall the program from it. It helps in many cases! 👌
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That's all for now. Add-ons are welcome ...
Good luck!
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First publication: 06.11.2017
Correction: 10/23/2020
