uninstaller??? (first post on this newsgroup)

  • Thread starter Thread starter chuck
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chuck

Anybody know of a good uninstaller program? I want one that does more than
just executes the uninstall.exe file (i.e something more than windfowsXP's
control panel add/remove) I would like something that actually goes through
the application and its dependencies and figures out what needs deleting...

Thanks
 
Anybody know of a good uninstaller program? I want one
that does more than just executes the uninstall.exe file
(i.e something more than windfowsXP's control panel
add/remove) I would like something that actually goes
through the application and its dependencies and figures
out what needs deleting...
Click to expand...
Here is a good one:


"Total Uninstall 2.34

Total Uninstall can help you to monitor any changes that
were made to your system during installation of a new software
product.
It allow you to perform a complete uninstall without having to
rely on the supplied uninstall program which may leave files
or changes behind."

http://www.geocities.com/ggmartau/tu.html







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*******************************************
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information:
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Anybody know of a good uninstaller program? I want one that does
more than just executes the uninstall.exe file (i.e something more
than windfowsXP's control panel add/remove) I would like something
that actually goes through the application and its dependencies
and figures out what needs deleting...
Click to expand...

IMO (and that of a lot of others here) Total Uninstall is the best
one out there now. You need to run it as you install, so it can
track the process and later know what to get rid of, so it won't
help with stuff you have already installed. It's Pricelessware:

<http://pricelessware.org/2004/PL2004SYSTEMUTILITIES.htm#Install-UninstallTool>
 
R. L. said:
Here is a good one:


"Total Uninstall 2.34

Total Uninstall can help you to monitor any changes that
were made to your system during installation of a new software
product.
It allow you to perform a complete uninstall without having to
rely on the supplied uninstall program which may leave files
or changes behind."

http://www.geocities.com/ggmartau/tu.html
Click to expand...


But can it be used after the fact ? (i.e. to un-install a prgm that was not
monitored) ?


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R. L. said:
Here is a good one:


"Total Uninstall 2.34

Total Uninstall can help you to monitor any changes that
were made to your system during installation of a new software
product.
It allow you to perform a complete uninstall without having to
rely on the supplied uninstall program which may leave files
or changes behind."

http://www.geocities.com/ggmartau/tu.html
Click to expand...

This is a good program.

Unfortunately it would periodically freeze-up my computer when I was
installing a new program. Nothing serious, no harm done, just very annoying.
In the past I have noticed a few others mention this problem as well.
 
On Sat, 3 Jul 2004 21:44:43 -0600, *ProteanThread* wrote:

[Total Uninstall 2.34]
But can it be used after the fact ? (i.e. to un-install a prgm that was not
monitored) ?
Click to expand...

I don't know any program which truly uninstalls if installation hasn't
been monitored. You can just delete the folder(s) of the program and
try to kill all registry entries by running a registry cleaner after
that. But that may leave lots of orphans behind...

There's a way to achieve (mostly) good results by hand, though.

1) Run your program with a registry monitor and a file access monitor
in background. (Refer to www.sysinternals.com!) Filter for your
program to get all accessed files and registry entries.
2) Look into the installation folder for an installation protocol.
View it with an appropriate viewer. (In most cases you'll want to
hide special chars.) Print it.
3) Uninstall the program with its own uninstaller if available. If
you are suspicious you can do so while running an installation
monitor like Total Uninstall in background.
4) Restart your computer to be sure all uninstallation steps have been
executed properly.
5) Compare the protocol of the installation monitor with your lists
created in steps 1) and 2).
6) Remove all extant files, folders, and registry entries. But
*be sure* to *not remove* files or registry entries belonging to
the system or are used by other programs, too!! (If in doubt -
don't touch them!)

BeAr
 
Thanks, everyone, for your replies. As many o you were quick to point out,
I want something that can be used "after the fact". I'm aware of Total
uninstall and use a similar program on my own PC, but I'm going to try to
help a friend clean up his PC and he's been unsucessfull uninstalling
"incredimail" using the standard add/remove methods. I can probably do it
by hand, but that's always a bit dicey and liable to either miss stuff or
delete the wrong thing... I've looked a bit and I can't even find shareware
that does what I want! Oh, well...

Chuck
 
Thanks, everyone, for your replies. As many o you were quick to point out,
I want something that can be used "after the fact". I'm aware of Total
uninstall and use a similar program on my own PC, but I'm going to try to
help a friend clean up his PC and he's been unsucessfull uninstalling
"incredimail" using the standard add/remove methods. I can probably do it
by hand, but that's always a bit dicey and liable to either miss stuff or
delete the wrong thing... I've looked a bit and I can't even find shareware
that does what I want! Oh, well...
Click to expand...

While it's pretty well impossible for an uninstaller to handle
something it didn't "watch" being installed, it does seem possible to
me that in the case of a specific nuisance program, such as
Incredimail, there could be some sort of special purpose routine
available just for that job. (The more disseminated the problem, the
more likely is a solution. :-)

Perhaps you could try asking more specifically for "Uninstalling
Incredimail?" or similar wording.


Cheers, Phred.
 
chuck said:
Anybody know of a good uninstaller program? I want one that does more than
just executes the uninstall.exe file (i.e something more than windfowsXP's
control panel add/remove) I would like something that actually goes through
the application and its dependencies and figures out what needs deleting...
Click to expand...

I suggest InCtrl5 (in combination with Undoreg).
InCtlr5 keeps a record of all changes (registry, files) during the
installation proces.

Information:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,9882,00.asp

Download:
http://pascal.oudot.free.fr/telechar/logs/inctrl5.exe

Undoreg:
http://www.woundedmoon.org/win32/undoreg.html

Frank
 
I'm going to try to help a friend clean up his PC and he's been
unsucessfull uninstalling "incredimail" using the standard
add/remove methods. I can probably do it by hand, but that's
always a bit dicey and liable to either miss stuff or delete the
wrong thing...
Click to expand...

There's a post at
<http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win95/t1076354625> which makes it
look relatively straightforward to remove by hand. I can't vouch for
that removing it completely, but it at least looks reasonable.
 
Hi Chuck - You might try the following - Use the uninstaller (or
Add-Remove). Now, reinstall it under TotalUninstall. Now, use
TotalUninstall to remove. (This should not only get all of the last install
but most likely will pick up most of any residue from the first install.)
Now make a few Registry checks and see if you find anything left.

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In
 
chuck said:
Thanks, everyone, for your replies. As many o you were quick to point out,
I want something that can be used "after the fact". I'm aware of Total
uninstall and use a similar program on my own PC, but I'm going to try to
help a friend clean up his PC and he's been unsucessfull uninstalling
"incredimail" using the standard add/remove methods. I can probably do it
by hand, but that's always a bit dicey and liable to either miss stuff or
delete the wrong thing... I've looked a bit and I can't even find shareware
that does what I want! Oh, well...

Chuck
Click to expand...

The main approach I've used in the past when reinstalling / uninstalling
hasn't worked is to delete or rename the offending software's directory
and use a registry cleaner to identify possible obsolete entries, although
I wouldn't trust them to automatically remove everything they find, only references
I recognise: I've yet to find one that never makes mistakes.


Other than that I have, on a couple of occassions installed a program I failed
to monitor on my normal partition onto a test alternate boot partiton I'd
previously set up from an image, and monitored it to create a list of changes,
although using this can also be rather dicey and requires careful editing.
 
Jim Byrd said:
Hi Chuck - You might try the following - Use the uninstaller (or
Add-Remove). Now, reinstall it under TotalUninstall. Now, use
TotalUninstall to remove. (This should not only get all of the last install
but most likely will pick up most of any residue from the first install.)
Now make a few Registry checks and see if you find anything left.
Click to expand...

Nice try, but wouldn't work. Total Uninstall's pre install snapshot
would include all the residue the defective unistall routine left behind
so TU would only detect and remove the differences that Incrudimail's
unistall routine dealt with anyway :(
 
Hi Mel - No, as you point out, maybe not directly. My thinking was that
perhaps the new install's log record could be compared with the
what-was-removed log on the uninstall to guide in the manual removal of the
(hopefully same) residue after the uninstall. At least this might be a way
of finding out what got left. ??

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In
 
JoeA said:
Frank Delamarre wrote:
[...]
Click to expand...

Learn to quote properly (and the right person)
If you have to maanualy pick out the registry entries, try using the
last free version of
JV16 Power Tools.
Click to expand...

Does it list added files, changes in .ini files....
That's what the OP asked for.

Frank Delamarre

Frank
 
On Sat, 3 Jul 2004 21:44:43 -0600, *ProteanThread* wrote:

[Total Uninstall 2.34]
But can it be used after the fact ? (i.e. to un-install a prgm
that was not
monitored) ?
Click to expand...

I don't know any program which truly uninstalls if installation
hasn't
been monitored. You can just delete the folder(s) of the program and
try to kill all registry entries by running a registry cleaner after
that. But that may leave lots of orphans behind...
Click to expand...


What you can try is this:

1) Delete the folder(s) or uninstall the program.

2) Now *REINSTALL* the *EXACT SAME PROGRAM* into the same directory
using Total Uninstall 2.34

If there are any old files or registry entries, the new program install
of the old program will in most cases overwrite them and Total Uninstall
monitoring will pick these changes up.
 
Chris said:
On Sat, 3 Jul 2004 21:44:43 -0600, *ProteanThread* wrote:

[Total Uninstall 2.34]
But can it be used after the fact ? (i.e. to un-install a prgm
that was not
monitored) ?
Click to expand...

I don't know any program which truly uninstalls if installation
hasn't
been monitored. You can just delete the folder(s) of the program and
try to kill all registry entries by running a registry cleaner after
that. But that may leave lots of orphans behind...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

JH - Toniarts Easy Cleaner will do a reasonable job doing just that.
See http://www.jhoodsoft.org/02a_wintools_systools.html for the link.
To be absolutely sure though, I would follow the instructions below.

John H.
 
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