Guide Overview

This guide will explain how to remove programs that have been installed on your computer.

Instructions

1. Click "start" on the taskbar and then click on the "Control Panel" icon as shown below.
   
   
   
   
2. Please doubleclick the "Add or Remove Programs" icon:
   
   
   
   
3. A list of programs installed will be "populated" this may take a bit of time.
   
   
   
   
4. In this list please find the program that you would like to remove and click "Change" (or "Change/Remove"):
   
   
   
   
5. A wizard should then open, which will guide you through the uninstallation.

If you find a visual aid appealing, you may like to watch the following video presentation which will show the above steps exactly as you would see them on your computer.

Video showing how to uninstall a program

Well that was easy for you to say, but depending on what you really want to uninstall, it may be a little harder. You may have to delet programs by hand and hope that by running CHKDISK on start-up, it will fix the regestry to not do as it is told.

Chkdsk does not fix any errors in the registry. It's only for disk based errors.

It is true that there are times that you have to delete things manually, but you should always attempt to use the approach given above first so that a program uninstalls properly.

Hello evbdy,
I like the forum cause I find it very useful.
Recently I installed Paragon Data software. But unfortunately I can't remove it either through Control Panel (as shown above) or this software's Uninstall shield. It runs the Uninstal shild but the window accidently shuts and writes it has successfully finished the action. But the software is still on my PC. I guess it has a kind of wrong Uninstall process.
Please, advise me how to uninstall it totally.
Any reply would be appreciated!

Cheers!

Does the entry for it still remain in the add/remove programs list?

Hi again!

Yes, it is still in the Add or Remove Control Panel list.
I guess it has some problem of the Uninstall system.
How can I remove, please advise!
Thanks!

Did you delete the folder for the program or is that still on your hard drive?

Grinler: "Did you delete the folder for the program or is that still on your hard drive?"
____________________________

No I didn't touch it. It is still on my PC.

What I would suggest you do is reinstall it and then try to uninstall it after. This should be the cleanest method for uninstalling the program.

I have put together a video detailing how to add or remove program in Windows for those who find a visual aid appealing.

Video showing how to uninstall a program

I'm sure Grinler is correct & this uninstall guide using add/remove programs is Generic.However there are some programs that don't have their own uninstall routine,as we all know.Firefox is a prime example before this last version.Uninstalls for these are sometimes in the programs folder,however
malware types simply exclude uninstall as an option.Nortons also is a very
tenacious Stay for Ever.I use Nortons own System Works to erase all trace
of these from the hard drive and file system,if I must.Data Wipe is so good
it can even uninstall Nortons without loss of any DLL's or other data.It is
also on Nortons old Utilities-for FAT systems.

Also this:http://www.programurl.com/delete-doctor.htm to delete all files.
I believe Paragon have a data wipe as well similar to Secure Erase but
they are for total data deletion similar to a format ie.non selective.
If you can remove all data that leaves the Registry to clean up,a daunting task,all those stray&orphaned keys.CCleaner "issues' can do a stirling job of that with one click. I should add a standard Caveat here as I have no personal experience of Delete Dr& just came across
it,but it is freeware. Performing a search for Paragon files and deleting them,followed up by CCleaners mop up of the Registry should be sufficient under normal circumstances.A search in the Paragon Folder may reveal Uninstall exe to make things easier.

I really, really like that tut on this subject.

Two ideas for stuborn stuff, for example you want to remove but when you hit the the remove button in the appwiz.cpl it says "this program is being used already" in this case I a program called unlocker.

Unlocker
http://www.scanwith.com/Unlocker_download.htm

Also, MS has made its own tool too, which perhaps isn't exactly this subject but it might be the answer

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=290301

Has anyone used this Windows Installer Clean Up Tool?

I recommend deleting the program's files. If the files are reported 'in use' by Windows, try to kill the process tree through Task Manager. If this is not possible, use Unlocker. Then, delete all Application Data and Local Settings\Application Data directories of this program. Finally, use CCleaner to clean up, deleting all bad registry entries and clearing all temporary files. Then, try to kill the program's process tree, and reboot. If all this doesn't work, use ZSoft Uninstaller

Hi
I have a problem uninstalling ICOO Loader 2.5
Can somebody please help me.
If i try to delete it it says that its still running but it isn't???
PLSS

Hey there Kashif17, welcome to Bleeping Computer.
Have you tried uninstalling the program in safe mode?
You should have a better success rate there, as there are no running processes.

Now reboot into Safe Mode.
This can be done tapping the F8 key as soon as you start your computer
You will be brought to a menu where you can choose to boot into safe mode.
Make sure you choose the option without networking support.

Click on start, then control panel, and then double-click on add/remove programs.
From within add/remove program uninstall the following if they exist by double-clicking on the following entries:

ICOO Loader 2.5

Let me know how you get on with this.

hi, i have a few games on my PC that do not appear on the 'add/remove programs' list and they don't have a built in uninstall option, how do i get rid of them? the games are half life II and Blood II.

any help would be great, thanks.

There might be a file in the game folder called uninstall.exe or UNWISE.exe that will uninstall the game.

HI, its me. Ok i have 1 more problem. i cant seem to get rid of the following:
C:/
Program Files
Adobe
Acrobat 7.0
"Active X"
everytime i try to delete it, it says " cannot delete acroiehelper.dll Access is denied, make sure the disk is not copy righted or full and that the file is not currently in use.
plz help me,
by the way, good work with the site

Hi Hennessy,


I think u remove your programs from the C:\program files\... directly,
If my guess is right ,then plz. stop removing the programs from programs files directly & reply here if u remove your programs with this method.

Else download this small program,
this will delete your acrobat and other 'acess denied' files
Unlocker
Link: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

copy & paste this link in your browser,
ten download & install

after installing

right-click on acrobat reader file & click on unlocker(Present in right-click)

this is also very useful software to delete any file




Hope this Helps,



Best of luck,


Hemant

I installed it on my computer and used it to get rid of a program that I was unable to uninstall using the Add or Remove Programs. It worked great and I intend to keep the program.

My canned:

1. Please download/Install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.:
2. Install the program, then start it.
3. Look for the entry, highlight it and click the Remove button. That should remove the entry in Add or Remove.
4. Launch HijackThis and place a check mark next to these entries if they
   still exist:
   
5. Close all windows except HijackThis and click Fix Checked.
6. Reboot.

yeah i cant remove it using the addremove because it says that the system should reboot...somehow that doesnt sound like a good idea.

This is exactly the issue i am facing now. I have identified the malicious software within add/remove programs and when i clcik change/remove i get the message that i should reboot...

I am assuming this is simply still the malware trying to dodge its removal.

Whats the work around?!?

What malicious program(s) have you identified?

Did you try the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility?

1. Please download/Install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.
2. Install the program, then start it.
3. Look for the entry, highlight it and click the Remove button. That should remove the entry in Add or Remove.
4. Launch HijackThis and place a check mark next to these entries if they
   still exist:
   
5. Close all windows except HijackThis and click Fix Checked.
6. Reboot.

I need help. I have tried to uninstall Incredimail by 2 methods suggested:
(1) Click on Start, All Programs, then on IncrediMail - then I was directed to click on "Uninstall" - there is no such option.
(2) Go to Control Panel, click on Add/Remove Programs - the installation list does not include Incredimail.

I performed a search and located a folder for Incredimail in "Programs" -

Can anyone help me please?

Open the file and look for a folder labeled Uninstall. If you find one, double-click on it

Also found these articles:

http://www.incredimail.com/english/help/im...ncredimail.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;297069

http://www.oeupdates.com/Uninstall-remove-IncrediMail.html

http://www.pchell.com/support/incredimail.shtml
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297069
Check the above sources.

reply for bed

I understand your problem ... perhaps the best example for uninstalling software would be
McAfee security suite approach ...
first use add/remove programs from the control panel
next download the special uninstaller which will remove the rest of the
files.

many other programs have their own installers/uninstallers ... sometimes
you have to run the program's install wizard in order to uninstall (one of the options)
... many times options are uninstall, repair, install

contact the folks who wrote the program and see if there is a special
un-installer for the remainder of the program files

Hope this helps ... regards

OK, I think we all know how to uninstall a program using widowers uninstaller ,but what if the program is not listed and a search cannot find it. I am trying to get rid of limewire without succes. Any help greatly appreciated. PS As if you dont already know it limewire is BAD news.

Revo Uninstaller
http://www.revouninstaller.com/

How To Use Revo Uninstaller:

1. Please download Revo Uninstaller.
2. Extract the ZIP file to a folder and run revouninstaller.exe from there! (You can copy that folder to an USB Mass storage drive and use it without any installation required!)
3. There are two ways to uninstall programs with Revo Uninstaller:
   Important: Please, try to close the application you want to uninstall first!
   • Select the application in the list of installed applications and press the Uninstall button in the toolbar.
   • Right-click the application and click the Uninstall command in the displayed menu. Follow the instructions.

Gee, we are not all stupid. What if the programme is NOT on your uninstall programmes list. What then .I cant get rid of bearshare .

I would locate the program's folder and use Revo
Or look for other uninstallers in our Freeware App. section:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic3616.html

I am new to all of this and I'm not sure what to do.
I deleted second life and now I am stuck with the shortcut on my desktop. It says it can't find the file so I am at a loss as to what to do.

How did you delete the program?
If you want to remove the shortcut from the Desktop, simply delete it

I have 2 problems with this. 1st one is what do I do about a program that simply will not uninstall? I've done it step by step as described, but it's still there. 2 How do I uninstall a free trial type of program which doesn't appear in the list of programs on my computer?

Knowing which 2 programs we are talking about might make it easier to come up with an answer

This is my first post. I'm having a problem removing Symantec Technical Support Web Controls. I couldn't remove it in Add/Remove Programs. I keep getting



Error 1316. A newtork error occurred while attempting to read from the file. E:\Windows\Installer\SymADataWeb[1].msi



Then: A fatal error occurred.



I couldn't find the file to delete it manually. The Norton Removal Tool didn't remove it. What works?

Tried to uninstall in Safe Mode?

Hey there all

Am having a slight problem with some programs on my comp. Had a few problems where my comp kept on switching itself off, let someone have a look at it and all seems well.

Altho can't now use some programs (iTunes, Windows Messenger and Javascript) as they seem to have been transfered to an external disc drive and not reinstalled. Everytime i try to remove them using add/remove programs it keeps saying it can't remove them because they're all on drive E:, which it can't find. Also won't let me reinstall as it says they're still installed!

Any help would be appreciated
Thanks!

I'll try that, Animal. Hadn't thought of safe mode. Thanks.

Didn't work. Thanks anyway.

If you are trying to remove something from Add/Remove and it isn't going you can delete it in the registry at HKLM_Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Uninstall. If you look at the first set of keys they are all just hexadecimal so you have to click on it and check the display name on the right to see what program it is. At the bottom of the list it will show the names as they appear in Add/Remove.

I cant uninstall Hijackthis. Tried using add/remove function on control panel, tried doing so in afe mode still no luck. My problems started when i ot infected with a trojan and hijackthis won't even run or uninstall, keeps saying i do not have permission even though i am the administrator on this pc

I really would not make any changes to your computer since you have a log posted