Serious Discussion Uninstalr 2.0 + a benchmark comparing all the popular Windows uninstallers

[roger_m]

While I personally prefer a checbox based UI, the versions 1.0 and 1.1 of Uninstalr had this and I received a lot of critique about it. That is why I removed it. Another reason is that if you display both a checkbox and the app's icon, it looks visually rather unpleasing in my opinion.

Most uninstallers that I can think off uses the same no-checkbox style UI. For example, Bulk Crap Uninstaller allows the exactly same style of selecting of multiple rows to select multiple apps. The same is also with Geek Uninstaller. This is also the default behavior in Windows: You can select multiple files and folders in File Explorer by simply selecting all the rows.



This is an additional warning message that is shown to user when Uninstalr is detecting user to do potentially something dangerous. I agree it's sad we live in a world where a cup of coffee needs to come with a warning that the coffee might be hot, but it is what it is.

Normally in File Explorer, when you click on a file, it selects only that single file, unless your are holding down Ctrl or Shift.

Regarding the second part, I was not attempting to do anything potentially dangerous. Surely it would be better if your software was smart enough to know, that all those other Microsoft apps have nothing to do with Office?

 

[jv16]

Regarding the second part, I was not attempting to do anything potentially dangerous. Surely it would be better if your software was smart enough to know, that all those other Microsoft apps have nothing to do with Office?

There are few but very vocal people complaining online that Uninstalr caused some damage to their system, and many other outlandish claims. But at the end of the day, when I see these reports, go in and ask for more information, basically every single time what actually happened was that they did not follow the instructions from the app telling them to review the data before starting the uninstallation. It would surely be better if these types of warning messages were not needed but clearly they are needed.

So, at this point I'd rather have the program show a "please spend extra time confirming the listed data to avoid unwanted data from being removed" too often than too rarely.

 

[roger_m]

So, at this point I'd rather have the program show a "please spend extra time confirming the listed data to avoid unwanted data from being removed" too often than too rarely.

I get what you're saying, but surely you can make your software smart to enough to know that the extra Microsoft software, is installed in different locations to Office and therefore should not even be listed amongst the traces to be deleted.

I just tried Geek Uninstaller again and it's behaviour is quite different to that of Uninstalr. When you click on a program, it just selects that single program. Just like in Explorer, you have to hold down Ctrl or Shift to select multiple programs.

 

[jv16]

I get what you're saying, but surely you can make your software smart to enough to know that the extra Microsoft software, is installed in different locations to Office and therefore should not even be listed amongst the traces to be deleted.

Ideally yes. But right now, I don't want to take any risks and rather show an additional "please review the data carefully" message than risk one not being shown when it should be.

There is no harm in showing an additional warning message. There is a lot of potential harm of not showing it.

I just tried Geek Uninstaller again and it's behaviour is quite different to that of Uninstalr. When you click on a program, it just selects that single program. Just like in Explorer, you have to hold down Ctrl or Shift to select multiple programs.

Indeed, trying to select many apps for batch uninstallation is very tedious and annoying in Geek Uninstaller. It's much easier with Uninstalr. Also, as a side note, the batch uninstallation feature is not even available in the free version of Geek Uninstaller, you need to buy the pro version to use that feature.

 

[roger_m]

Ideally yes. But right now, I don't want to take any risks and rather show an additional "please review the data carefully" message than risk one not being shown when it should be.

There is no harm in showing an additional warning message. There is a lot of potential harm of not showing it.



Indeed, trying to select many apps for batch uninstallation is very tedious and annoying in Geek Uninstaller. It's much easier with Uninstalr. Also, as a side note, the batch uninstallation feature is not even available in the free version of Geek Uninstaller, you need to buy the pro version to use that feature.

Once again, I really don't understand why Uninstalr would even be looking at other Microsoft apps, which are installed in other locations to Office. In which case such a notification would be pointless. But perhaps, I'm missing something.

What's annoying about having to hold down Ctrl? I find it annoying if I click on a program and the other previously selected programs are still selected.

 

[jv16]

What's annoying about having to hold down Ctrl? I find it annoying if I click on a program and the other previous selected programs are still selected.

A basic design goal of a graphical user interface is that all main actions should be possible to be performed by only using mouse input. Forcing users to press some keyboard key while also using the mouse to perform a basic task like multi select is bad usability and for example impossible to do if you can only use one hand to operate a computer.

Naturally, if i receive feedback from many users saying that they would prefer to be able to select multiple items only via Ctrl + Click, I will add that as an option to the program.

 

[roger_m]

A basic design goal of a graphical user interface is that all main actions should be possible to be performed by only using mouse input. Forcing users to press some keyboard key while also using the mouse to perform a basic task like multi select is bad usability and for example impossible to do if you can only use one hand to operate a computer.

How about an option to change the behaviour? I note once again, that the way Uninstalr works, is I believe, different to every other uninstaller I've used and of course, different to how Windows handles selecting multiple items. I presume quite often that people will just want to uninstall a single app rather than multiple apps. I'm not trying to get into an argument and I do appreciate the amount of work you've put into the development of Uninstalr.

 

[jv16]

How about an option to change the behaviour? I note once again, that the way Uninstalr works, is I believe, different to every other uninstaller I've used and of course, different to how Windows handles selecting multiple items. I presume quite often that people will just want to uninstall a single app rather than multiple apps. I'm not trying to get into an argument and I do appreciate the amount of work you've put into the development of Uninstalr.

I agree, it would make for a potentially good option to offer. And thank you!

Edit: I added this to the roadmap: Trello
Edit 2: I also added "expert mode" to the roadmap. If enabled, all warning messages will be skipped and the program assumes user knows what they are doing.

 

[jv16]

How about an option to change the behaviour? I note once again, that the way Uninstalr works, is I believe, different to every other uninstaller I've used and of course, different to how Windows handles selecting multiple items. I presume quite often that people will just want to uninstall a single app rather than multiple apps. I'm not trying to get into an argument and I do appreciate the amount of work you've put into the development of Uninstalr.

I just released Uninstalr 2.2 which includes the option to alter the multiple selection method. If you enable Settings > Select multiple items by Ctrl + Click, then the selection of multiple apps works as you described earlier. The version also includes a fix to the unneeded additional warning message that you reported in regards of uninstalling Microsoft Office. The new version also includes an option to disable all such additional warning messages altogether.

Full Change Log here: Uninstalr

Thank you for the feedback!

 

[roger_m]

I just used the new version and tried to uninstall a number of apps. The uninstaller for one the apps showed a prompt saying that it couldn't access some file, with a number of options. The first option was retry. Because Uninstalr tried to automate the uninstall process, it kept selecting this option, resulting in an endless loop. However, I was able to move the mouse pointer and select a different option, so that the uninstall could continue. One of the apps that was uninstall required a reboot and gave me the option to reboot. After rebooting, Uninstalr didn't launch again to continue the uninstall process. When I launched it manually, it did not continue where it left off. I presume, it should restart after rebooting so it can remove the leftovers of the apps it has uninstalled and uninstall the remaining ones.

There were two Microsoft Store apps I wanted to uninstall. They had been selected to be uninstall originally, but they were missed since Uninstalr did not continue the uninstall process after rebooting. Uninstalr was unable to uninstall either app. When attempting to uninstall Netflix, which is one of those apps, for some reason Uninstalr closes, but the app remains installed. Uninstalr restarts Windows when trying to uninstall the second app. After Windows restarts, the app is still installed.

Another bug is that on my main PC, the text in the options window is cut off, unless I maximise the window. On a second PC, I don't have this issue.



One more issue is that if I right click on the apps name and then select Show Data, it shows something like the following, where the files and folders, and the registry data, both just show "(none)".

Found a total of 13 pieces of data relating to this software. 5 files or folders, and 8 registry keys or entries.

Software's files and folders:

(none)

Software's registry data:

(none)

I like that you have added the option to not select multiple apps, not just by left clicking. But other than that, it seems that it needs a lot of work.

 

[jv16]

I just used the new version and tried to uninstall a number of apps. The uninstaller for one the apps showed a prompt saying that it couldn't access some file, with a number of options. The first option was retry. Because Uninstalr tried to automate the uninstall process, it kept selecting this option, resulting in an endless loop. However, I was able to move the mouse pointer and select a different option, so that the uninstall could continue. One of the apps that was uninstall required a reboot and gave me the option to reboot.

Can you tell me which apps are these? In case the uninstaller of an app wants to reboot, Uninstalr attempts to detect this and prevent the reboot from happening, so it can perform its uninstallation in full and reboot only after this. If I can reproduce these issues, I can fix them.

There were two Microsoft Store apps I wanted to uninstall. They had been selected to be uninstall originally, but they were missed since Uninstalr did not continue the uninstall process after rebooting. Uninstalr was unable to uninstall either app. When attempting to uninstall Netflix, which is one of those apps, for some reason Uninstalr closes, but the app remains installed.

I'm afraid I cannot reproduce this. I tried to uninstall Netflix (installed from Microsoft Store), and it works perfectly.

Could there perhaps be any software running in your computer that could be affecting the way other software run, such as third party antivirus or antimalware type programs? These programs can block other programs for accessing paths, removing data, running other apps etc. It's a wild guess but that's the only guess I have right now what could be causing this.

If you confirm that there are no third party software running in the system that could be causing the issue, I can test this further by trying to install and then uninstall Netflix with Uninstalr in every test setup that I have in order to try to reproduce the issue.

Another bug is that on my main PC, the text in the options Window is cut off, unless I maximise the window. On a second PC, I don't have this issue.

This is indeed a known bug. It's documented in the Change Log and will be fixed for the next version. It's an entirely cosmetic issue.

One more issue is that if I right click on the apps name and then select Show Data, it shows something like the following, where the files and folders, and the registry data, both just show "(none)".

Another user also reported this issue and it is indeed a bug. It will also be fixed in the next version and it's also a cosmetic issue, as in, it doesn't affect how the program works or performs in any way.

Thank you for the feedback!

 

[roger_m]

Can you tell me which apps are these? In case the uninstaller of an app wants to reboot, Uninstalr attempts to detect this and prevent the reboot from happening, so it can perform its uninstallation in full and reboot only after this. If I can reproduce these issues, I can fix them.

I was unaware of the behaviour of Uninstalr, which is why selected the option to reboot. I'll know better next time. Perhaps you could add text instructing the user not to reboot when uninstalling apps, because other uninstallers often let you reboot and will continue from where they left off. Unless that text is already there and I missed. The way Uninstalr works makes sense and I prefer it to how other uninstallers work. Regarding the issues I had uninstalling apps, it turns out there are issues with Windows and this will be why your software can't uninstall some apps. This is a laptop I just bought and used recovery media to factory reset it. I didn't know at the time, there was problems with the factory install of Windows. I have a feeling there may be issues with file permissions.

If I am able to fix the issues with Windows, then I will give Uninstalr another try and post the results.

 

[roger_m]

Okay, so I was able to partially fix the issues, by running Windows Repair from tweaking.com. After rebooting I was able to remove McAfee LiveSafe which came preinstalled. After running the Uninstalr the first time, it's uninstall registry entry was removed, but it remained installed. When I used McAfee's own removal tool, it wasn't able to remove it and I received an error, with an option to click to show the log file. Clicking did nothing. Anyway, this time I was unable to uninstall it normally, and then use the removal tool. Since Windows seemed to working fine now, I ran Uninstalr again. This time it handled everything automatically. The desktop apps all uninstalled without issues, however, three Microsoft Store apps remain installed.

 

[jv16]

I was unaware of the behaviour of Uninstalr, which is why selected the option to reboot. I'll know better next time. Perhaps you could add text instructing the user not to reboot when uninstalling apps, because other uninstallers often let you reboot and will continue from where they left off.

This is an excellent idea and I fully agree. I shall add such text to the next version. Thank you for the idea!

 

[jv16]

Okay, so I was able to partially fix the issues, by running Windows Repair from tweaking.com. After rebooting I was able to remove McAfee LiveSafe which came preinstalled. After running the Uninstalr the first time, it's uninstall registry entry was removed, but it remained installed. When I used McAfee's own removal tool, it wasn't able to remove it and I received an error, with an option to click to show the log file. Clicking did nothing. Anyway, this time I was unable to uninstall it normally, and then use the removal tool. Since Windows seemed to working fine now, I ran Uninstalr again. This time it handled everything automatically. The desktop apps all uninstalled without issues, however, three Microsoft Store apps remain installed.

This is to be expected. Antivirus and other similar system security related software are typically protected against automated uninstallations - otherwise any malware that got into the computer could simply just run an uninstallation process and uninstall such protective layers. However, Uninstalr should show you an additional message about this. If it detects you are about to uninstall something of this sort, it should display an additional message saying that uninstalling this type of software might not work.

This is what the message says:
"Warning: You are attempting uninstall software "{1}" which seems to be an antivirus or similar type of software. Software like this are usually protected against automatic uninstallation. It is recommended that you uninstall this software manually and then you can use Uninstalr to remove any leftovers that it might leave.Are you sure you wish to continue?"

I think I can assume that since you brought this issue up, you didn't see such message? If that is the case, then Uninstalr failed to recognize McAfee LiveSafe as such software.

The desktop apps all uninstalled without issues, however, three Microsoft Store apps remain installed.

Could there be any non-standard Windows settings in use in this system? By that I mean something like PowerShell missing from the system or disabled? Or anything similar to that?

Edit: On that note, I shall add a warning to the program, letting the user know in case PowerShell seems to be missing or it is disabled. The warning message says that while Uninstalr can run without PowerShell, its performance will not be optimal.

Thank you for this very detailed feedback!

 

[roger_m]

This is to be expected. Antivirus and other similar system security related software are typically protected against automated uninstallations - otherwise any malware that got into the computer could simply just run an uninstallation process and uninstall such protective layers. However, Uninstalr should show you an additional message about this. If it detects you are about to uninstall something of this sort, it should display an additional message saying that uninstalling this type of software might not work.

I didn't receive any such message. I was just able to launch PowerShell, so it isn't missing. I don't know if or why there would be any non standard settings, but I can't rule it out.

 

[jv16]

I didn't receive any such message. I was just able to launch PowerShell, so it isn't missing. I don't know if or why there would be any non standard settings, but I can't rule it out.

Was the Microsoft Store app that you attempted to uninstall again Netflix? Please let me know the name of one Microsoft Store app whose uninstallation failed with Uninstalr and I will test it with every testing system that I have. That's over 50 systems, virtual and real. If I can reproduce this problem, it would be a nice fix to include!

 

[roger_m]

Was the Microsoft Store app that you attempted to uninstall again Netflix? Please let me know the name of one Microsoft Store app whose uninstallation failed with Uninstalr and I will test it with every testing system that I have. That's over 50 systems, virtual and real. If I can reproduce this problem, it would be a nice fix to include!

Yes, that was one of three apps. Considering they all failed, I think there are still issues with this Windows install.

 

[jv16]

Yes, that was one of three apps. Considering they all failed, I think there are still issues with this Windows install.

Or, there is a bug in Uninstalr that makes it fail to uninstall Microsoft Store apps in some kind of system conditions. It's worth investigating, so I shall uninstall Netflix using every single testing setup I have access to. Thank you for reporting! I shall investigate this, just in case.

 

[Petrovic]

Version 2.3 was released April 4th, 2024.

Improvement: Greatly improved the program’s efficiency in uninstalling apps.
Improvement: Greatly improved the accuracy of detecting portable apps from the system.
Improvement: The analysis of installed apps will now work faster in systems with 200+ installed apps.
Improvement: The program now warns the user in case Microsoft PowerShell is missing or disabled in the system. Uninstalr can be used in such cases, but its performance is not optimal and now users is made aware of this.
Improvement: The program now warns the user in case Microsoft OneDrive seems to be syncing data from the system. This can cause OneDrive restoring an app that Uninstalr just uninstalled, making it look like Uninstalr failed to uninstall it.
Improvement: The program now performs checks to confirm it has full access to modify the system before starting to uninstall anything. If there is no full access, the uninstallation can still be started but the uninstallation performance will not be optimal and user is informed about this.
Improvement: The program now instructs user to choose "no" in case there is a popup during the uninstallation process asking whether the user wants to restart the computer.
Improvement: After the program has started, it will still continue to perform certain analysis tasks on the background until they are all completed. During this process, the numbers relating to installed software and the number of detected paths will update on the user interface. Such changing numbers within the user interface could seem a bit odd, that is why the user interface now contains a message explaining this to the user.
Improvement: The program can now detect more anti-virus and other system security related software and can warn user if they are about to uninstall such software with Uninstalr. This type of software is typically protected against automatic uninstallation and therefore uninstallation with Uninstalr will probably fail. Uninstallation of anti-virus or other security related software should only be done by following the tools and instructions of the publishers of such software, never with any third party tools.
Improvement: Detecting leftovers of old apps is never 100% accurate. Therefore, Uninstalr will now display an additional warning to ensure user knows what they are doing, if they are attempting to remove any app that Uninstalr is saying looks like a leftover and the wording in general has been changed from "Leftover" to "Possible leftover" to highlight this further.
Improvement: The program now reports when it is waiting for the System Restore Point of being created. Since this process is up to Windows and can take many minutes, it’s better for the UI to tell the user that this is what is happening.
Improvement: Added an option to disable the use of automatically running script files to finalize the uninstallation.
Improvement: You can now choose to use the standard Windows buttons within the program. This can be adjusted within the Settings view.
Improvement: In the Right Click > Fix Information view, the Jump To Software feature is now only visible if there are three or more items on the list.
Improvement: Improved the accuracy of "You are about to uninstall app1 and not app2 and these two apps seem to be related, are you sure?" warning so it won’t be displayed on apps which are not similar in nature. That being said, there is no problem of showing the warning too often, so it’s still calibrated to rather show the warning too often than too rarely.
Improvement: The program can now be better used in smaller display sizes and screen resolutions. If there is not enough space on the screen, the program will simply hide non-critical user interface elements.
Improvement: The app type, filter and sort menus now look better.
Improvement: Added options to select and unselect apps by their app type and publisher.
Improvement: Added a new feature called Ignore Paths to the Settings. This feature allows you to define any file system or registry paths that you don’t want Uninstlar to analyze or even touch. This can be used as one more layer of protection to ensure no important files are ever removed when uninstalling apps with Uninstalr.
Improvement: Improved compatibility with Steam platform and Steam games. For example, Uninstalr is now better in detecting the size of installed Steam games.

Fix: Selecting an app and using the Right Click > Show Data did not show all the paths of the app. Only using the Uninstall option would show all the paths.
Fix: The user interface in the Settings view could look pretty bad on some screen resolutions and/or app window sizes. Texts could be partially overlapping and so on.
Fix: The program was not able to detect the installation of Windows Hardware Lab Kit software, as well as some other similar apps.
Fix: The program was not able to detect the installation of some Chinese software, such as a program called 360安全卫士
Fix: The program was not always able to detect app called WhyNotWin11, or it was incorrectly listed as "WhyNotWin"
Fix: The program could display Access Violation or Out Of Memory error on some systems. This problem might not be fully fixed, that is, it might still occur on some systems, but it should be at least partially fixed. The reason for this vague wording is that I have been unable to reproduce the problem in any test system, which means it’s a very rare issue, only happening on very specific systems and therefore, fixing it has also been very challenging.
Fix: Changing the font size setting of the program didn’t work very well. The preview was poor and the setting was not always even saved properly. It’s still not perfect, but it’s much better.
Fix: Writing something to the Hide filter will randomly move the focus to the Search filter, which makes using the Hide filter very annoying. Fix: Starting to type something while on the main view adds that text to the Search filter input. This was working, but starting to type could sometimes randomly add the typed letter as upper case.
Fix: The program was not able to fully uninstall some builtin Windows apps, such as the Weather app.
Fix: The selection logic was confusing. If you used a filter to show only specific apps, then did Select All, also the currently hidden apps were selected, which could be confusing. Now the Select All and Select Inverse operations only apply to apps visible on the list of apps. Select None applies to all apps, though. Just in case.
Fix: There could be a rather long, up to a few seconds delay after clicking the first Uninstall button before anything happened on the screen.
Fix: When the uninstallation started, the progress screen could display "Uninstalling: " without any other information, such as the name of the app currently being uninstalled. This was a cosmetic issue, but could cause confusion.
Fix: It was possible for the app type or filter menus to remain visible when the list of installed apps was being regenerated.

Known Issues:
1) The program is not fully compatible with screen reader software.
2) Changing the program’s font size from its Settings doesn't work as well as it should. It’s much better in this version than in 2.2, but it's still not good enough.
3) Opening the Right Click > Fix Information can have a few second delay. This should have a progress indication.
4) Automatic system restart might sometimes fail with Windows asking the user to confirm the restart because some app is still running.