Battle Which Free Uninstaller: IObit vs Geek vs Revo?

Burrito

Level 24
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
May 16, 2018
1,363
There are periodically giveaways for the old Revo-Pro. That is the one to get... for free.

On the best of that list, I'd advise you to select whichever one @roger_m advises... as he is a prolific software tester.
 

roger_m

Level 42
Verified
Top Poster
Content Creator
Dec 4, 2014
3,163
The reality is that are all good programs, but my vote goes to IObit, for the following reasons.

It can scan for leftovers after rebooting. If an uninstaller wants to restart Windows, you can let it do so and then scan for loftovers afterwards. The others, can't do this.

It has a batch uninstall mode which allows you to select multiple programs to uninstall. It will uninstall them one by one and then scan for leftovers from all of them. You can also scan for leftovers after rebooitng, when using batch mode.

All three programs do a very good job of finding leftovers. I haven't compared them lately, but there should not be that much difference between them.

Having said all of that, my uninstaller of choice these days is Total Uninstall. It takes snapshots before and after installing software, so it has a record of every file and registry key created. It uses this data to remove all traces of software you uninstall. It works so well, that is is the only uninstaller I use on my main computer. The only downside is that rather than installing software by launching the setup exe, you need to right click on it in Explorer and select Monitor with Total Uninstall.

It's not cheap, but you can get 20% off a the moment at BitsDuJour.
From time to time you can get at 50% discount, at the same BitsDuJour link.

I tried a number of alternatives to Total Uninstall which create snapshots (including Revo), however Total Uninstall works much better.
 

codswollip

Level 23
Content Creator
Well-known
Jan 29, 2017
1,201
IObit and I didn't last long. It cleaned up "leftovers" whenever it felt like doing so, and only informed after the clean-up. Even when I removed a program via Windows... Sorry... but I want to make the decision about what goes. Black box cleaners are risky. Revo may not be perfect, but it is more than adequate.

If you look around here, there was a recent Revo v3 giveaway link shared (v3 is quite fine).
 

roger_m

Level 42
Verified
Top Poster
Content Creator
Dec 4, 2014
3,163
IObit and I didn't last long. It cleaned up "leftovers" whenever it felt like doing so, and only informed after the clean-up. Even when I removed a program via Windows..
This is a feature of the Pro version and by default it is not enabled. You must have manually enabled it and can just as easily disable it. By default it will just alert you when it finds leftovers, but you can disable that too, so it doesn't alert when software has been uninstalled.
 

codswollip

Level 23
Content Creator
Well-known
Jan 29, 2017
1,201
This is a feature of the Pro version and by default it is not enabled. You must have manually enabled it and can just as easily disable it. By default it will just alert you when it finds leftovers, but you can disable that too, so it doesn't alert when software has been uninstalled.
The program may offer to remove "leftovers", however, it must detail which "leftovers" were identified and allow the user to approve each removal candidate individually. Interceding when one doesn't use the uninstaller is simply wrong. When that happens a notification briefly appears and there is no apparent means to discover what was removed. I'm sure I never enabled such nonsense. I found IObit dangerous and not to be trusted (which seems to be the story one finds on the web when investigating this "developer"). Good luck with your use.
 

roger_m

Level 42
Verified
Top Poster
Content Creator
Dec 4, 2014
3,163
The program may offer to remove "leftovers", however, it must detail which "leftovers" were identified and allow the user to approve each removal candidate individually. Interceding when one doesn't use the uninstaller is simply wrong. When that happens a notification briefly appears and there is no apparent means to discover what was removed. I'm sure I never enabled such nonsense. I found IObit dangerous and not to be trusted (which seems to be the story one finds on the web when investigating this "developer"). Good luck with your use.
As I posted, by default it does show what leftovers it finds and you can choose what (if anything) you want to remove.

IObit is not trusted because a number of years ago they stole Mlawarebytes database to use in IObit Malware Fighter. However, their software is safe to use. I've used IObit Uninstaller and Advanced SystemCare on many computers. I've even helped them improve thier products. For example the registry cleaner in ASC had issues with false positives (just like just about every registry cleaner ever written). I reported the issues to IObit and they fixed them. The result is that the registry cleaner, should now never identify a valid registry key as being an error.
 

About us

  • MalwareTips is a community-driven platform providing the latest information and resources on malware and cyber threats. Our team of experienced professionals and passionate volunteers work to keep the internet safe and secure. We provide accurate, up-to-date information and strive to build a strong and supportive community dedicated to cybersecurity.

User Menu

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to know first about the latest cybersecurity incidents and malware threats.

Top