Advice Request Which is the best third party uninstaller?

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roger_m

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Dec 4, 2014
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A software installed on its own will not be detected as a PUP as compared to the same software bundled as a PUP and being installed.
It will be and it makes absolutely no difference. There is no way to tell if software was installed as an unwanted extra or if it was manually installed by a user.

Originally, only software that came bundled as unwanted extras was classified as PUPs. However, such software was detected as being PUPs by Malwarebytes and some other security software, regardless of whether it was installed on a users computer as an unwanted extra along side some other software, or if it was installed manually. As I already said, there is no way to tell how the software was installed, so it was not possible to classify software are being a PUP, only if it came bundled with other software.

These days, vendors such as Malwarebytes and Dr.Web classify a lot of junk cleaners and driver updaters as being PUPs, even ones that are never bundled with any other software and never have been. For example, a driver update can be classified as a PUP, just because it is a driver updater.

It is important to realise, that a lot of shady websites publish removal instructions for a wide range of PUPs, in order to earn affiliate revenue from the sale of anti-malware software. They falsely claim that harmless PUPs are actually malicious, or that they are hard to remove without removal tools, in order to encourage people to use anti-malware software to remove them, rather than just uninstalling them.
 

HarborFront

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Oct 9, 2016
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It will be and it makes absolutely no difference. There is no way to tell if software was installed as an unwanted extra or if it was manually installed by a user.

Originally, only software that came bundled as unwanted extras was classified as PUPs. However, such software was detected as being PUPs by Malwarebytes and some other security software, regardless of whether it was installed on a users computer as an unwanted extra along side some other software, or if it was installed manually. As I already said, there is no way to tell how the software was installed, so it was not possible to classify software are being a PUP, only if it came bundled with other software.

These days, vendors such as Malwarebytes and Dr.Web classify a lot of junk cleaners and driver updaters as being PUPs, even ones that are never bundled with any other software and never have been. For example, a driver update can be classified as a PUP, just because it is a driver updater.

It is important to realise, that a lot of shady websites publish removal instructions for a wide range of PUPs, in order to earn affiliate revenue from the sale of anti-malware software. They falsely claim that harmless PUPs are actually malicious, or that they are hard to remove without removal tools, in order to encourage people to use anti-malware software to remove them, rather than just uninstalling them.
The SAntivirus came installed along with 2 other software when I was installing VB downloaded from a 3rd party source. I did not ask for the 3x software to be installed. To me they are PUPs and the SAntivrius was detected as PUP by EEK and AdwCleaner.
 

roger_m

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Dec 4, 2014
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The SAntivirus came installed along with 2 other software when I was installing VB downloaded from a 3rd party source. I did not ask for the 3x software to be installed. To me they are PUPs and the SAntivrius was detected as PUP by EEK and AdwCleaner.
Yes, but it will be detected as a PUP regardless of whether it was installed as an unwanted extra, or if as I did, it was installed manually. It makes absolutely no difference.
 

ichito

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Dec 12, 2013
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About leftovers...I didn't find and use any uninstall app that can give us 100%clean system...using some tools you can allways find files, folders, processes/services and registry entries. It can be a bigger problem if deinstallation app can search some of them only inside current user space. So it's much reasonable to me to use specialised tools or use system backup/snapshot scenario...or even better try newly installed app on virtualised (but not restricted) enviroment.

What about BCUninstaller?
It seams that it's rather less known and popular app here :)
 

averagedarren

Level 1
Jul 31, 2019
23
That is an amazing piece of software, obviously made with love and precision, it has a browser extension manager, Yandex included, lol. It has even found leftovers after Iobit using Revo Uninstaller. I think, that I have fallen in love. At the first look, it does not look like much, but it is a gem.
I completely agree with you there, it also uninstalls windows apps (although I still use PowerShell commands) and little things like picking a colour scheme. Glad you also enjoy this piece of great software.
 

DDE_Server

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Sep 5, 2017
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Revo uninstaller pro version is a decent software to accomplish this task . its install monitoring feature and advanced uninstall is really Good one.Also it has huge database logs contains leftovers records for famous software updated in regular way on their website which are downloaded automatically during uninstall process to make uninstall algorithm more effective
you could check this link for more details about the product database log
for more info:
 

DDE_Server

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Sep 5, 2017
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Revo is the uninstaller that I've stuck by. I've tried others and Soft Organiser is my second favourite. Both do a pretty good job of removing associated files, but as noted above by others here they are not 100% reliable at clearing up everything, particularly files associated with security software.
many will fail in that as many security software installing driver and are self protected to avoid being modified by malware so i always create store point before installing AV software or restore to clean image for that purpose (system image with fresh windows with basic software installed except AV software)
 

KIKIN

Level 1
Apr 17, 2020
25
Hello ! My recomendation: HIBIT UNINSTALLER !!!!:D


The program is pretty good! PLUS it has other modules, like registry cleanup, among a variety of other great features! It's a program beast! Ie: SUPER POWERFUL .... However, 🤚WARNING: I recommend its use, ONLY for Computer EXPERTS! If you are a novice, it could cause damage to your computer, by not knowing how to use this FORMIDABLE and ULTRA SOPHISTICATED program!

If you think you are good in the field of computing and computers, ok, then use the other modules!
 

Serious Noize

Level 5
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Jan 13, 2014
211
I have been wondering if anyone knows how to add exclusions to SoftOrganizer?

Every version I have tried I can't seem to figure out how to add them, and I haven't noticed anything in the documentation telling you how to add them.

I see the area to add them in settings/Applications/ignore list, but I don't see any way of adding them.

I would like to add my browser and some other software's to be ignored because a lot of times when you install something it will open your browser and send you to a website automatically and sometimes that gets monitored as part of the installation process, or at least that has been my experience with most software uninstallers.

Edited : I figured it out and thought I would mention how for those who might be wanting to know.

What you do is after the installation of a software is complete, and it shows you the window that says DONE, CHANGES TRACED, select from that screen "Show traced changes to the system", after you select that it will present you with a list of all items traced for that installation, from that list you can right click on an item and select several options, one of which is "Add to ignore list". NOTE : When you are looking at the list of traced files, don't forget there are two options up top, one is REGISTRY and another one is FILES SYSTEM. Hope this helps someone.
 
Last edited:

Divine_Barakah

Level 29
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May 10, 2019
1,854
Smart Uninstaller. While it does not detect all leftover (by default), I really like how it works; it lets you make system snapshot manually (you create a pre-install snapshot and when you finish installing a program, you create post-install snapshot). The price is very reasonable ($12.5/year) and they offer loyalty discounts.
 

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