Which program is the most thorough software uninstaller for Windows?

bobby holla

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Oct 30, 2014
63
I was told by computer Expert, that the reason why Computers started out quick, but it began to slow down more and more. is as a result of pileup of old applications and software, even ones you thought you deleted/uninstalled. These files stack up and slow down your system. he did recommend getting Revo Uninstaller but i found another Called Soft Organizer. i have been puzzle and wanting to know which of these Uninstaller can perform better? any other suggestion is welcome.
 
N

NullByte

Well, having a New Uninstaller will not make your PC faster, the same goes with PC Cleaning Apps. You can use the Default Windows Uninstaller :)

You can only speed up your PC using a Disk Defragmenter or upgrading your hardware (or windows updates if you have them enabled).
 
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LASER_oneXM

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Feb 4, 2016
2,520
I've been only using in the past few years the standard windows uninstaller. I've never had any
problems with uninsatalling programms. Some months ago i thought: maybe it could be useful
to have a "professional" software for the case something goes wrong ("emergency").... .
After collecting informations in forums/internet i decided to buy the full version of "Revo uninstaller"
 

mojaveron

Level 1
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Nov 27, 2013
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Logethica

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Jun 24, 2016
636
I have no experience of either of the options,but have heard good things about each of them...
I have only ever used a combination of CCleaner Free & The SUPERDelete Tool of SAS Free to Uninstall Software... I have been happy with the results so did not investigate other options.
 

DracusNarcrym

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Oct 16, 2015
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I've used Revo Uninstaller Pro, and I was happy with it, until I found it was too much of a bloat in the end.

After that, every time I did a very large installation (e.g. VMware Workstation), I created a system image before it, just in case.

If I ever uninstall an application, I like to manually clean up any leftover files. There's actually some typical locations and registry entries that house leftover items, and if you clean those up, chances are you won't need any third party uninstaller software.
This practice however is more recommended for advanced users, as it may pose some risks if any mistakes are made.
 

DracusNarcrym

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Oct 16, 2015
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yes me too, but good luck with IDM and its hundreds of leftover keys :D
That's why people should be careful of what they install, before they install it... and if they do, they should be eager to take the blame. :D

Believe it or not, I've manually uninstalled the entire Autodesk EC Suite manually... (thousands of files and registry items)

(broken uninstaller)

Now, as for IDM... Thanks for letting me know. :D
 
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Solarlynx

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Apr 30, 2012
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I've used Revo Uninstaller Pro, and I was happy with it, until I found it was too much of a bloat in the end.

You are really proficient to find after Revo! (btw why we don't have a "thumb up" smiley? I would use it here!)

After that, every time I did a very large installation (e.g. VMware Workstation), I created a system image before it, just in case.

Maybe it's better to try a Time Machine like Rollback Rx? You just jump back to a previous snapshot. Though TM imposes its own inconveniences and risks.

If I ever uninstall an application, I like to manually clean up any leftover files. There's actually some typical locations and registry entries that house leftover items, and if you clean those up, chances are you won't need any third party uninstaller software.

When I check what registry entries Revo suggests to remove I see that for some programs it's a crazy lot work to do that manually. Some of them aren't directly connected to the program I remove, it's just impossible to guess them for me.
 

DracusNarcrym

Level 20
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Oct 16, 2015
970
You are really proficient to find after Revo! (btw why we don't have a "thumb up" smiley? I would use it here!)

Maybe it's better to try a Time Machine like Rollback Rx? You just jump back to a previous snapshot. Though TM imposes its own inconveniences and risks.

When I check what registry entries Revo suggests to remove I see that for some programs it's a crazy lot work to do that manually. Some of them aren't directly connected to the program I remove, it's just impossible to guess them for me.
Well, takes practice, but it's easy to do it after a few tries. :p I wouldn't do it, but a couple of times I was suspicious and a couple other times I was just not satisfied with my uninstallers, so I decided to give it a try. From there, one thing lead to another and I became my own uninstaller. lol

I have done research enough into RollBack Rx (I've been testing rollback software ever since COMODO Time Machine, which by the way is the software on which RollBack Rx is directly based) and I have concluded that it simply doesn't work for my case. I do software installations (updates, actually), especially game installations, and that is a big no-no for snapshots (though I install games on a different partition, but still I update software so frequently that snapshots are becoming annoying to manage). So, I just settle with full images. (my computer is rather powerful, too, so the whole process of creating an image takes 10-20 minutes, and around the same time for restore)

Yeah, some times it's just impossible to cleanup leftovers manually. Some file associations, for example, are so chaotic in the registry, that you simply get lost. Also, there are some obscure entries which you simply cannot tell whether they are associated with the uninstalled software or not.
 

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