uninstall

[Paul-F]

Not sure where to put this, but im having some problems with the uninstall of software in win xp.
When i go to control panel-> software to uninstall a program, the software window just freezes and I cannot continue with the uninstall... I also cannot find an uninstall file for several programs...
Are there other ways to uninstall software, maybe with a third-party program?

[monosodium]

Are there other ways to uninstall software, maybe with a third-party program?

Yes, there are programs which can act as "uninstallers" but don't use them as they have a tendency to leave your machine in a worse state than they found it in. Same goes for "registry cleaners" and the like.

CosmicB will recommend a few things that might clean this that and the other, but then again as far as I can tell they seem to rebuild their machine for a pastime...

Depends on what you're trying to uninstall and why the built in uninstaller doesn't work really.

[cosmicB]

Mono seems to fear these uninstallers and registry cleaners... Maybe he or she had some misfortunes using them..? I sure did when I first started learning the computer.. but I figured out how to use them, and which ones are safe to use... I sure do recommend uninstallers to clean out the crap you don't want in your computer... They work like a charm, and don't harm your computer's operating system... Computer technology has come a long way since mono's day...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninstaller

[monosodium]

Mono seems to fear these uninstallers and registry cleaners... Maybe he or she had some misfortunes using them..? I sure did when I first started learning the computer.. but I figured out how to use them, and which ones are safe to use... I sure do recommend uninstallers to clean out the crap you don't want in your computer... They work like a charm, and don't harm your computer's operating system... Computer technology has come a long way since mono's day...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninstaller

I haven't had misfortunes using them personally but as I've worked in IT support facing customers every day who've completely f*cked their machines in an attempt to remove stuff that isn't really causing them a genuine problem in the first place or in an attempt to optimize some arbitrary figure which doesn't really impact the machine's performance I'm more than qualified to say they're trouble.

They haven't changed at all - they still screw machines on a regular basis because ultimately they're written by people who don't actually know what they're doing. I have been in IT for bloody ages now, and they never ever get better.

Speaking as an IT pro my advice is that as there's no way to tell if such software is going to bóllocks your machine up or not until it's too late. If you want to go down that road then take a full and complete backup of everything on the machine before you start messing about. Obviously you *should* have one anyway, but in the real world most people are rubbish at keeping their files safe from harm.

They might get you round a short term problem, but long term your system is screwed from the minute you start installing pissant applications that fúck with the windows registry to paper over a real problem.

[cosmicB]

ms has been blocked... I watched the pix of him beating on a drum, and I figured his fuse must be lit.. so I didn't bother reading his stuff.. just blocked the monkey what seems to have it in for me... It's like it follows me all over this forum... Maybe it's got the hots for me..? I don't know..? I hope not!..

_____________


Try an uninstaller... they really do work... They were created and evolved by computer wizards to do cleanups on hard drives...

The very worst case scenario is that you use a poorly developed cleaner software that damages the PC's Operating system so badly that you must format C, and reinstall it... an hour job... big deal... so what..? thht!..

Plus you learn what not to do with uninstallers and cleaners... And you eventually get comuter literate enough to use good quality uninstallers and registry cleaners without damaging the computer's OS... The big-plus of it is that they maintain your PC running at peak performance, by removing all that junk from the hard drive...

________________


I know you (monosod) don't like software cleaners... HeY!.. Then just don't use them... simple as that...

On the other hand, thousands of computer users use software cleaners on a daily basis, and never have any problems with them...
Get Off my back msodium!..

[monosodium]

Cosmic seems to have his/her panties in a bind and thinks it's personal - It really isn't. But if someone gives what in my experience is bad advice then I'm going to call them on it.

The fact that Cosmic thinks rebuilding a machine is a 1hr job demonstrates that they don't have the experience to really give good advice...

Getting the operating software onto a machine in an hour can be done with a bit of good fortune, but all the utilities you need that you take for granted (acrobat reader, browser, IM client, email, specialist applications etc) will more than consume that before you configure them. That's before you consider the data that you just lost in that process and that will take months or years to recover, if it even *can* be recovered.

[raliy2k]

It takes me weeks to get my computer back up and running.

[Topic Of Gossip]

I would go with the general rule of... always err on the side of caution when it comes to messing about with your operating system.

An OS can get it's knickers in a twist for a number of reasons and uninstalling programs via the windows uninstaller is one of them.

I'd agree with Mono that if your system is not exhibiting any loss of performance and you don't NEED to uninstall those programs e.g. it's not stopping you from installing other programs or causing your system to behave erratically then I'd be tempted to just leave well alone. It maybe annoying but I always follow the rule...

"If it ain't broke then don't try to fix it."

However, if you are hell bent on "fixing it" then at least go through the official Microsoft route and/or ask an IT professional if you're not one yourself...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

Always read the warnings, they are stated for a reason. As I said get an IT pro to sort it out for you if at all possible e.g. your IT dept at work say. If you do it yourself then remember you always do these things at your own risk.

[monosodium]

Going slightly off topic, there's a statistic (I should really go find the source, but it's late) which basically shows that something like less than 20% of business which suffer a complete data loss are still trading 2 years later. Something to think about for all those people who run their own businesses and don't make regular backups...

It amazes me how many people don't make regular backups when it's relatively cheap and easy to do.