How To Remove An Installed Program From Your Computer

How to Remove an Installed Program in Windows.

Guide Overview

This guide will explain how to remove programs that have been installed on your computer.

Windows XP Instructions

• Click on the Start button on the taskbar and then click on the Control Panel icon as shown below.
  
  
  
  
• Please double-click the Add or Remove Programs icon:
  
  
  
  
• A list of programs installed will be populated this may take a bit of time.
  
  
  
  
• In this list please find the program that you would like to remove and click Change (or Change/Remove):
  
  
  
  
• A wizard should then open, which will guide you through the rest of the uninstall.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 Instructions

• Click on the Windows 7 Start Menu button () and then click on the Control Panel.
  
  
• Please double-click the Uninstall a program icon:
  
  
• A list of programs installed will be populated this may take a bit of time.
  
  
• In this list please find the program that you would like to remove and select it by left-clicking once on it.
  
  
• Then click on the Uninstall button to start the uninstall process for this program. A wizard should then open, which will guide you through the rest of the uninstall.

If you find a visual aid appealing, you may like to watch the following video presentations which will show the above steps exactly as you would see them on your computer.

Video showing how to uninstall a program in Windows XP

Edited by Grinler, 03 May 2011 - 05:02 PM.

Well that was easy for you to say, but depending on what you really want to uninstall, it may be a little harder. You may have to delet programs by hand and hope that by running CHKDISK on start-up, it will fix the regestry to not do as it is told.

Chkdsk does not fix any errors in the registry. It's only for disk based errors.

It is true that there are times that you have to delete things manually, but you should always attempt to use the approach given above first so that a program uninstalls properly.

Hello evbdy,
I like the forum cause I find it very useful.
Recently I installed Paragon Data software. But unfortunately I can't remove it either through Control Panel (as shown above) or this software's Uninstall shield. It runs the Uninstal shild but the window accidently shuts and writes it has successfully finished the action. But the software is still on my PC. I guess it has a kind of wrong Uninstall process.
Please, advise me how to uninstall it totally.
Any reply would be appreciated!

Cheers!

Does the entry for it still remain in the add/remove programs list?

Hi again!

Yes, it is still in the Add or Remove Control Panel list.
I guess it has some problem of the Uninstall system.
How can I remove, please advise!
Thanks!

Did you delete the folder for the program or is that still on your hard drive?

Grinler: "Did you delete the folder for the program or is that still on your hard drive?"
____________________________

No I didn't touch it. It is still on my PC.

What I would suggest you do is reinstall it and then try to uninstall it after. This should be the cleanest method for uninstalling the program.

I have put together a video detailing how to add or remove program in Windows for those who find a visual aid appealing.

Video showing how to uninstall a program

I'm sure Grinler is correct & this uninstall guide using add/remove programs is Generic.However there are some programs that don't have their own uninstall routine,as we all know.Firefox is a prime example before this last version.Uninstalls for these are sometimes in the programs folder,however
malware types simply exclude uninstall as an option.Nortons also is a very
tenacious Stay for Ever.I use Nortons own System Works to erase all trace
of these from the hard drive and file system,if I must.Data Wipe is so good
it can even uninstall Nortons without loss of any DLL's or other data.It is
also on Nortons old Utilities-for FAT systems.

Also this:http://www.programurl.com/delete-doctor.htm to delete all files.
I believe Paragon have a data wipe as well similar to Secure Erase but
they are for total data deletion similar to a format ie.non selective.
If you can remove all data that leaves the Registry to clean up,a daunting task,all those stray&orphaned keys.CCleaner "issues' can do a stirling job of that with one click. I should add a standard Caveat here as I have no personal experience of Delete Dr& just came across
it,but it is freeware. Performing a search for Paragon files and deleting them,followed up by CCleaners mop up of the Registry should be sufficient under normal circumstances.A search in the Paragon Folder may reveal Uninstall exe to make things easier.

Edited by Deodar, 17 September 2006 - 03:22 AM.

I really, really like that tut on this subject.

Two ideas for stuborn stuff, for example you want to remove but when you hit the the remove button in the appwiz.cpl it says "this program is being used already" in this case I a program called unlocker.

Unlocker
http://www.scanwith.com/Unlocker_download.htm

Also, MS has made its own tool too, which perhaps isn't exactly this subject but it might be the answer

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=290301

Also, MS has made its own tool too, which perhaps isn't exactly this subject but it might be the answer

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=290301

Has anyone used this Windows Installer Clean Up Tool?

I recommend deleting the program's files. If the files are reported 'in use' by Windows, try to kill the process tree through Task Manager. If this is not possible, use Unlocker. Then, delete all Application Data and Local Settings\Application Data directories of this program. Finally, use CCleaner to clean up, deleting all bad registry entries and clearing all temporary files. Then, try to kill the program's process tree, and reboot. If all this doesn't work, use ZSoft Uninstaller

Edited by garmanma, 25 October 2008 - 07:09 PM.
Removed reference to registry cleaners-mark