Uninstalling Trouble?

Uninstall with Care

• Go through mannual removal procedures slowly and with care. Skipping uninstall steps, or missing the deletion of all unwanted registry keys (or malicious files), may result in a re-load of files, applications, etc.. that could be even harder to find and extinguish.



• It is also vitally important that you do not delete needed files and applications that are not supposed to be uninstalled. Anxious actions like these might damage your PC's system or Internet communication, etc.

Learn to Understand Conceptual Uninstall Reasoning

• Uninstalls often use %variables% to point out the location of files and folders to be deleted from your computer's hard drive. Uninstall instructions might include something that looks like:


Start Windows Internet Explorer and delete:
%WinDir%\Badfolder\TrojanTrouble.exe



• %WinDir% is a variable (?). By default, this is C:\WINNT (Windows NT/2000) or C:\Windows (Windows 95/98/Me/XP).
  
  This does not mean that something is named %WinDir% on your hard drive. %WinDir% in fact is a "nickname" for the Windows installation directory, which differs with operating systems, etc. Windows installation directories are most likely C:\Windows (Windows 95/98/ME/XP) or C:\Winnt (Windows NT/2000).

Finding hidden files and the extension

• Application installations are usually defaulted not to show hidden or protected files. The same applies to known file types, such as .exe, .txt, .dll, which by default are not shown either. Manually uninstalling procedures assume that you can see all files and their extensions. This is the key behind a good spyware remover that will protect you from any malicious program that can reinstall itself later down the road when a blackhat programmer finds a new way around your system.

Uninstalling under the Safe Mode Protective Blanket

• When you think you are having uninstall troubles by receiving errors such as...
• Error Deleting File or Folder
• Cannot delete X
• Access is denied
• Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected

Or..

• That file is not currently in use.
You can probably still delete or uninstall the file or folder when you reboot into your computer's safe mode.

Uninstall File Searching

Windows Explorer and your PC's Registry Editor have a search function that can be helpful when you want to find files on the hard drive or something in the registry.


• searching for a value in the registry editor:


• Start the editor
• Select the root in the left pane
• Click Edit and choose Find.
• Searching for a file or folder in Windows Explorer:


• Start Windows Explorer
• Right-click My Computer and choose Search.

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