Windows uninstaller

5 Apr 2005 1:21 AM

Moe Hair

Is there any more useless program than the Windows uninstaller.
I can't remember the last time I uninstalled a program and didn't have to
go into the registry (either using Regedit or 3rd party sofware) to search
for the remnants of the program.

Is there any uninstaller that actually deletes all the registry items in
addition to the files (and Windows Unintaller doesn't even clean all of
those either)!

5 Apr 2005 1:30 AM

Kerry Brown

"Moe Hair" <mohair@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:DKl4e.22516$TX6.14263@fe09.lga...
> Is there any more useless program than the Windows uninstaller.
> I can't remember the last time I uninstalled a program and didn't have to
> go into the registry (either using Regedit or 3rd party sofware) to search
> for the remnants of the program.
>
> Is there any uninstaller that actually deletes all the registry items in
> addition to the files (and Windows Unintaller doesn't even clean all of
> those either)!

The Windows uninstaller just does what the programmer that wrote the program
you are trying to uninstall told it to do. Blame the application you are
trying to uninstall. The uninstaller is not the problem. Part of writing a
windows program is writing the install/uninstall part of it.

Kerry

5 Apr 2005 1:35 AM

Dave Patrick

Well said. I'll just add; unless you have some compelling reason it's always
best to leave the registry intact.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

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"Kerry Brown" wrote:
| The Windows uninstaller just does what the programmer that wrote the
program
| you are trying to uninstall told it to do. Blame the application you are
| trying to uninstall. The uninstaller is not the problem. Part of writing a
| windows program is writing the install/uninstall part of it.
|
| Kerry
|
|

5 Apr 2005 3:21 AM

Moe Hair

Are you kidding? Until I finally rid myself of AOL several years ago, and
before I reloaded my OS, a Regseeker search found garbage from about 4
different versions plus old DSL application items and other junk. One can
only imagine all the excess registry commands and references to programs
and files that no longer exist that are in the registries of most home
computers. I was always lead to believe that the bigger the registry, the
slower the boot up.

Every time you load a plug in for a program like Winamp, and then delete
the plug-in, or delete other useless programs, you can be sure there are
still broken references to them in the registry.

Are there any statistics as to what percentage of the average registry is
filled with gunk? Is it 25%?

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"Dave Patrick" <mail@Nospam.DSPatrick.com> wrote in
news:Oxaq3#XOFHA.3848@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl:

>
> Well said. I'll just add; unless you have some compelling reason it's
> always best to leave the registry intact.
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
> Microsoft Certified Professional
> Microsoft MVP [Windows]
> http://www.microsoft.com/protect
>
> "Kerry Brown" wrote:
>| The Windows uninstaller just does what the programmer that wrote the
> program
>| you are trying to uninstall told it to do. Blame the application you
>| are trying to uninstall. The uninstaller is not the problem. Part of
>| writing a windows program is writing the install/uninstall part of
>| it.
>|
>| Kerry
>|
>|

5 Apr 2005 3:31 AM

Dave Patrick

Registry cleaners, in general, do more damage than good.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Show quoteHide quote

"Moe Hair" wrote:
| Are you kidding? Until I finally rid myself of AOL several years ago, and
| before I reloaded my OS, a Regseeker search found garbage from about 4
| different versions plus old DSL application items and other junk. One can
| only imagine all the excess registry commands and references to programs
| and files that no longer exist that are in the registries of most home
| computers. I was always lead to believe that the bigger the registry, the
| slower the boot up.
|
|
| Every time you load a plug in for a program like Winamp, and then delete
| the plug-in, or delete other useless programs, you can be sure there are
| still broken references to them in the registry.
|
| Are there any statistics as to what percentage of the average registry is
| filled with gunk? Is it 25%?

5 Apr 2005 4:32 AM

Crouchie1998

There isn't a perfect registry cleaner. Take the Norton one (Cleansweep) for
example. Each time its run, it fixes a new registry problem. You could run
it all day & you will still have problems.. The small RegClean from
Microsoft is totally useless. All those older type ones don't do the job
properly either. If you know what you're doing then clean the registry
yourself (manually), but be extremely careful!!!!!!!!! Always create a
backup first.

Crouchie1998
BA (HONS) MCP MCSE

5 Apr 2005 1:34 PM

Dave Patrick

My advice is to not use them period.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

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"Crouchie1998" wrote:
| There isn't a perfect registry cleaner. Take the Norton one (Cleansweep)
for
| example. Each time its run, it fixes a new registry problem. You could run
| it all day & you will still have problems.. The small RegClean from
| Microsoft is totally useless. All those older type ones don't do the job
| properly either. If you know what you're doing then clean the registry
| yourself (manually), but be extremely careful!!!!!!!!! Always create a
| backup first.
|
| Crouchie1998
| BA (HONS) MCP MCSE
|
|