Fixing Uninstall Problems with Revo

Opinion

 

User interface of the free version of Revo Uninstaller

 

One of the weaknesses of Windows is how much debris is left behind following an uninstall. There are registry entries, folders, and files that remain and that will never again be used, cluttering up our storage drives. CCleaner takes care of unused registry entries, but not leftover folders.

I finally got really fed up after uninstalling a very recent version of AutoCAD. It left behind a new horror: a bunch of files and folders controlled by SYSTEM, which meant I could not remove them manually. Tech support didn't respond to me with a solution to the problem Autodesk created.

So I searched around and found Revo Uninstaller, which (1) uninstalls software; (2) hunts down and erases leftover registry entries; and (3) blasts leftover folders and files off your computer. When it finds the registries and files, it gives you the option whether you want to erase them or not. I usually click Select All and then Delete.

The uninstaller is available for Windows and Mac: https://www.revouninstaller.com/products/revo-uninstaller-free/

Now, here's the weird part: the free version of Revo is better than the paid one ($15). The free version does all I need; the paid one has a different user interface that I find more difficult to use. So, I keep using the free one.

However, to show my appreciation for how useful this product is to me, I bought the paid one and then don't use it.

In the case of the bad AutoCAD uninstall, I found I needed to reinstall that AutoCAD, and then let Revo handle the uninstall to remove the SYSTEM-controlled files and folders.

 

Comments

[Tim Neumann]

I know on one of my retro pc's windows 98 will at least give you a message "some files could not be uninstalled" or something to that nature. In addition it would show what the files or folders were not deleted. Does windows 10/11 even do this?

[Ralph Grabowski]

I think that the messages presented by the install process depends on the the installer, and how it was written. It is painful when they say "Not every has been uninstalled," but then don't tell us what was leftover!