[PCWorld]

Post your comments for A Better Way to Uninstall Apps here

[yawaramin]

Another free and light-weight uninstaller is Safarp, the Safe Add/Remove program. McAfee (or Norton?) used to have a heavy-duty uninstaller which worked by firing up whenever you were about to install a program, recording the state of the machine before install, and restoring to that state, plus any new installs after that, when you wanted to uninstall. I wonder if there are any free/open source programs out there which do that. I guess it would be something like Time Machine for software.

[MikieB]

Revo Uninstaller is a life saver, or a PC saver. My daughter gave me her old laptop from college and I was at wits end trying to uninstall applications she or me no longer wanted. I even called the company in one instance and followed their instructions. Still no satisfaction. I was about to blow away the hard drive and start over. Revo cleaned out all the unwanted apps in no time and now I have a machine that is almost clutter free. I recommend this uninstaller to anyone having uninstall issues. Thank you Revo.

[gbaugh]

When I was downloading Revo Uninstaller, AVGFree said it contained a trojan horse (same result twice). Anyone else encounter this type of alert?

[mphenterprises]

Hi GBaugh and welcome to the PCWorld Communities. :D




Can you provide the url of the site where you initially downloaded this application?

[gbaugh]

www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,66703/download.html was the download page.

I would be curious to know what you find. It's possible it could be a false positive from AVGFree. I've been using it for years and this is maybe the second time I have gotten that warning. My virus definitions are updated daily, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have a glitch.

When respected tech writers such as Steve Bass endorse a product, I have yet to encounter a problem when trying one of their recommendations... that's why I subscribe to his and various other newsletters... I look forward to the reviews.

[mphenterprises]

I was able to download it without a problem. As I normally do, I did a Shell Extension Test and AVG found nothing. Here is a screen shot of the results:

[stevebass]

Not to worry -- the AVG alert is a false-positive. I reported it to AVG.
And well respected? LOL -- tell my editor. (Seriously, thanks for the compliment, gbaugh.)

[gbaugh]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your replies. I've enjoyed your articles for a loooong time.

When I was writing my reply, I had not yet had my full quota of daily caffiene intake. Perhaps it was Freudian, but initially I typed "well suspected" rather than "well respected". I caught the gaffe when proof reading prior to sending my comment. Knowing you have a sense of humor, I considered sending it as first written, but you don't know me, so I thought that would be something a jerk would do, so I made the correction. I appreciate your reply and humor... more people should put a little levity in their day. If I ever make it home from work, I'll try it on my home laptop and see if I get the same result there.

Best regards,

Glenn Baugh

[Cycat]

Addendum: Didn"t get directed to viewable replies the question until I submitted a comment (probably zigged on the keyboard when I should have zagged), then saw that the question had already been addressed by Steve Bass. I'll leave the post in case the investigation suggestions are helpful in tracking down future similar possible issues with AVG. By the way, Steve--Wow! Your personal response to ghaugh and proactive intervention to resolve the problem should be used for a whole new PC World ad campaign. Well done. (oh, yeah, I can only second gbaugh. Always enjoy your columns.)

Hi, gbaugh,
I just downloaded Revo Uninstaller. I always have Kaspersky avp running and it didn't object to anything (a former devout Norton loyalist, I have used Kaspersky for years and it is a great program). Not saying there's nothing there, but might be a false positive. AVG has a very positive reputation. Try this. Restart your computer into Safe Mode, log on as Administrator (if another user shows up) and run an antivirus scan to see if there's some malware-beastie hiding in a corner somewhere. Also, check the AVG site and search for "trojan alert?" with the question mark but without the quotes. If there is a forum or FAQ section, check both for experiences with trojan alerts. Lastly (or maybe firstly), see if AVG will give you a name of the trojan program. Then you can go to the AVG site, type in the exact name of the program and see what comes up.


By the way, here's a link to a pretty good review site of free and retail antivirus programs with further links to each.
www.consumersearch.com/www/software/antivirus-software/index.html?referrer=yahoo_ssp

[LindaA]

I run AVG and I've just downloaded and installed Revo with no problem. I did NOT get a Trojan horse message from AVG when downloading/installing Revo. Revo sounds really neat. The next time I need to uninstall a program, I'll give it a try because I've only recently discovered that, just because you delete an app via Add/Remove Programs, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's completely removed from the computer. Event after doing this, I've found the program(s) still listed in my registry, so Revo sounds good and thorough.

[emperordarius]

I tried Your Uninstaller (trial) and Revo Uninstaller (free). I realised that the second one was the best. Also, it DOES NOT have any Trojan Horse. Another reason for giving up AVG, it's so much stuffed up with False positives.

[bkrsrb]

I have used Revo for two or more months. It is the best free or pay for uninstaller I have used for over twenty years or more. (damn I'm old).
The in depth removal setting gets 99% give or take a % or two.
Having used Advanced uninstaller which really leaves too much behind, or Ashampoo which was supposed to have streamlined the program still takes forever to copy the install which removes a supposed 100% of the files but if the file is locked, no way.
For my money and free is my kinda money, this program is a keeper. It improves itself with updates every month so far and so keeps improving upon itself.
Revo Rocks.

[fabianlujan]

Steve, unfortunately I made a full uninstall and the small window containing the registry entries only showed 2 of them but not the thousands I marked without notice and confused.
Then, I deleted most of my windows files, such msconfig, helpctr, etc.
Tried to restore the system to a previous state and nothing. It file was deleted too.
Please take care with this application. There's no rollback option.
Today I'm stuck without the chance of restoring my system.
Thanks!

[Flashorn]

Hey fabianlujan!!



Welcome to PCWorld Community!



When using the Revo Uninstaller , there are two (2) modes .

First is the normal (right Click) mode, where Revo installs it's uninstaller.

This would be the right click Context Menu.

This mode will usually find the Programs Uninstaller and let the program uninstall it's own.



The second mode would be the Hunter Mode where you pull up the Revo Program.

it will show all of the installed programs on your PC.

From there you can choose the Hunter Mode to uninstall the targeted program.



This is where you have to be careful.

Using the Hunter Mode WILL take away ALL registry entries for the program in question.

YOU have to look at and see what Revo wants to delete.



Any time you want to use the Hunter Mode to delete ANY keys,

there will be a message or pop-up box that will appear and ask you

IF you really want to delete

these entries.



In other words , you have to EXPAND the tree to see what is in there.

other wise you might end up with missing keys.



I hope this was a little more info. for you.

I have been using Revo for quite some time now and have been Well served

by this utility.

You simply have to read a little to find out what this program is capable of doing.

You should also check out the Tools section , they are all very helpful at keeping your

PC clean, AS long as you Read about how to use them.



FLASHORN.

[LindaA]

Thanks, Steve, for cluing me in to Revo. What I didn't realize until just recently is that, just because you remove a program using Add/Remove, that doesn't necessarily mean it's been deleted from the registry. Revo not only removes a program from your computer, but it then goes into the registry for you and shows you exactly which entries to delete by boldfacing them. It's FANTASTIC! I had no trouble at all downloading or installing it. I also have AVG, and I got no Trojan horse warning from AVG regarding Revo. Revo has got to be the BEST uninstaller that you don't have to pay for, and, when you get something that this good for FREE, it doesn't make sense to pay.

[deacon44]

Mr. Bass, I went to download this application and the signature could not be validated! Why?I will not download an app. with no valid signature and I was really looking forward to downloading it too!

[sjeldich]

I came upon a program called Revo Uninstaller as I was doing a Google search trying to find a free utility to replace the junky built-in Windows uninstaller. I was not only surprised, but pleased, to find that this program was free and went an extra mile to remove any last essense of dirt from my last program installation. 5 stars.

[coastie65]

Hmmm, this sounds interesting. The problem with the windows Add / Remove thing, it doesn't really get the job done. After running that thing, I then use windows explorer and do a search and always come up with leftover junk that wasn't removed. Seems like this is the ideal tool for a one stop removal operation. coastie65

[vMATTLEEv]

funny ive been mentioning revo as the best installer for 1 1/2 to 2 yrs, and now pcworld has just caught on? slow much? again my proof is justified least steve learned before others. pcworld tests nothing themselves normally and recommends what most ppl learned about already. theyll be mentioning digsby in another 1 1/2 yrs after the rest of the world catches on. and id love someone to say theyve known about digsby before me, ive used it since build 9-10. there were less then 100 users then and none from pcworld.

what i love is these experts learn about products ive already known about yet for some reason they know more about the product? i test them by hand and never recommend a product that i dont use or have used myself, while they go by benchmarking rather then test on their own pc. also 80 something benchmark for threatfire? i assume a pc freezing is only a minor problem to pcworld when so many other products do as good or better job without freezing the pc. of course its harder to get a virus using it because u cant get a virus if u cant use the pc. =P