Windows – Add Remove Programs – Manual Removal

Windows

The Currently installed programs list in the Add or Remove Programs tool lists all of the Windows-compatible programs that have an uninstall program or feature. Occasionally, a program may not be removed completely, and the registry key that is used to display the program in the Currently installed programs list remains. In this situation, you may need to manually remove the program from the Currently installed programs list in Add or Remove Programs. To do this, follow these steps.

Germantown virus removal, data recovery & computer repair, home users & small business.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ ) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Openbox, type regedt32, and then click OK.
  3. In Registry Editor, locate the following registry key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
  4. In the left pane, click the Uninstallregistry key, and then click Exporton the File menu.
  5. In the Export Registry Filedialog box that appears, click Desktopin the Save in list, type uninstall in the File name box, and then click Save.
  6. Each key listed under Uninstallin the left pane of Registry Editor represents a program that is displayed in the Currently installed programslist of the Add or Remove Programs tool. To determine which program that each key represents, click the key, and then view the following values in the details pane on the right:DisplayName: The value data for the DisplayName key is the name that is listed in
    Add or Remove Programs.UninstallString: The value data for the UninstallString key is the program that is used
    to uninstall the program.
  1. After you identify the registry key that represents the program that you removed but which is still displayed in the Currently installed programslist of Add or Remove Programs, right-click the key in the left pane of the Registry Editorwindow, and then click Delete. Click Yesin response to the “Are you sure you want to delete this key and all of its subkeys?” message.
  2. On the Filemenu, click Exitto quit Registry Editor.
  3. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.
    In the Currently installed programslist, verify that the program whose registry key you deleted is no longer listed.

Content Source = http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314481