How to Remove an Unwanted Entry From Add/Remove Programs

Microsoft Windows' Add/Remove Programs tool provides an easy to understand, user-friendly way to manage the software on your system. In the majority of cases, this tool is all you need to remove a program from your system and free up the hard drive space and memory it was using. However, in a few cases, you may need to manually remove a program because it keeps showing up in the Add/Remove Programs list even after you have clicked "Remove." This process involves a registry edit.

Instructions

Open the Registry Editor

1. Click the "Start" button in Microsoft Windows to open the Start Menu.

2. Click "Run" to bring up a command prompt.

3. Open the Registry Editor by typing "regedt32" in the command prompt box.

Save the Existing Uninstall Key

1. Find the key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall." It should be in the left pane of the Registry Editor.

2. Click the key to highlight it. With the key highlighted, open the Registry Editor's "File" menu.

3. Choose the "Export" option from the "File" menu. This will bring up a dialog box.

4. Select your computer's Desktop in the dialog box's "Save In" section. In the "File Name" section, type "Uninstall."

5. Press "Save." You now have a copy of your uninstall key backed up to the Desktop.

Delete the Subkey

1. Return to the Registry Editor and click the "Uninstall" key. This will bring up a list of subkeys, each related to a program on your computer.

2. Click on a subkey to bring up its details in the right pane of the Registry Editor. Check the "DisplayName" and "UninstallString" sections for each subkey until you find the name of the program you wish to uninstall.

3. Delete the program's subkey. When you find the subkey whose "DisplayName" and "UninstallString" sections hold the name of the program to be deleted, right-click on the subkey within the Registry Editor's left pane.

4. Select "Delete." You will be prompted to confirm the deletion; select "Yes."

5. Exit the Registry Editor.

Confirm the Deletion

1. Open the Start Menu. Click "Control Panel."

2. Navigate to the Add/Remove Programs list. Wait for the list to be populated and check for the program you wish to delete.

3. Delete the backed-up "uninstall" key from your desktop by moving it to the Recycle Bin. (Do this only if your program has uninstalled successfully.)

Tips & Warnings

• If these steps do not remove the desired program from the Add/Remove Programs list, the registry edit was unsuccessful. The program may be corrupted or poorly written. Double-click the "uninstall" key on the desktop to restore your previous settings. Contact the program's manufacturer for instructions on how to uninstall.

• This procedure involves editing the registry. Tampering with the registry can seriously impair Microsoft Windows' ability to run correctly so proceed carefully and follow the instructions closely. You may wish to back up the entire registry before performing editing operations. Instructions for this separate procedure can be found in the Resources section.

References

• Microsoft Support: How to manually remove programs from the Add or Remove Programs tool

Resources

• Microsoft Support: How to back up and restore the registry in Windows