How to Remove Items & Programs in the Add/Remove Registry

Remove programs with the Add/Remove Registry.

Windows includes a convenient Add or Remove Programs tool that computer owners can use to uninstall programs they no longer need. However, the uninstall process sometimes does not delete the program completely, leaving these items on the list of currently installed programs. At this point it is no longer possible to use the tool to uninstall the item because choosing to uninstall will generate an error message. The solution to this problem is to delete the program using the Add/Remove registry.

Instructions

1. Click Start and type "regedit" into the search box (without the quotation marks). Press the "Enter" key.

2. Click HKEY_CURRENT_USER on the left side of the screen. Click the following in order: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. Clicking "Uninstall" should produce a drop-down list of items you can uninstall.

3. Identify the item or program you wish to delete from the list. Windows Vista and Windows 7 display the name of the programs but earlier versions display numbers. According to Microsoft, these numbers are keys that correspond to the various programs listed as currently installed on Add or Remove Programs tool. Click on a key and look for "DisplayName" in the list on the right panel. This will show the name of the program.

4. Right-click on the program you wish to remove and select "Delete."

5. Verify that the program has been deleted. Click "Start" and select "Control Panel." Click "Uninstall a Program" under the "Programs" category. Look through the list of programs to ensure that the deleted program is no longer present. If it is, repeat Steps 1 to 3 and verify again.

References

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