How to Remove Programs That Will Not Uninstall From Windows Vista

Uninstall stubborn programs from Windows Vista through the registry editor

You can remove computer applications from your computer with their built-in uninstallers through the "Uninstall or Change a Program" tool in Windows Vista. However, some programs are difficult to uninstall. In such cases, you can remove the program manually using the uninstall key in the registry editor. It is best to make a copy of the uninstall key before you make changes in case of an error.

Instructions

1. Click Start. Type "Regedt32" into the search field at the bottom of the start menu, without the quotation marks. Click "Regedt32" on the list of results on the start menu. A popup box may appear to confirm

2. Click the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" folder on the left panel of the "Registry Editor" box. Open the following folders in order: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.

3. Right-click the "Uninstall" folder in the left pane and select "Export." This will produce the "Export Registry File" dialog box. Choose "Desktop" from the drop down menu of the "Save in" field and type "uninstall" in the "File name" field. Click the "Save" button.

4. Search for the registry key belonging to the program you wish to delete. The registry keys in the "Uninstall" folder represent the programs installed on your computer. Click each one and read the information next to "Display Name" for the name of the program it belongs to.

5. Right-click the registry key for the program you wish to uninstall and select "Delete." Click "Yes" to confirm that you wish to delete the program. Click "File" on the navigation bar and choose "Exit."

6. Verify that the program has been deleted. Click the start button, select "Control Panel" and choose "Uninstall a Program" under the "Programs" category. Browse through the programs in the "Uninstall or Change a Program" dialog box. If the program is not on the list, then it has been successfully uninstalled. Return to your desktop, right-click the Uninstall.reg file and select "Delete." If the program remains, then it is likely that a different program has been accidentally deleted. In that case, go to your desktop and double-click the Uninstall.reg file that you saved there in step 3. This will restore the file to its previous settings, including the program you deleted. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to delete the program.

References

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