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Uninstaller Roundup - Revo - Total - ZSoft & the less magnificent seven

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CWuestefeld:
I've got an objection to the snapshot approach.

A year or two back I was using Ashampoo's uninstaller, which uses snapshots, and got burned having some other stuff in my system hosed by an uninstall. I don't hold this against Ashampoo specifically, but I believe that it's endemic to the snapshot process -- and indeed, partly my own fault.

I hate waiting. When I start an installer running, I keep doing whatever else I'm doing. If that work includes other system changes (maybe changing a registry setting or something), then they get flagged in the snapshot diff. Later on, an uninstall undoes all the changes, including that other change from the other app, that had nothing to do with this installation. Doing this got some of my software into an inconsistent state, so I had to uninstall and re-install the broken software.

This was obvious in retrospect. But if you're going to use snapshot-based uninstallers, be sure not to be doing anything while an installation is running. In fact, you're better off if you really do stop all programs beforehand, since they might make system changes in an automated fashion.

Darwin:
This is the trouble that I have had with snapshot based unisntallers as well. I still use Ashampoo to take a snapshot of my system before and after some installations but don't use it to actually remove anything. For that I use Your Uninstaller!, which takes a different approach and scans your system and registry for changes made based on the installer used. It offers several levels of thoroughness, but I tend to play it safe and use the recommended settings (not the aggressive one that is available). So far, in five years of use, I've never had a problem.

David.P:
Haven't read everything but just was gonna say that I have been using Total Uninstall for years (it's really fast on my SSD, only takes like 5 seconds to snapshot).

For trying the REALLY nasty stuff like e.g. iTunes (yuck), I use Altiris SVS. This truly leaves not the slightest trace of the installation behind.

Cheers David.P

40hz:
Add iObit's uninstaller to the list. Supports XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

It's also free and portable!

Link: http://iobit.com/advanceduninstaller.html

I also mentioned it on this DC topic:

https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=22820.msg207029#msg207029

 :)

Innuendo:
I have to post a warning to potential Total Uninstall users: One of the program's anti-piracy features is that it will refuse to run/register if certain firewall programs are installed on your system (there's at least 10 the author has blacklisted) so if you are interested in this program make sure it works with your firewall before you send the author any money.

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