When unistalling an old AV?

Hi,

At the end of the month my current Av expires and im looking for new one to replace it. My question is once i've removed it from my system , what registry keys should i look for to delete to keep things clean and avoid problems?

Thanks for any replys

 

The location of the registry keys varies from brand to brand...and files/directories.

Most of their websites, in the support section, will have instructions for manual removal of their product. Yes it can get lengthy. And a few of them have removal tools you can download, to do most of the job for you. SymNRT.exe is an example of one from Symantec.

 

Ok, Thanks YeOldeStonecat, I found the maunal removal instruction for my AV.

 

Maybe I have not done it correctly but I go to Start, and if the AV has an uninstall program I use it. If not I go to Add/Remove Programs and remove it there. After I do that I go into Search and search for all files and folders named like the AV.

That has always worked even for NAV, and I have had no problem or indication that the AV has not been completely removed. I also use CCleaner.

If there are some bits left, I don't really care as long as they do not cause me trouble, but so far I think they all get removed.

Jerry

 

Using the Windows Installer service for any program will typically leave lots of junk behind..no matter what program we're talking about. With many antivirus programs, especially some of the more bloated popular ones, there are many files and directories installed besides the obvious one in C:\Program Files. As well as many...(and in some cases)...MANY registry entries. As well as hooks put into other software such as e-mail clients, like extend.dat extentions into Outlook.

The typical home user many not run into issues by using the standard installer service, but when you're supporting thousands of workstations..you'll run across issues of not removing some apps more completely.

 

Hello Jerry,

As far as I know, if a program doesn't have an uninstall, doing it in Add/Remove wouldn't do any good, since that's what Add/Remove relies on to do the uninstall, Add/Remove simply initiates it.

Add/Remove (the OS really) doesn't have an independant uninstall capability.

I know about two 3rd party uninstall programs, as opposed to just logging the changes: TotalUninistall (I use that) and Ashampoo.

Regards - Charles

 

HI Charles,

I don't know enough to do much discussion, but on the start menu some programs do not show an uninstall. However, when I go to add/remove I find them and uninstall them. Maybe the start does not show the uninstall. I do not know. It does make sense that the uninstall program would come with the program.

I downloaded Total Uninstall, but could not understand how to get it to work. I tried as instructed, but I never saw the screen or options that I was told I would see. I still have it on my machine, but I can't figure out how to use it. Such a program would be the best way I think.

Regards,
Jerry

 

The following procedures have always worked for me:

(1) Use your control panel and the uninstall option to uninstall the program.

(2) Check your program files and make sure the folder for the program has been deleted, if not delete it (the entire folder).

(3) Use a good registry checker to clean the registry. I use RegSeeker (freeware).


That's it, you're done.

Thanks
Wildman

 

Wildman,
Is RegSeeker safe to use by one who is not well versed in fooling with the registry? In general I do not have the confidence to do anything that involves removing anything from the registry.
Ihave RegSeeker on my computer, but never use it for that reason.

Jerry

 

I have been using it for a couple of years now and have had no problems. I do nothing fancy, and have not changed any options or anything like that. I just use the check registry, select all options. I then right click my mouse and select delete all. It also does make a back up, if everything is running correctly, I delete this as well. It does have other options, but those I leave alone. This program came as a ZIP, so you have to do the required steps to get it going. It does not appear in your items of installed software either, thus making it very easy to delete if you were inclined to do so. You are not fooling the registry, just getting rid of items that are obsolete or no longer required. It can also tell you if items are in the registry that perhaps shouldn't be, another good security check. I like this program, and all in all it is fairly easy to use. I did have other Reg cleaners, but those I found could be very problematic if one were not very careful, thus I deleted them from my system. I hope this helps.

Thanks
Wildman