Is Revo Really The Best. I did a test on 4 uninstallers.

Different software leaves different traces in different locations. Some uninstallers might focus on those, so they remove sometimes more and sometimes less.
The test could be done using several types of software and installers, like exe/msi/unpacker and include more persistent ones, which install drivers/services.
If anything, those tests prove, that there is almost always something left behind, so an additional cleanup is required, either manual or using some cleaners.

 

Thanks for testing, more info we can have the better, plus it holds developers to a higher standard if people test their software. BUT what about registry items ?

 

Sorry for barging in again but,
to properly address registry leftovers, you unfortunately can't use 'search' as this involves too much assumptions. You would at least have to use something like Nirsoft's RegistryChangesView.

 

Another thing,
you really need to choose an app that wrecks the system (I'm not implying anything negative). Like a VMWare Workstation or Office. Perhaps those mega players, like WinDVD and the other one (forgot the name). Adobe apps, Autodesk apps, such stuff.
You're making it too easy for the uninstallers.

 

Excellent report. Thank you for posting it.
I discovered BCUninstaller a little while ago and after straightening out a very serious flaw with the fellow who designed it, I uninstalled the lifetime program I had on all 5 of my computers and went to BCUninstaller. I am probably not a good critic of any uninstaller because I do very little uninstalling. I just know that I like the program. Thanks again.

 

thanks for your replies guys. I used firefox because browsers like chrome, firefox are hard to get completely rid off with a complete clean and no leftovers. They always leave left overs and sometimes in deep and hard to reach part of windows. I found out with browsers like these big names you can never have a fully clean pc. there is always a left over somewhere. Now why i did not use registry finding test, because "search everything" does not do registry search and usually you do not want to mess with registry as it can screw the windows.

This was just a basic test to see if anything is left over and if a software gets rid of all junks with zero left over then I would do a deeper search using other software to see how left over clean the window is. all the uninstaller left files or folders behind so no need to do more advanced search.

There is one other uninstaller out there that I have forgot its name and if I find it I will test it. years ago when I tested it it left ZERO leftover and was the best of all uninstaller there. I will search for it and if find it will test it in the same way as the other uninstallers to see how good it is.

 

I would like to see Office removed with 0 in any way short of restoring an image.
Alright, I'll leave you to your thing now.

 

well I found the uninstaller that was the best one with no leftovers from my tests a few years ago. unfortunately I do not have a licence for it and it does not offer free version or trial. its "Total uninstaller". I think it beats BCUninstaller.

 

i would test this for you if I had total uninstaller licence and am interested to see if it does a perfect removal as it did with many many softwares a few years ago when I test it and use it on my pc.

 

No need. I already know. It's not my intention to destroy this thread (as discussion on this issue will clearly demonstrate uselessnes of uninstallers) so I'll just be brief. Office is a MS app, there's stuff that's already there on the OS and it gets updated/changed when you install Office, and there is simply no way in hell that you can 'unupdate' them. The only way is to restore an image.

[EDIT] Stuff. I don't like being vague. Registry keys.

 

managed to find a working older version of total uninstall (2 version older). current is 6.26 and mine is 6.24. So I did the firefox test in exact way as others. here is the result.

total uninstaller pro 6.24 had 4 files and no folders left of uninstalling firefox. those 4 files were in winSxS. so this beats BCUninstall by "1"

i am curious and will test it on MS office and see. damn sorry I do not own a copy of office and it is damn expensive.

 

And just to add, when I last looked at uninstallers, Total Uninstaller was actively developed (I don't know if it still is) and it was the only worth any attention.

[EDIT] It is still developed. I last saw it couple of years ago.

 

The best way to test uninstallers is to uninstall a program using one of the uninstallers and see how many leftover files and registry keys it finds and then reinstall the software keep testing with the other uninstallers. Another option is to not let the original uninstaller run and let the third party uninstallers do a scan for leftovers, with the original software still installed. If you do that, you won't need to reinstalling the original software, every time you want to test another uninstaller
When I've tested uninstallers in the past, initially Revo was far better at finding leftovers then anything else. A few years ago, IObit Uninstaller had improved the point where usually it was not far behind Revo and on occasion would find more leftovers. I was just testing the scan for leftovers, I was not using tracing.

Also, I question the results of your test, as there should be less leftovers after using a third party uninstaller and not more. A third party uninstaller will scan for leftovers after the standard uninstaller has run, so there should at most the same amount of files leftover as when just using the standard uninstaller.

 

here is how much it costs and it has 3 editions and the specs for the ultimate version is IMPERSIVE as what it does that no other uninstaller does.

the professional version cost $45 USD or $60 CAD for a single license per year. damn very expensive

 

I remember it being on the expensive side. It's $40 now. I don't know if that's expensive. If it's usefull...

Thinking a bit about you trying Office and doing things with uninstallers, forget the file system, if you do it properly, using the utility I mentioned above and just check the registry, I think you will be amazed at the amount of changes. Then, when you uninstall Office I thnk you will be even more amazed at what's left. Honestly, I never did this using RegistryChangesView, so it's a guess, but it is educated, since I sift manually through the registry a lot and I see all kinds of things there.

 

i think with the ultimate version which is for professionals and pc experts, technicians, etc. would uninstall office fully.

 

Try it. With the Nirsoft utility, you can't use 'search' on the registry. Office is too complex.

 

yeah. Microsoft is ****** with its products. I have been using libreoffice for years now and like it. Never was a fan of office.

 

Just tell me you were not thinking of bying Office for this occasion

Sloppy.

 

You know what? I may even try this with Office and Total Uninstall. I'm curious now.
But tomorrow or the day after. Not now, it's 4AM here.

Cheers

 

remember to tweak the total uninstall under the tools in option under installed programs under uninstall profiles (for all 3 ) under advanced tab uncheck create system restore and backup uninstall programs boxes. Also do the same for the monitored programs uninstalled profiles. next go under safe and under clean tab check the missing boxes in registry and file system (check all of them). after an uninstall usually a cleaning via its cleaning will remove any left over.

Also you can use its tracing or install monitoring option to install.

 

taleblou,
you are a mind reader. This is exactly what I did.

It's a bit hard to report on this, I did not take screenshots, that would have been time consuming and cumbersome, so you'll just have to take my word for it
I used Total Uninstall 6.24 full version (I could not find 6.26 anywhere) and Office 2016 x64. I installed Total Uninstall on a live system, this system, and took a look at settings, disabled restore point creation, and set the advanced scan as default. I thought I should give the uninstaller the best possible chance. I ran RegistryChangesView and took a snapshot of the registry. Then I installed full package of Office ('run all from my computer') through Total Uninstall monitor of course, that took a while, ran each Office app and saved a blank document (just to simulate usage a bit) and proceeded to uninstall Office. It was fast this time, but at the end of the uninstall process, Total Uninstaller warned me 11 times that it is unable to remove/restore items (did not take notice which, that was not important). I made another snapshot with RegistryChangesView and compared them.
There is 273 registry items difference between RCV snapshots. Honestly, I expected more. I can post a screenshot, but it would be big and won't serve a real purpose except taking up real estate. If you think I'm at fault somewhere, I can repeat this with suggested changes.

[EDIT] Looking through registry snapshots, these leftovers to be truthful do not all belong to Office, there are a few MRU objects (probably for the blank documents I saved), but still.

 

I missed this.
I did that as well (and I made a 3rd snapshot afterwards), but I thought that I should not mention it because the results were even worse. Let me look at the snapshots... the figure is 285 items left after the 'cleanup'.

 

Benchmark for uninstallers is Navisworks Freedom v2019 from Autodesk. https://www.autodesk.com/products/navisworks/3d-viewers
It installs a lot of Navisworks and Autodesk parts/applications including Microsoft's. If an uninstaller is capable to remove it completely including tons of remnant files and registry entries, it is a very good uninstaller then. ;-)

 

Yeah, I mentioned Autodesk apps. I know them too well.
I have also noticed that Photoshop (so that would be valid for Illustrator and other Adobes) is almost impossible to get rid of once installed.
But Office should be enough to prove the point.