windows 10 Asking about Basic Windows (10) things.

[tobeano]

How to do pure clean uninstallation? i am using ccleaner to uninstall apps and to fix registries, but it doesn't do pure clean the app folders which i uninstall.

Some app folders still exist in C drive, is there really a method to pure clean/ fully uninstalled from C drive?

And how do i know which folder should i remove?

Sometimes i remove randomly folders in C Drive and it causes some problems to my OS.

I keep resetting my OS just because of this problem, since some apps automatically installed in  C drive.

Thank you.

[AKS_Adrian]

9 minutes ago, tobeano said:

How to do pure clean uninstallation? i am using ccleaner to uninstall apps and to fix registries, but it doesn't do pure clean the app folders which i uninstall.

Some app folders still exist in C drive, is there really a method to pure clean/ fully uninstalled from C drive?

And how do i know which folder should i remove?

Sometimes i remove randomly folders in C Drive and it causes some problems to my OS.

I keep resetting my OS just because of this problem, since some apps automatically installed in  C drive.

Thank you.

Uh, uninstalling the apps via control panel / Windows settings should be just fine. There is no need to use CCleaner.

If there are still app folders that remain, I wouldn't worry about them because it's probably just uninstall log files or something like that which use no significant disk space.

Removing random folders from system folders when you don't know what you're doing isn't wise. Just uninstall the application as mentioned above and leave the folders alone.

[DigitalGoat]

13 minutes ago, tobeano said:

How to do pure clean uninstallation? i am using ccleaner to uninstall apps and to fix registries, but it doesn't do pure clean the app folders which i uninstall.

Some app folders still exist in C drive, is there really a method to pure clean/ fully uninstalled from C drive?

And how do i know which folder should i remove?

Sometimes i remove randomly folders in C Drive and it causes some problems to my OS.

I keep resetting my OS just because of this problem, since some apps automatically installed in  C drive.

Thank you.

Well firstly the registry doesn't need cleaning or fixing, some of the cleaning apps cause a lot more harm than help, leave it alone. Try something like Revo Uninstaller or similar, an app that 'watches' when something installs and snapsots the changes allowing it to uninstall those sticky remnants that you end up having to manually remove.

Try as well an imaging app like Macrium Free or similar, install Windows and your most used software (stuff you leave on a system constantly), then make an image that you can restore when things go wrong, it is quicker than re installing Windows and you can make several images at various stages of app/ driver installation.

Any thing you use to remove other apps really needs to be running before you install something, it is almost impossible for an app to find files/ folders after the event, so it needs a bit of forward planning on your part.

[Bombastinator]

12 minutes ago, tobeano said:

How to do pure clean uninstallation? i am using ccleaner to uninstall apps and to fix registries, but it doesn't do pure clean the app folders which i uninstall.

Some app folders still exist in C drive, is there really a method to pure clean/ fully uninstalled from C drive?

And how do i know which folder should i remove?

Sometimes i remove randomly folders in C Drive and it causes some problems to my OS.

I keep resetting my OS just because of this problem, since some apps automatically installed in  C drive.

Thank you.

I’ve never heard the term “pure clean” before.  I have heard the term “clean install” before.  A “clean install” is where you wipe the entire drive and install from the Microsoft files.  It doesn’t save anything. Any apps also have to be installed again.  The term “full wipe and reinstall” was the more common term for such an action. Microsoft likes to make up its own words though for reasons unknown, but are probably often marketing related. The standard move if you want to do one is backup critical files and put them back on after doing the wipe and reinstall.  This sometimes gets a bit complex if the files need to be Re linked to their original program.  Apps you do not have an installation for cannot be put back.

[LWM723]

Revo Uninstaller

[Bombastinator]

Just now, LWM723 said:

Revo Uninstaller

Pancakes.   Sorry.  It lacked context.  Looking it up, there is apparently a wiki on it 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revo_Uninstaller

it describes the thing as more or less a more complete uninstall wizard.  I have no idea how it works.

[Poinkachu]

7 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Pancakes.   Sorry.  It lacked context.  Looking it up, there is apparently a wiki on it 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revo_Uninstaller

it describes the thing as more or less a more complete uninstall wizard.  I have no idea how it works.

Basically, uninstalling things through it :
- It runs the software's included uninstaller (if it doesn't exist it will straight up delete)
- Then you get option to scan some folders in system drive, like AppData, MyDocuments, temp folder, etc. For remnant(s) that are linked to the uninstalled software.
- It also scans registry, looking for entry(es) that are linked to the uninstalled software.
- Then you get the option to delete found remnant files.

[LWM723]

@Bombastinator Most people just google it. Anyway, it works very good. Try it.

[Bombastinator]

6 hours ago, Poinkachu said:

Basically, uninstalling things through it :
- It runs the software's included uninstaller (if it doesn't exist it will straight up delete)
- Then you get option to scan some folders in system drive, like AppData, MyDocuments, temp folder, etc. For remnant(s) that are linked to the uninstalled software.
- It also scans registry, looking for entry(es) that are linked to the uninstalled software.
- Then you get the option to delete found remnant files.

So what an uninstall wizard should be doing in the first place.  Or at least as much of it as it can.  I suspect DDU is better, though it only works on GPU stuff.

[Bombastinator]

3 hours ago, LWM723 said:

@Bombastinator Most people just google it. Anyway, it works very good. Try it.

I did.  Still not as good as an actual package manager since the link is voluntary.  One would think uninstall wizards already do this.

[DMCLEAN]

19 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

I did.  Still not as good as an actual package manager since the link is voluntary.  One would think uninstall wizards already do this.

@Bombastinator  Explain "the link is voluntary"? If by "actual package manager" and "uninstall wizards" you mean the programs uninstaller you are wrong. They leave behind a lot of uninstalled pieces.

[Bombastinator]

25 minutes ago, DMCLEAN said:

@Bombastinator  Explain "the link is voluntary"? If by "actual package manager" and "uninstall wizards" you mean the programs uninstaller you are wrong. They leave behind a lot of uninstalled pieces.

Um…. That’s what I said…. So I’m not wrong because we’re saying the same thing.  By voluntary I mean that programs uninstalled in windows have to actually have the links, and they have to work correctly, which means if they have anything non-standard they need to be husbanded by someone who knows the code if there is anything unusual.  Often software producers make their own uninstallers for this reason.  They tend to be in a hurry though so even then things can get missed.   Windows uses wizards.  They are program in installers but Microsoft calls them wizards.