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Uninstall Windows Programs Manually

There are times when "Add/Remove Programs" does not work. We will show you the way to remove the unwanted program from your system manually.

The first thing you should do is to create a system restore point if you are using Windows XP or Windows ME.

Next, you can delete the unwanted application from "C:\Program Files". Most programs are installed in this directory. If it is not inside, probably it is in C:\ directory.

Click Start button and then Run. Enter "regedit". This will launch the "Registry Editor" program.

Go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Find your unwanted software there, and delete its whole folder. BE CAREFUL! DON'T DELETE THE WRONG ONE!

You will see long names such as the one below:

{031C88EF-4EA5-4A9D-A77D-857A914CAFA5}

Click inside each of them to see if it belongs to the unwanted program.

If there are services related to the unwanted program, you can delete the services from

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services

Remove all shortcuts from these directories:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

C:\Documents and Settings\YourLoginName\Start Menu\Programs

C:\Documents and Settings\YourLoginName\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Some programs start during boot up. Check and see if your unwanted program is in here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Run

Delete it if it is found.

Last Updated: May 2, 2005