How to remove an invisible program from your computer. Removing unnecessary programs from PC and laptop

It often happens that the computer starts to work slowly, errors occur when opening various programs, and the space on the hard drive is quickly running out. In order to avoid problems with the operation of the device, you need to promptly and correctly remove unused programs and applications.

How to completely remove an application from your computer will be discussed in detail in this article.

Why do you need to remove programs?

Over time, a huge amount of a wide variety of data accumulates in computer memory. We usually download various applications that we use for a while and then forget about them as soon as we no longer need to use them. Any program leaves residual data in the computer registry and various directories. When a large amount of such data accumulates, it can seriously slow down the PC, not to mention the fact that a lot of space remains occupied on the hard drive, which is why sooner or later there may not be enough space for the files that are really needed.

Therefore, you need to periodically audit all unused programs and know how to properly remove applications from your computer.

Uninstalling programs in Windows

It is not enough to simply delete the folder in which the application files are located - this does not give the desired result; there are still files that were somehow involved in the operation of the program.

To figure out how to completely remove an application from your computer, let’s first go to the control panel. You can do this through the Start menu by going to it and selecting the appropriate item.

If you have Windows 7, go to category view and find "Uninstall a program" in the list. See how it will look in the screenshot. The required menu is highlighted in yellow.

As soon as you go to this subsection, you will see a list of all programs and applications installed on you. Select the application you want to delete, click on it and confirm deletion. Ready. This way you can uninstall applications on your computer in Windows. How else can you clear your device of unnecessary information?

Registry in Windows

The registry stores records about the operation of all programs and applications that are installed on the computer. Over time, there are so many of them that it begins to seriously affect the performance of the PC. Cleaning the registry is required to eliminate unnecessary entries and improve the performance of the device. In addition, when you need to permanently remove an application from your computer, as you know, it is not enough to just get rid of the files; you also need to clean the registry and make sure that all program components are eliminated.

To begin, press the WIN + R key combination on your keyboard. The “Run” line will appear. In it you need to enter the following command: regedit.

Go to the registry menu by pressing the Enter key or the OK button.

Data backup

First, you need to make a copy of your existing data in case cleaning the registry harms your PC or applications. Exporting from the registry must be done before erasing data and completely removing the application from the computer. As you can see, the system provides a function for backing up information so that if a critical error occurs, everything can be restored.

If something goes wrong, you can now revert to the previous working option. If you are worried about the lack of free space on your computer, then if you successfully clear the data in the registry, the copied files can be deleted.

Do not make changes to the registry without saving a copy of the data - it does not have an undo function.

Cleaning the registry

The registry itself is divided into two parts - on the left is a tree of objects, and on the right are the records themselves.

You need to find a directory on the left side called HKEY_CURRENT_USER, expand it and go to the Software folder. Look at the screenshot below - the folder you need to go to is highlighted in color.

Here you will see a complete list of programs that have been installed on this computer. Find the program you need and you will see entries corresponding to it. Now you just need to select the entry with the mouse and press Delete.

So, you can be sure that you now know the basic information on how to uninstall unnecessary applications on your computer.

If you are not sure whether you should delete any entry regarding a particular program, try looking for this information so as not to make mistakes.

Features of uninstalling programs in Windows 10

The process of deleting applications in this operating system is almost the same as described above, however, there is another way to remove applications from a computer on Windows 10.

To do this, go to the "Settings" section through "Start" and find the "Applications and Features" menu there. A list of applications available to you will open, from which you can select the one to be deleted and click the corresponding button at the bottom right.

Windows 10 has another very quick uninstall option: the Start menu itself displays a list of programs. Just right-click on any one and select “Delete”.

You can consider this method using the example of removing one of the most common programs from Yandex - the Alice voice assistant.

To remove the Alice application from your computer completely, as shown above, find it in the applications menu or in the list of programs and components through the control panel. To delete, you will need to select it, select it with the mouse and click “Change/Delete” or simply “Delete”.

Another way to remove a program

As a rule, in most programs, games and applications, the functionality for removing them is built directly into the program itself.

In order to figure out how to completely remove an application or game from your computer, find the icon of any program that you do not currently need, right-click on it and select “File Location”. A directory with installed files will open.

Among them you need to find a file called Uninstall. You need to launch it and follow the instructions on the screen. As a rule, you need to click "Next" several times and just wait until the program is erased from the computer.

Using various utilities

Uninstalling programs and cleaning your computer can be done not only using the built-in standard tools of the Windows operating system, but also using a variety of third-party utilities that help clean up the file system and remove unused applications.

The operating principle of most of these programs is identical, so let’s look at the example of the most popular of them - Revo Uninstaller.

This utility helps with the removal of programs; it has several modes for uninstallation:

built-in - the most common uninstallation;
safe - will help you deal with hidden files and registry entries;
medium - combines safe mode functionality with search in public places;
advanced - as the name implies, this mode provides the most complete functionality, checking entries both on the disk and in the registry and hidden folders.

In order to start using this utility, you just need to download it and install it on your computer (for the portable version, you don’t even need installation). Launch the program and you will see a list of programs available for removal. In general, the functionality of such programs is quite sufficient so that the user no longer has questions about how to completely remove the application from the computer.

Select from the list, delete - and you're done!

There are a lot of similar programs - try a few and you can decide which program best suits your needs.

Removing operating system components

Not all programs will appear in the Uninstall Programs section of the Command Prompt. Some of them are Windows system components and cannot be removed in the same way as other programs. They can only be turned on or off through a special menu.

In order to disable Windows components, go to the Control Panel and go to the "Programs" item.

A window like the one in the photo below should open.

The required section is highlighted in color. We go into it and see the ability to turn Windows components on or off using checkboxes.

Accordingly, in order to turn the component back on, it will be enough to go to this menu in the same way and check those programs again.

It is important to remember that this method, like cleaning the registry mentioned above, requires that the account from which the actions are performed must have administrator rights.

Uninstalling an antivirus

It is worth mentioning that when removing antivirus programs, standard methods do not always bring the desired result.

Therefore, we will give advice: when removing antiviruses, it is better to find out from the technical support of the supplier whether there is a special utility written specifically for this virus - as a rule, such programs perform high-quality cleaning of the components of the antivirus program.

In this case, it is usually enough to run the uninstaller and wait, if necessary follow the instructions on the screen.

In conclusion

So, we have looked at the main ways to remove any application from your computer. The basic rule is that the less data applications leave behind, the faster your PC can run.

There are different programs - useful and useless, simple, complex and dangerous. And users find out which of these qualities belongs to a particular software product, unfortunately, in most cases only after installing it in Windows. Buttons click, settings sliders move, and then the picture becomes clearer. What needs to be done with the software: execute it, that is, uninstall it, or pardon it, leave it in the depths of a computer or laptop.

This guide will tell you how to completely remove a program from your computer using utilities and manually.

Method No. 1: manual cleaning

Running the uninstaller

Almost every program has an uninstaller in its directory (folder) - a file usually named “uninstall”, “uninstaller”, etc. It is designed to remove application elements from the operating system (file directories and registry).

To run the program uninstaller, follow these instructions:

1. In the taskbar (the strip with buttons at the bottom of the display), click the “Windows” icon.

2. In the Start menu that appears, click “Control Panel.”

3. Set the “View” setting to “Category”.

4. Click the “Uninstall a program” section.

5. In the installed software directory, click the left button to select the application to be deleted.

6. Follow the instructions of the uninstaller that opens (if necessary, click the “OK”, “Next”, “Delete”, etc. buttons).

You can also run the Uninstall module directly from the Start menu (without going to Control Panel):

1. Click: “Windows” button → “All programs”.

2. Click to open the folder of the required program.

3. Click on the item in the list called “Delete...”, “Removing...” or “Uninstall”.

If you cannot find the uninstaller either in the “Uninstall a program” section or in the “Start” menu, do this:

1. Right-click on the application shortcut on your desktop.

2. Select “Properties” from the context menu.

3. In the properties panel, click the "File Location" button.

4. In the program directory that opens, find and run the uninstaller.

Well, if there is no shortcut on the desktop, look at the “Program Files” and “Program Files (x86)” folders. Often, by default, applications are installed in these directories.

Removing entries from the registry

To remove software keys remaining after uninstallation from the registry, perform the following operations:

1. Open the Run panel by pressing the Win + R key combination.

2. Type the command - regedit (registry editor) in the line.

3. Click OK.

4. In the menu, click: Edit → Find.

5. In the “Search” window, enter the name of the remote program and click “Find Next”.

6. Delete the found key here (via the registry editor): right-click on the key → click “Delete” in the list.

7. Resume searching for entries in directories by pressing the “F3” key. Or go to the menu: Edit → Find Next.

8. Perform the scan until a message appears indicating that the entire registry has been scanned.

Deleting files

To get rid of the remaining folders and files of a deleted program:

1. Press the key combination “Win + E”.

2. Go to the “Disk C” section.

3. In the upper right corner of the window, in the “Search” field, type the name of the application that was uninstalled from the system.

4. Press "Enter".

5. Get rid of detected elements through the context menu: right mouse button → Delete.

If an object cannot be removed, try getting rid of it using the iObit Unlocker program.

After installing it, also open the context menu and select the utility icon in the list. And then in the window that opens, select “Unblock and delete” in the drop-down list and run the selected command.

Disabling system programs

Programs installed with Windows - Internet Explorer, a game package (Solitaire, Spider), etc. cannot be removed using the standard function. But you can disable them: they will be present in the system, but will not be displayed in the interface or launched.

1. Click: Start → Control Panel → Uninstall a program → Turn features on or off.

2. Click the mouse to remove the checkmarks next to the applications that you want to disable.

3. Click OK.

4. Wait until the procedure is completed, close the window.

Method No. 2: cleaning with uninstaller utilities

The algorithm for automatic uninstallation and removal of application remnants using uninstaller utilities boils down to the following:

1. Launch the built-in uninstaller.

2. Standard removal provided by the program.

3. Search for elements (files, registry keys) remaining after uninstallation and delete them.

The following solutions are most popular among PC users:

An easy-to-use yet powerful tool for cleaning Windows from unnecessary software. Quickly and accurately finds all remnants of deleted software. Has a “Force deletion” function.

Supports batch uninstallation: automatic sequential uninstallation of several programs.

A paid product with a large number of functions for cleaning hard drive partitions and system directories from useless elements, and optimizing the registry. Launches program removal with one click. It has the most user-friendly interface.

A faithful assistant in the most difficult cases of cleaning the OS from unnecessary applications. Distributed conditionally free of charge (test version - 30 days). It is endowed with advanced and lightning-fast algorithms for searching for remaining objects of uninstalled programs. Performs cleaning efficiently and meticulously.

Attention! Antiviruses

If you are faced with the task of removing an antivirus, first of all, ask on the official website of the developers whether there is a special utility for removing it. It will greatly simplify the uninstallation process and significantly save your time.

Successful Windows cleaning!

This is uninstallation using the program installer. This removal method works great and requires minimal effort from the user. However, it also has disadvantages. The main disadvantage of this method of removing programs is that in most cases the program is not completely removed. After it, some of its files and registry entries remain on the computer.

In this regard, the question arises of how to completely remove the program from the computer. The easiest way to do this is with special software. The most popular solution of this kind is Revo Uninstall. Therefore, in this material we will describe the process of completely removing a program using Revo Uninstall, and also consider some other programs.

Complete removal of programs using Revo Uninstaller

The first thing you need to do is download Revo Uninstaller. To do this, go to this program and download the installation file. On the site you can download a trial PRO version, which can be used without restrictions for 30 days, or a simplified free Freeware version. The free version is also suitable for our purposes.

Installing Revo Uninstaller should also not be difficult. Just run the installer and click on the “Next” button several times.

After installation, run Revo Uninstaller. After launching this application, you should see a list of all installed programs. In this list, you need to select the program that you want to remove from your computer and click on the “Delete” button.

After this, a warning window will open. Here you just need to click on the “Yes” button.

The next step is selecting the deletion mode. Here you can choose one of four deletion modes:

Built-in – standard mode for uninstalling a program;
Safe – uninstall the program while searching for additional files and registry entries;
Moderate – uninstall the program with an advanced search for additional files and registry entries;
Advanced - uninstall the program with the most thorough search for additional files and registry entries;

In order to completely remove the program, select Safe, Moderate or Advanced removal mode and click on the “Next” button. After selecting the uninstall mode, Revo Uninstaller will run an initial analysis, and once completed, the program installer will open.

After completing the removal of the program through the installer, you need to return to Revo Uninstaller and click on the “Next” button.

After this, Revo Uninstaller will start searching for non-deleted files and registry entries.

After completing the search, you need to click on the “Next” button again and you will see a list of files and registry entries that belonged to the remote program. To remove them, check the boxes and click on the “Delete” button.

After deleting the found files and registry entries, click on the “Next” button, and then on the “Finish” button. This completes the complete removal of the program from the computer.

Other programs for completely removing software

If Revo Uninstaller did not suit you for some reason, then you can try other similar applications. Now there are many programs that specialize in removing software from the Windows operating system. Below we will look at just a few of them.

IObit Uninstaller is software for quickly uninstalling a large number of programs. IObit Uninstaller allows you to simply mark the programs you want to remove and get rid of them in one go. In addition, IObit Uninstaller can remove not only full-fledged programs, but also browser extensions, as well as third-party applications that were installed along with shareware software. IObit Uninstaller can also remove files remaining after uninstallation, thus ensuring complete removal. IObit Uninstaller is not overloaded with additional functions, so it is not difficult to understand and is suitable even for inexperienced users.

IObit Uninstaller is free software, but at the time of installation it offers to install additional software from partners. There is also a paid version, which costs only 400 rubles. In the paid version, the program provides more complete removal. You can download IObit Uninstaller.

Ashampoo UnInstaller is quite powerful software for completely uninstalling programs. Ashampoo Uninstaller monitors the installation of new software on your computer, which allows you to remove even what was installed without the user's permission. At the same time, Ashampoo Uninstaller allows you to uninstall one program at a time or in entire groups.

In addition to the basic functions, Ashampoo Uninstaller has a number of additional features. The program can clean the drive of unused files, perform defragmentation, optimize the Windows registry, and also change the settings of system services and startup.

Ashampoo UnInstaller is completely free. But to start you will need a license key, which you can get by simply registering.

Uninstall Tool is an application for completely removing unwanted programs with the function of cleaning the registry and remaining files. At the same time, the Uninstall Tool allows you to perform both single and batch uninstallation. One of the features of the Uninstall Tool is the ability to monitor the installation process. This ensures a more complete removal of the program in the future. This application can also control some system parameters, such as startup.

The Uninstall Tool is a paid software and costs about $20. But, you can take advantage of the 30-day free trial. You can download the Uninstall Tool.

Total Uninstall is a utility for completely uninstalling programs and cleaning temporary files. Total Uninstall analyzes the program you want to remove and identifies the files associated with it. This ensures that all traces of the program are completely removed from the computer. Total Uninstall can also monitor the installation process in order to record all the changes that have been made and then cancel them. Using this utility, you can remove even those programs that do not have their own uninstaller.

Total Uninstall is a paid solution and costs from $20. You can download Total Uninstall.

Display Driver Uninstaller is a fairly highly specialized utility for . Using Display Driver Uninstaller, you can completely remove the driver from an NVIDIA or AMD video card. Display Driver Uninstaller has minimal settings. In order to remove the driver, you just need to run this utility, select the manufacturer (NVIDIA or AMD) and click on the remove button. It is advisable to perform this entire procedure from safe mode.

Display Driver Uninstaller is a completely free solution, you can download it.

Very often, when uninstalling programs, certain difficulties may arise, especially when you are just starting to master the computer. Many novice users can simply delete the program folder on their hard drive. And after this, if it is removed incorrectly, a lot of problems begin. Various windows appear on the screen about the absence of certain files, various warnings pop up about the impossibility of loading or incorrect operation of applications. Without thinking about his previous actions that led to this problem, the user begins to refer to failures in the operating system and PC hardware, is set to reinstall Windows, and the like.

What causes errors when loading the operating system. The fact is that if uninstalled incorrectly, the program leaves its “traces” in the registry; its remains may be present in startup or Windows services. All this leads to similar messages when starting the operating system.

There are also cases when the user deletes only the shortcut on the desktop and is sure that he has deleted the application completely. A shortcut is only a link to launch and deleting it does not mean that you are getting rid of the installed program. It remains in its entirety on the hard drive and can be launched by creating another shortcut after right-clicking on the application launch file.

Let's consider what to do in such a situation and how to completely remove the program from your computer using built-in Windows tools and using special utilities.

Removal using built-in Windows tools

If you are using the XP version, you can quickly uninstall any application through the Add or Remove Programs tab in the Control Panel. Here you select the desired application and click on the delete button.
In Windows 7, we remove it in the same way, only the list of applications is in the “Programs and Features” section.

When a program cannot be removed in this way, it means it is running and running in hidden mode. To do this, you first need to disable it in Windows services, which you can access through the “Administration” tab in the Control Panel. If it is not in the services and it still is not deleted, you need to check its presence in the Task Manager processes. If an uninstallable program is running there, you need to right-click to force its execution to end. After disabling applications in services or in the task manager, restart the uninstallation process.

To completely clear traces of a deleted program from your computer, you can use third-party cleaning utilities, for example, CCleaner or the Privazer utility. The latter is the best utility for optimizing and speeding up your PC. It quickly clears not only the remains of programs and other “garbage”, but also frees up RAM, as a result of which an increase in productivity is observed.

How to remove using Revo Uninstaller

Revo Uninstaller is a more effective tool in removing applications from your computer, including those occupied by the process and those that cannot be removed.

You can download this utility from the official website. After installing Revo Uninstaller, the “Uninstaller” tab opens with a list of all installed applications on the computer. Mark what you need and click on the delete button.

After Revo Uninstaller you will be asked to select the uninstaller operating mode. Leave the default mode at moderate.

After analysis and deletion, the utility will ask you to search for remaining files. As a result of the scan, the denstralator will highlight in bold the entries in the Windows registry for deletion, and then the remaining files on the hard drive that should be gotten rid of.

Thus, the program and all its tails are completely removed from the computer.

We looked at the most common cases of how to remove a program from a computer. We are confident that the options listed will help you solve the problem.

Order in the computer is the key to user well-being - no glitches, maximum performance. And it’s visually clear where which file is located, what programs are installed, and what they are for.

But if, on the contrary, chaos reigns on PC disks... this is definitely a problem. But, fortunately, it is fixable. Any obscenity (files and folders, unnecessary programs) can be removed from the computer manually and using special utilities. Read this article about how to properly and quickly clean hard drives.

All in one fell swoop, out of sight...

Before globally deleting everything that is on your computer, you must, of course, first look through all the partitions one more time. Suddenly, somewhere in a folder, there was something useful: photos, videos, text files with passwords and logins, reports or other valuable documents.

When you are 100% sure that you do not regret anything from the existing data in the directories, start cleaning.

Option No. 1: if the disk is not a system one

If you need to quickly “unload” a disk partition that does not have a system, that is, delete everything from it completely, do not bother yourself with painstakingly dragging files into the trash, but simply go ahead and format it.

1. Right-click on the disk from which you want to delete all files.

2. In the system menu that appears, click “Format”.

3. In the formatting settings panel, in the “File system” option, set the value to “NTFS”, in the “Cluster size” - 4096 bytes.

4. Click the “Start” button.

5. In the additional window “Attention! ... "confirm the launch of the formatting function: click "ok".

That's it! Now the disk is, as they say, a “clean slate”. No files, no folders - nothing.

You can also perform this procedure on the command line:

1. Open the console.

Windows 7: open the Start menu; Type cmd in the line and press “Enter”.
Windows 8: Right-click on the “Windows” icon (the very first icon in the taskbar).

2. At the command line, enter the command:

format:
(for example, to format drive D you need to enter - format d:)

3. Press "Enter".

4. At the “Start formatting…” prompt, type the letter Y (Yes) and press “Enter” again.

Option No. 2: formatting drive C (system partition)

The partition on which Windows is stored cannot be deleted using the method described above. Disk C is formatted using a special utility from the operating system installation disk and then the OS is installed accordingly.

1. Insert the Windows installation disc into the DVD drive.

2. In the Start panel, in the Shut down menu, launch the Restart function.

3. While the computer is restarting, hold down the “F8” key.

4. Select the boot from DVD option from the menu that opens.

Note. The boot setting on your PC may be activated by a different key (such as "F2" or "F11").

5. In the “Windows Installation” window, select the interface language “Russian”. Click Next.

6. Select the disk on which the system is installed by clicking the mouse in the list.

7. In the control panel, click “Disk Settings”.

8. Select the "Format" command.

Upon completion of the operation, all files, programs and other elements from drive C will be deleted, and you can immediately begin installing the OS completely.

How to remove everything unnecessary from drive C?

Selective cleaning of the system partition should be carried out regularly. This requirement is primarily related to the specifics of operating Windows. (During its operation, unnecessary files accumulate in separate directories randomly, without user intervention). And then, you have less risk of losing useful content and valuable data (that is, deleting something very necessary from the C drive during the formatting process).

Method No. 1: using the standard function

1. Run the computer system cleanup utility.

Windows 7: open "Start"; In the search bar, enter “disk cleanup”; Select drive C from the drop-down menu; click “ok”;
Windows 8: right-click on the “Windows” shortcut (in the taskbar); click "Find"; in the panel that opens, type “disk cleanup”; In the menu, click “Free up disk space...”.

2. Wait for the directory analysis to complete (on average, the utility takes 2-3 minutes to complete this task).

3. In the settings window, on the “Disk Cleanup” tab, check the boxes with a mouse click next to the items that need to be deleted or cleaned.

4. In the window that opens, click “Delete files”.

Advice! You can get rid of OS restore checkpoints (if you don't plan to use them!). Go to the “Advanced” tab and in the “Recovery...” block, click the “Clear” button. In the additional window, confirm the launch of the function.

Method number 2: cleaning the disk with cleaning utilities

There are a huge number of programs that free drive C from “digital junk” in automatic and semi-automatic mode. In this short tutorial, we will look at the most popular solutions.

(https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download)
1. In the vertical menu of the program, click the mouse to activate the “Cleaning” section.

2. On the Windows and Applications tabs, select which items you want to remove or clean up.

3. Click the "Analyze" button.

4. After scanning is complete, click to launch the “Cleanup” command.

(http://www.chemtable.com/ru/organizer.htm)
1. Select “Disk Cleaning” from the vertical menu.

2. In the adjacent panel, click the “Scan” button.

3. Wait a little: the utility will analyze the partition directories.

4. Upon completion of the procedure, click “Perform cleaning”.

Destroying useless media content

Remember Plyushkin from the book “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol? Well, mountains, or rather tens and hundreds of gigabytes, of seemingly useful, but seemingly useless content on the disks of your PC clearly indicate that you are very similar to this literary hero...

Books, films, TV series, huge software distributions, and games that are not particularly necessary take up precious free disk space. And they also burden the user with the need to constantly increase it when something else needs to be loaded.

1. Right-click on the file or folder you want to destroy. And then click “Delete” in the context menu.

2. When you finish cleaning, don’t forget to empty the Trash. Also, hover over it, right-click and select “Empty Trash”.

Getting rid of unnecessary programs

Standard uninstallation

1. Open the system Start menu. Go to "Control Panel".

2. Click the “Uninstall a program” section.

3. In the list of software available in the system, right-click the unnecessary program.

4. Click the “Delete” option that appears.

5. Follow the instructions of the uninstaller.

Removing software using special utilities

(instructions for using Soft Organizer)
If for some reason a useless application cannot be removed from the PC in the standard way, or you want to perform a more thorough cleaning of disk directories, it is more advisable to use uninstaller programs (for example, Revo Uninstaller, Uninstall Tool). They not only remove software elements, but also neutralize their remains in other folders in the system registry.

Let's consider the uninstallation option using the Soft Organizer utility:

1. Click on the application you want to remove in the software catalog.

2. Click the “Uninstall a program” button.

3. Perform a standard uninstall, and then remove the remains of the application (follow the prompts of Soft Organizer).

Happy cleaning! Don't be lazy, your diligence and efforts will pay off handsomely. The computer will work faster, you will spend a minimum of time searching for useful data in the directories of disk partitions.