What programs leave behind

[The-Ice-Man]

Is there a good program for getting rid of the rubbish that a lot of programs leave behind when you uninstall them, like registry keys and files in application data etc? Is there something automated that searches out useless bits of programs that aren't needed anymore so you don't have to try searching the registry or trying to find files in explorer when you don't really know what you're looking for.

 

I have CCleaner which I use regularly and that gets some of the un-needed registry items, and I always try to find folders relating to the program I've just removed, but that's often not good enough by a long shot. There are very often files in places outside the install folder you specified, which have names that bear no relation to the product you removed, so searching doesn't help. Then there's files that get placed in the system32 folder and other system folders that you really don't want to go poking around in. So is there a good, preferably free or easily cracked program for hunting down and totally removing the leftovers from programs you no longer use?

[VT-Vincent]

The only program I've seen that is close to this would be PC Tools' Registry Mechanic. It can scan your registry and remove entries from uninstalled applications that it recognizes. Personally, I've found it good for fixing occasional anomalies such as applications hanging on startup, which was commonly caused by a file that was removed being referenced in the registry. Personally though, I've never had much use for registry cleaners. They essentially try to guess what should and shouldn't be there based on their own algorithms, since the majority of entries don't reference a file.

 

Regarding program clutter in general, there's really no true automated way to get rid of it to the best of my knowledge. You can check common locations for components such as the following:

 

Registry - HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\

Registry - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\

 

Under XP Only:

C:\Documents and Settings\{yourname}\Application Data\

 

C:\Program Files

C:\Program Files\Common Files

C:\Program Files (x86)

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files

 

Under Vista\7 Only:

C:\ProgramData

C:\Users\{yourname}\AppData\Local

C:\Users\{yourname}\AppData\LocalLow

C:\Users\{yourname}\AppData\Roaming

 

Most well-behaved applications shouldn't stray to far from these locations. The problem with creating an automated method to remove this clutter is that there's no way to directly link these files to the application that created them. The same is true of registry entries that don't reference a particular file as well. The only way an application could actually know what program created what files would be to run on the system using a real-time scanner and to log the behavior of every applications. Honestly, if something like this existed, it would likely be too invasive to bother using.

 

Luckily though, most of the files applications leave behind are benign. They are usually just your program preferences or stored data within the application.

Edited September 7, 2009 by VT-Vincent

[Agozer]

I don't think there are programs that would do both registry cleaning and directory removal, but I would like to be proven wrong. Most games and applications that install stuff somewhere else that the specified install directory put their stuff in the Documents and Settings/User or All users directories, so it's pretty easy just to go through those and delete unwanted stuff. Then just run a registry cleaner program afterwards.

 

That's what I often do anyways.

[Shibathedog]

CCleaner actually does a very good job of cleaning out your registry among other things. I'm too stoned to elaborate any further right now, but if you are looking for something use that. A lot of those programs are shady as hell.

[emsley]

StOon3d/////?

[The-Ice-Man]

Guess I'll be just sticking with CCleaner then. Reason I asked is coz I realised today that I had that nasty Securom DRM shit on my PC and had to follow this tutorial to fully get rid of it: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-98241_25_0.html

 

I don't know what game it was that installed it, I've never played BioShock, I won't touch games if I know they have DRM, I'm guessing it was a demo of something that didn't mention it was being secretly installed.

Edited September 7, 2009 by The-Ice-Man

[VT-Vincent]

Guess I'll be just sticking with CCleaner then. Reason I asked is coz I realised today that I had that nasty Securom DRM shit on my PC and had to follow this tutorial to fully get rid of it: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-98241_25_0.html

 

I don't know what game it was that installed it, I've never played BioShock, I won't touch games if I know they have DRM, I'm guessing it was a demo of something that didn't mention it was being secretly installed.

 

I hate to say it, but things like that are actually what curbed me away from gaming on the PC (aside from emulation, of course). It seems like most games out there these days try to install some type of invasive garbage like that. Best case scenario, it seems to just screw the game up. Worst case scenario, it actually causes instability in the operating system. These days I only do gaming on consoles.

[The-Ice-Man]

I make sure to look at reviews very carefully now for any mention of DRM. I was gonna pick up Dead Space for £5 until I read it had DRM. Just means that people will wait for a cracked version to be released instead of paying for it. I used to just download tonnes of games for the PC, but since games got DVD size I don't do it anymore coz they take so long to download. Now I like to wait till games have been out a little while and are cheap, but not if they have DRM. BioShock could be free and I wouldn't take it. I would like to play BioShock and Dead Space one day, but it'll probably be on the 360 when I get one, unless they rerelease them on PC without DRM. And I don't think it's good enough for companies like Eidos to make DRM software where you're only allowed 5 installs but you get one back if you make a successful uninstall. What if uninstall fails? And you can bet that even after successfull uninstalls the DRM malware is still left behind.

[emsley]

I installed dead space with no problems I got it second hand...

[The-Ice-Man]

Try installing it four more times and see what happens.

[Agozer]

All the more reason to use modified executables from crack groups.

[The-Ice-Man]

Exactly. Publishers are wasting their time with DRM, it just encourages piracy. But what's worse is the way that they're acting like hackers making software that installs secretly and can't be removed without advanced measures. Securom installed without my knowledge at all, started invisibly every time windows starts, did not have an entry in add/remove programs, made registry keys with null values so they couldn't be removed in regedit without a special tool, and made files with invalid filenames so they could not be removed normally in explorer. All the exact behaviour of spyware/malware.

Edited September 8, 2009 by The-Ice-Man

[VT-Vincent]

I agree that spyware-like behavior is unacceptable for DRM, but I am willing to put up with a reasonable level of DRM when it is warranted. A good example would be the DRM system Adobe uses on all of their CS4 products. Basically, it needs to activate when installed (which can be done on up to 2 computers) and when the activation succeeds, it writes the activation data to the boot sector. They include a built-in deactivation utility which allows you to move the installation to another computer, which I use whenever making any major changes to the computer as a safety precaution.

 

It's more invasive than I'd like, but it doesn't cause any problems and I do see the need for it. Unfortunately, Adobe's software is among the most pirated next to Windows itself. I'm also willing to accept it since they provide the customer with a valid method to deactivate the software when needed.

[Shibathedog]

Yeah and if you want to play the game online your SOL because cracks don't usually work online :/

 

Securom actually released something called the Securom Removal Tool that works. Keep in mind it has been updated a couple times and the first couple versions didn't work all that well so you might find a lot of posts about that while looking for it. I can confirm it's legit and it won't just add more DRM

 

The reason you had it and didn't know it is probably because you accidentally ran a securom executable. See if you remove the DRM, and you launch the game, it will quickly re-install it without saying anything. Cracked .exes don't do this though.

[Agozer]

Yeah and if you want to play the game online your SOL because cracks don't usually work online :/

Depends on the game, really and how rigorously game servers scan for modified executables. Unreal Tournament 2004 for example has a patch that enables online play even with an cracked copy of the game.

 

Then again, UT2004 is quite an old game, and AFAIK, most PC games with online components these days fall under the Games for Windows [Live whatever] brand.