remove unwanted entries in add/remove programs applet

[emptypockets62426]

Hi all. I'm tuning up a pc for a friend whose kids have installed

numerous trial games, itunes, music oasis, etc., and other misc. crap.

Got most of it to my liking except this: can't get rid of 2 entries in

the Add/ Remove Programs applet in Control Panel (itunes and music

oasis). Here's what I've done so far:

Searched the web high and low and tried every suggestion offered to no

avail, so I'm trying as many forums as I can keep track of.  There are

a lot more sharper minds than mine out there.

In Regedit went to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Current

Version|Uninstall and removed all the entries I wanted, then rebooted,

went back into Add/Remove and itunes and music oasis are still there

Opened C:\Windows\inf\sysoc.inf, but the 2 entries aren't even listed

Someone suggested using Tweakui, but, as far as I can tell, that only

removes the applets in Control Panel (unless I'm missing something

there)

Installed a program called Add Remove Program Cleaner, but the 2

offending entires aren't listed in there either

Ran Hijack This>Misc. Tools>Unistall Manager, and the entries aren't

there either (no big surprise there either)

And, finally, reinstalled itunes and music oasis, then rebooted,

uninstalled them again, and the entries are still in the Add/Remove

Programs list

This is starting to irritate me.


Thanks in advance for any new suggestions as I'd like to get this thing

back to him cuz he needs to watch the farm markets tomorrow a.m. if he

can

[BC_Programmer]

Maybe I'm missing something, but typically the way to remove entries from Add/Remove is to uninstall the program, not fiddle with the registry.

Unless for whatever reason you want the program to remain installed and the entry to be hidden. Sounds to me like the programs are "repairing" the uninstall data.

Or, you uninstalled them, but their entries remained for whatever reason. Could be that a "update" program (apple likes to stick those all over windows machines) or one of their various background services is restoring the key.

No doubt you already found this.

Also,  you can use CCleaner to attempt to remove the entries manually.

[emptypockets62426]

Thanks for replying BC_Programmer.  I concur that to remove entries in Add/Remove is to uninstall the prog. there, but when I got the pc the orphaned entries were missing the installers, so the prog. wouldn't uninstall in the normal manner.  One of their grandkids had been using the pc on the sly and things were totally amuck.

I do pc tune-ups quite regularly for lots of people and have done so for yrs. (from Win95 to Win7) so I have a pretty good idea of what to do to get them back in shape again, but I'm by no means an expert.  I have Apple Application Support, Apple Mobile Device Support, Bing Bar Platform, itunes, and music oasis entries left in Add/Remove that I'd like to get rid of.  I know it won't hurt the performance of the pc for these to remain there, but it irks me that I can't get rid of them and there MUST be a solution to this that'd be very useful to me for future pc work.

I've disabled ALL services in services.msc relating to these offending progs. and Task Manager doesn't show any references to them either.  I've been to the link u provided and followed all the instructions there to a tee and used Revo Uninstaller Pro and removed LOTS of entries with it.  Thanks for providing it anyway.

Naturally, CCleaner, Malwarebytes, Spybot S&D, Superantispyware, Windows Defender, and an online Trendmicro Housecall scan were the things I did and everything is clean with those now.

[BC_Programmer]

The fact is that the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall is the only place the applet looks. Either you aren't deleting the proper entries or something is adding them back, otherwise they wouldn't be enumerated. Remember you have to delete the entire key, you can't just delete a few of the values within the key. And you'll have to look inside ALL of the keys,(including the ones like {CC8BA866-16A7-4667-BA0C-C494A1E7B2BF}, and find the ones with the DisplayName that equals what you want to remove.

[blindhelpfultech]

or you could try revo uninstaller: a link to the program is:http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Uninstallers/Revo-Uninstaller.shtml its a old one but the program is still the same and it is now freeware.
Completely Uninstall Programs And More With Revo Uninstaller


Don’t you hate it when you try to uninstall a program it either does not include an uninstaller or when using Add / Remove Programs in Windows, there are several traces of the software left?  It is definitely one of my bigger pet peeves … just check out my iTunes uninstall rant.  I came across a cool little program the other day that claims to do a much better job of uninstalling applications and all of the tidbits and left-overs associated with them.  Revo Uninstaller.
 
When first launching Revo the first thing I noticed were all of the additional features not included with Window’s Add / Remove utility. 

images with ardical found here:Completely Uninstall Programs And More With Revo Uninstaller


Don’t you hate it when you try to uninstall a program it either does not include an uninstaller or when using Add / Remove Programs in Windows, there are several traces of the software left?  It is definitely one of my bigger pet peeves … just check out my iTunes uninstall rant.  I came across a cool little program the other day that claims to do a much better job of uninstalling applications and all of the tidbits and left-overs associated with them.  Revo Uninstaller.
 
When first launching Revo the first thing I noticed were all of the additional features not included with Window’s Add / Remove utility. 



Here I am going to show the process of uninstalling an unwanted toolbar from a Vista machine.  After double clicking the program you want to remove the familiar ‘are you sure’ message will pop up.
 


Now for the cool part!  Revo lets us choose how to uninstall the application using different mode levels.  Here I am going to choose the Advanced mode.  I don’t want a single trace of this toolbar left of my hard drive.  **Keep in mind that if you are on a domain, software information will still be kept in the AppData folder under your profile.**
 
 
 
Progress while scanning including the steps Revo is taking.
 


This is what I like to see the most … Scanning for leftover information!  This is the entire reason I really dig this application.
 


And here we are, it turns out this toolbar did indeed decide to leave some additional information in the registry.  If there were left over files or folders associated with the program it would show those as well.
 


Revo Uninstaller is available in multiple languages!
 


Other options you can tweak to your liking.  As you can see some features are not available in Vista but I am sure updates will include more features.

This application works on both Windows Vista and XP.  Other options include deleting your Internet browsing history, and deleting certain start up programs and services.  Oh!  And I didn’t even cover Hunter Mode!  I must say this is quite an impressive utility!  Download Revo Uninstaller.

Here I am going to show the process of uninstalling an unwanted toolbar from a Vista machine.  After double clicking the program you want to remove the familiar ‘are you sure’ message will pop up.

Now for the cool part!  Revo lets us choose how to uninstall the application using different mode levels.  Here I am going to choose the Advanced mode.  I don’t want a single trace of this toolbar left of my hard drive.  **Keep in mind that if you are on a domain, software information will still be kept in the AppData folder under your profile.**
 
Progress while scanning including the steps Revo is taking.

This is what I like to see the most … Scanning for leftover information!  This is the entire reason I really dig this application.

And here we are, it turns out this toolbar did indeed decide to leave some additional information in the registry.  If there were left over files or folders associated with the program it would show those as well.
 
Revo Uninstaller is available in multiple languages!
 
Other options you can tweak to your liking.  As you can see some features are not available in Vista but I am sure updates will include more features.
This application works on both Windows Vista and XP.  Other options include deleting your Internet browsing history, and deleting certain start up programs and services.  Oh!  And I didn’t even cover Hunter Mode!  I must say this is quite an impressive utility!  Download Revo Uninstaller.
Credit to: http://www.howtogeek.com/79926/completely-uninstall-programs-and-more-with-revo-uninstaller/ The text is in here but the images are not for those go to the link above

Best Regards,
Blindhelpfultech

[BC_Programmer]

This is what I like to see the most … Scanning for leftover information!  This is the entire reason I really dig this application.

Whoever wrote this (and I know it's copy-paste) is a fool. I have seen Revo Uninstaller cause more problems than malware. And we aren't talking about tiny issues, We're talking about  things like completely unbootable machines that hang at the splash screen, and after finally being coaxed to start, constant crashes from any application, in safe mode... all because somebody had the audacity to use the tool to uninstall their printer. Or any software that happens to require the addition of entries in CurrentControlSet. The official byline to this is essentially "Be careful using our program". Which is basically am admission that it will cause more problems than it solves, outside the very basic "just remove the icon" which essentially means using the program as nothing more than a fancy shell around a basic registry edit.

By the way, the problem is, if I understood correctly, that the entries exist in Add/Remove, while their files don't. Not necessarily that they won't uninstall.

As I stated, though, If the entries exist in Add/Remove than there are registry keys being enumerated, regardless of how strongly one might say otherwise.

[blindhelpfultech]

i SAID that it was copied and pasted never created any isses on my computer or many others I am sorry you can help 100% then I am wishing you luck and I will not be helpping or trying to in this part

[blindhelpfultech]

I am sorry then for using something that has worked for me, but disregard what I said and go with his thoughts

[blindhelpfultech]

Whoever wrote this (and I know it's copy-paste) is a fool. I have seen Revo Uninstaller cause more problems than malware. And we aren't talking about tiny issues, We're talking about  things like completely unbootable machines that hang at the splash screen, and after finally being coaxed to start, constant crashes from any application, in safe mode... all because somebody had the audacity to use the tool to uninstall their printer. Or any software that happens to require the addition of entries in CurrentControlSet. The official byline to this is essentially "Be careful using our program". Which is basically am admission that it will cause more problems than it solves, outside the very basic "just remove the icon" which essentially means using the program as nothing more than a fancy shell around a basic registry edit.

By the way, the problem is, if I understood correctly, that the entries exist in Add/Remove, while their files don't. Not necessarily that they won't uninstall.

As I stated, though, If the entries exist in Add/Remove than there are registry keys being enumerated, regardless of how strongly one might say otherwise.

in other words this website I will not be using again STAY AWAY FROM www.howtogeek.com I thought their content was their own but it seems not thanks for the information on that I am going to be learning from you from here on out

[BC_Programmer]

in other words this website I will not be using again STAY AWAY FROM www.howtogeek.com I thought their content was their own but it seems not thanks for the information on that I am going to be learning from you from here on out

I meant <YOU> copy-pasted it. I didn't say that was bad, I meant that my "fool" comment wasn't pointed at you, but the original author.

[blindhelpfultech]

all right thanks for info :_

[emptypockets62426]

Sorry it took so long to post back, but this old heifer got the better

of me so I cleaned her craw out and did a System Recovery.  Optical

drive letters were missing, would boot into Windows and sit for 3-4

minutes before desktop icons would show up, etc.

Many thanks to everyone who offered help.

[blindhelpfultech]

Sorry it took so long to post back, but this old heifer got the better

of me so I cleaned her craw out and did a System Recovery.  Optical

drive letters were missing, would boot into Windows and sit for 3-4  You got it working ?

minutes before desktop icons would show up, etc.

Many thanks to everyone who offered help.

[Allan]

blindhelpfultech - What's the purpose of your post?

[blindhelpfultech]

blindhelpfultech - What's the purpose of your post?

Sorry sir I missed the text Allon I was going to say something I forgot now. but it did not end up making it in the right window when I was using my internet. I am truley sorry can you edit a post after you make a mistake like that with out having to create another post?