When an Unwanted Program Lacks an Uninstaller

Sports03 has programs on his Start menu he doesn't want, but they have no uninstallers. He asked the Answer Line forum what to do.

First you need to find out if you have a program you don't want, or just a shortcut. To find out, just launch it. If all you get is an error message, it's just a shortcut.

Getting rid of it is just as easy: Delete that shortcut.

But what if a real program loads? If it lacks an uninstaller, removing it won't be easy.

Does it really lack an uninstaller? To make sure, you should look for one both in the program's Start menu submenu and in Control Panel's Add or Remove Programs applet (Programs and Features in Vista).

Okay. There really isn't an uninstaller.

Try to find a solution on the Web. Go to your favorite search engine and look for the program name, the version number, and the word uninstall. If that yields nothing, try remove. Hopefully, you'll find some instructions.

If not, you'll have to remove it manually. Follow this six-step process:

1) Back up your registry. Something horrible may happen in the next five steps, so be prepared. See Back Up Your Registry for instructions.

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