How To Uninstall Programs manually if not appearing in Add/Remove

Description:

It sometimes happens that you want to remove an application but it doesn't appear in the normal Add/Remove listing.

When you run across one of these situations the items listed below will help in getting rid of the application. Be aware that these steps may not remove everything associated with the application and can impact other applications on the computer. Have a backup or restore point and use caution.

Open task manager and check that none of the processes for the application are running (and if they are end them)

Find the directory for the application and delete all the files in the directory. Delete the directory.

Open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE and find the folder for the application. Delete the folder.

Open regedit and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE and find the folder for the application. Delete the folder.

To remove the application entry from Add/Remove Programs (if present) open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion\Uninstall and find the folder for the application. Delete the folder.

Some applications have Services attached to them. If this is the case, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services, locate and delete the service.

In Windows Explorer, navigate to the individual user settings and delete program references. Common places to check would be:


C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs and delete relevant
entries.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup and delete
relevant entries.

C:\Documents and Settings\%YourUserID%\Start Menu\Programs and delete
relevant entries. [Do this for each User ID listed]

C:\Documents and Settings\%YourUserID%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup and
delete relevant entries. [Do this for each User ID listed]

If no entries were found in the previous step and the application launches automatically, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows and delete the entry.