Time Saving Tuesday
Have you ever installed a program and decided later on that you didn’t want it anymore? The natural thing is to uninstall it, but it never seems like Windows removes every trace of the application. I’ve been in this situation quite a few times, but thanks to Tinhed over in the forum, I won’t be having so many troubles anymore.
He pointed out a free program called Revo Uninstaller that is kind of the all-in-one suite for keeping your computer clean. After trying it out on Windows Vista, (it works on Windows 2000 and newer) I have to say that it is an impressive application. It not only uninstalled software and notified me of the “leftovers,” but it also let me manage the applications that start with Windows as well as cleanup some of the other junk on my computer.
–Uninstaller–
This is really the shining point of Revo so I saw it fitting to cover it first. When you go to uninstall a program, Revo begins scanning your computer looking for the files that were created during the installation process for the application:
After the scanning is complete (normally about 15 to 30 seconds later) the application’s uninstaller will launch. You’ll go ahead and proceed through that just like normal, but after it is done you need to finish the process by pressing the “Scan After Uninstall” button:
And now this is where the magic happens! Revo will present you with a simple interface that lists everything (both files and registry items) that the uninstaller left over. All you have to do is check the items that you want to remove and hit the “Delete” button. Boy does this beat having to monitor the installation of every program!
–Hunter–
If you’ve got a huge list of programs that are installed, it might be easier to use Revo’s “Hunter” option. With that it puts a crosshair cursor on your desktop for you to drag around. All you have to do is drop it on a link, Taskbar item, or System Tray icon:
After you do that you’ll be presented with a variety of actions you can take, including uninstalling the target application:
–Manager & Tools–
The good news is that you don’t even know half of what Revo does yet. It also has a manager for the items that startup with your computer, and a nice central location to access some of the most important Control Panel options.
–Cleanup–
Cleaning up your computer’s history is just a few clicks away. In Revo if you head over to the Track Cleaner you’ll be able to clear your browser’s history (Firefox, IE, Netscape, and Opera), delete temporary files, and wipe clean the recently opened documents for both Windows and Office.
There is also an “Unrecoverable Delete Tool” that makes sure that files and folders you delete are gone forever, and an “Evidence Remover” that makes the files you’ve previously deleted unrecoverable. These two items are good to use for important documents and files that aren’t meant for others to see. After all, we’ve already seen the free tools that make recovering deleted files easy.
–Overview–
I’m not sure about you, but this is one of the applications that I’m amazed is offered for free. It has an extensive feature set that really keeps your computer clean, and I don’t think there is anyway that you would put this one on the backburner once you install it.
This is just one of the hundreds of CyberNotes we have done. You can find more of them by visiting our CyberNotes category, or by subscribing to our CyberNotes feed. We also have a full feed available if you want to receive all of our articles in your reader!
Tags: CyberNotes, Freeware, Software, Applications, Browser, Netscape, Opera, Windows Vista
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Find of the year for me Ryan :D. I am glad u added this wonderful application here.
Wow, that looks pretty cool. I’m not downloading it right now, but It definitely warrants the cybermark
Wow nice find, will be using this one at work for sure.
Glad you guys like it…and kudos to Tinhed for the amazing freeware find!
I can’t help but wondering how these guys make money…
Me too, but this could be some secondary company of theirs that they do just for fun.
I just started using this yesterday and I think it’s great.
My personal favorite part about this is the startup manager. For some reason Dell Support was always starting up at startup, but it wasn’t in the start menu under startup OR in the startup section in msconfig…but this program nailed it so it won’t start at startup anymore :).
I use Spybot S&D for my startup editing
I either use Revo, MSConfig, or Windows Defender to modify startup items. I like Windows Defender the best because it provides the most details about each item.
Spybot has some pretty full details
Just downloaded it and used it and LOVE IT!
I wish I could get rid of traces of programs I already deleted though 
I must say I only heard about this app a few weeks ago - it really is great, works well and is free.
cheers,
- Goldcoaster
its is class man because it not only uninstall but also it removes registry entry
Nice find Ryan. While Revo is indeed a class act for uninstallers; for startup management I prefer RunScanner which can be found at http://www.runscanner.net/ or Autoruns which can be found at http://technet.microsoft.com/e.....63902.aspx
Before finding Revo I was using MyUninstaller from Nirsoft which can be found at http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/myuninst.html While not as advanced as Revo, it still comes in handy under certain circumstances. Another program I know of is ZSoft Uninstaller which can be found at http://www.zsoft.dk/index/software_details/4 It might be another program to review at some point. Thanks.
We actually have reviewed ZSoft Uninstaller
http://cybernetnews.com/2007/0.....allations/