I installed an app called Smartboard 2000 (a clipboard utility) in Windows 10. It had worked in WinXP, but gave me problems in Win 10, so I want to uninstall it.
When I go to Programs & Features, select the app & choose uninstall, I get this message:
When I go to it's folder & choose unwise.exe, I get this message:
How can I make sure I completely uninstall it, including any registry keys?
Thank you in advance,
Hi, you can try
1. Using a system restore point to restore your system. That's assuming you have one and it completes successfully- it is known to fail often. It won't do any harm- just not complete.
2. Using a 3rd party uninstaller. (I use one routinely).
In this case Revo and Geek (free versions) won't help, as they don't support 'forced uninstall'. (That's where you browse to e.g. the program's exe file and let them scan and remove). Only the paid versions do - and thyey support monitored installs too.
I suggest you try this free uninstaller - which I seem to recall does let you do a forced uninstall.
Wise Program Uninstaller - Uninstall, Remove or Force Uninstall Programs Completely
Check everything carefully- there's usually a display of what's to be removed.
3. I suppose you might try rt clicking unwise.exe, Troubleshoot compatibility, and see what happens. I've never tried that when uninstalling.
Install it again then uninstall it - that trick sometimes works.
Thank you for your response. I installed this program a couple years ago, so I don't have an earlier system restore.
I tried this, but although my program, Smartboard 2000 (a clipboard extender) was listed, it didn't remove everything on forced install. It removed \AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Oakley\SmartBoard32, but didn't remove C:\Program Files (x86)\Oakley\SmartBoard32. I was using True Image's Try & Decide, so I was able to get back to where I was before I tried forced uninstall.
Tried that & nothing happened...same message that I originally posted.
Funny, when I searched the registry (using RegmagiK32 or Regedit or Registrar Registry Manager) for Oakley or Smartboard, it only gave me results for the search string...i.e. as if it was never installed. But I was able to find it under Current User\Software\Oakley
so I'm a little confused why I couldn't find it at first in the registry.
I appreciate your help, as usual! I wonder what would happen if I just deleted all the Oakley folders & the Oakley registry key.
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Thanks for your reply. Funny, I can't find the install program. I'll have to search my other computer.
The Wise program should allow you to browse to any folder where you then select an exe belonging to the program. In these circumstances there is no guarantee of it finding every part of a more complex program.
It may take more than one run.
Naturally you can try to search for every part of the program. O&O regedit is great for searhcing the registry as it will search the whole registry and list all results. Free.
O&O RegEditor
Then a fast find tool such as Everything by void tools or Ultrasearch or Locate32 (all free) can help find folders.
Hope it's some help. Otherwise I have Revo 3 Pro and Geek Uninstaller (free) which I use routinely.
Thank you for this. I will try again.
Thanks for this too. It did find entries, but something is strange. When I selected My Computer & searched for Oakley, it returned 22 results, all in HKLM & HKU. However, if I selected HKCU in the left navigation pane, it returns only the 13 entries in HKCU. I understand the latter result, but I don't know why the first search doesn't return 13+22=35 entries.
I have Everything by Void Tools. You recommended that to me a couple years ago.
There's been times where I have properly uninstalled a program but a Folder was left behind and simply deleting it worked. The key was that right-clicking and Delete would either allow it or not. If it was not allowed it usually meant cleaning up the Registry to remove traces of the program, does require care in doing so. Using Task Manager to End Task on any part of the program still running and rebooting can help.
Thanks to everyone. I downloaded the Wise Uninstaller, ran a forced uninstall twice. Then deleted the empty folders. I searched the registry (using Registry Editor) & deleted the single empty key.
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