Pros & Cons
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- Removes leftover traces of failed security product uninstallations that can keep you from upgrading or installing a different product.
- Free.
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- Supported the uninstallation of only two-thirds of test products.
- Fully uninstalled just half of those; left several running.
- WMI-only support for some programs will confuse users.
AppRemover 1.5 Specs
| Free: | Yes |
| OS Compatibility: | Windows Vista |
| OS Compatibility: | Windows XP |
| Tech Support: | email and forum |
| Type: | Personal |
It happens all the time. You get fed up with your antivirus or
At present AppRemover handles 605 specific products and versions, and the list (found at http://www.appremover.com/supported.html) is growing. The utility requires no installation: You could run it from a USB key if desired, and it's a snap to use. Scan for supported products, check off those in the list of found products that need cleanup, and turn AppRemover loose on them. Done!
Sometimes you can't uninstall (or even turn off) the security software because you've lost the master password that permits that level of control. AppRemover claims it can help even in this situation for many products. That's rather impressive. I routinely attack security suites in ways that malware might, shutting down their essential services, killing their processes, and so on. Most suites successfully resist these attacks. In order to uninstall a security product without permission, AppRemover has to get past these defenses.
Degrees of Support
You do need to pay attention to the details in AppRemover's list of found products, because there are different degrees of support. Full support is best: It means AppRemover should be able to clean up all traces. WMI-only support is much more limited. WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) is the interface that security software uses to keep the Windows Security Center informed of its status. Sometimes using a program's uninstaller can leave behind erroneous WMI information. For products with WMI-only support AppRemover can clean up that leftover WMI data. It can't, however, uninstall these products or even clean up most of their file and Registry traces. .
The only difference in AppRemover's display between a fully supported product and one with the limited WMI-only support is that "WMI" appears before the line identifying the vendor. That's a problem. I had no idea at first what the WMI meant, so I thought AppRemover was failing miserably in testing. OPSWAT needs to emphasize the distinction between full support and WMI-only support. If you do try to remove an installed application for which only WMI support is available, AppRemover will wipe out the WMI data without affecting the product. You'll immediately get a warning from Security Center that your system has no antivirus support. Fortunately, when you reboot the system, the still-running security product will restore its WMI data so that Windows knows it's still alive.
You'll also run into some programs that AppRemover recognizes but can't yet remove. The product list displays these apps, but grays them out and won't let you select them for removal. Finally, AppRemover may not see your particular "stuck" security program at all. In that case, you can click a button to report the issue to OPSWAT, including some nonpersonal system information that may help them resolve the problem.—
Real-World Testing
This is a tough product to test. It would be great to try it on systems with real-world installation problems stemming from incomplete security product uninstallation. Finding one such system would be tough, though, and I'd need dozens for a proper test. I also considered an exhaustive approach. I could use PC Armor to record exactly what file and Registry changes a product's installation made. Then I'd uninstall it and note what traces remain. Finally I'd run AppRemover and see if it cleaned up all the leftovers. Nice idea, but it would take vastly more time than I can devote to testing this little utility.
I settled on testing AppRemover's ability to clear out a fully installed security product. It is supposed to have that ability, after all. Fortunately I retain installed copies of the latest security suites and anti-malware products stored in virtual machines. I simply fired up each of two dozen virtual machines, launched AppRemover, and put it through its paces. If AppRemover showed just WMI support I stopped right there: It's not promising to do anything with an application that hasn't been uninstalled. For the rest I let it do the job and then did my best to verify that it was successful.
AppRemover couldn't handle a third of the two dozen samples I tried. It didn't recognize
In every case, the program reported success at the end of the process, but the report wasn't always true. I found that only eight of the samples were totally removed, meaning all files deleted. This group included suites from
With the remaining four samples, AppRemover totally flopped. [links to all]
AppRemover is a great concept. Its list of supported products is substantial and covers many of the major players. Still, it doesn't support every security product, and it can't yet fully uninstall all the products it does support. Users may be confused by its limited WMI-only support for some products. But hey, it's tiny, it's free, and it couldn't hurt. If you find yourself unable to switch or upgrade your security software because of flotsam and jetsam left over from a failed uninstall, you should definitely give AppRemover a try.
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Final Thoughts
AppRemover 1.5
AppRemover aims to clean up traces of old security products that keep you from installing a new one. It doesn't support uninstallation of every product and doesn't successfully clean out all those it does support. Still, give it a try if you're vexed by "stuck" security. It's free, it's lightweight, and it couldn't hurt.