Uninstalling Comodo - Best third party uninstallers and registry cleaners

[Guest]

[Kirkx]

I have no intention of permanently uninstalling Comodo, but I like to do clean install of all new software versions to keep registry and folder tree as clean as possible.

I have just studied two threads about uninstalling CFP v2.4 and CF v3. There were a few useful third party tools mentioned, but as some of those posts are from 2007 I'm not sure about current ratings.

1) Revo Uninstaller. This uninstaller is still rated #1 on many tech forums. I use it first in Moderate mode and clean out all items, then I go back to Advanced mode and analyze every item, if I don't see a familiar name, like Comodo, CFP, cmdagent, cmdguard, cmdhlp, I won't delete it. I've been using the free version, but a paid Pro version has the real time installation monitoring module and can also remove traces of previously uninstalled programs, so it might be a better deal.

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

2) Zsoft Uninstaller. It's free and just like Revo Pro it offers real time installation monitoring (so if you later decide to uninstall a program, ZSoft will work in reverse and remove all the traces except entries added after the installation, related to configuration settings, logs, etc). I have never used this program, not sure if it's worth trying it out or better just pay for Revo Pro.

http://www.zsoft.dk/index/software_details/4

3) jv16 Power Tools. Of all the tools ($30), registry cleaner looks promising, according to their website it scores far better than other popular cleaners:

http://www.macecraft.com/registry_cleaner_comparison2/

[Beanie]

For uninstalling, use Revo. You don't need the paid version, since the free one scans for associated files and registry keys during the uninstallation process.

Beanie

[Kirkx]

Algorithms are used for all the scans, but no algorithm will be 100% perfect in this case. Here is the quote about Real-Time Installation Monitor from Revo's website:

"This feature is very powerful because by monitoring system changes during the installation, we eliminate all the scanning algorithms when we need to uninstall that program and nevertheless we can still use these algorithms but in another feature called Forced Uninstall."

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_uninstall_features.html

[EricJH]

You can also use this unofficial clean up tool.

[Kirkx]

Thanks, Eric. Another tool added to my arsenal.

[Kirkx]

If you're interested I can post some other tweaks toward this beauty [Zsoft] that has kept my system clean

Please post the tweaks, when you have time. I'm actually trying the paid version of Revo now and may try Zsoft as well.

Going through all configuration settings just after installation seems to be common approach, this is how it's explained in Revo's help file too. The only problem is that you usually need to modify some settings later on, after using a program for a while, reading up more, testing, etc. Also, I like to take screenshots of all settings windows with ImageShack's Quickshot, which means running another software, and it that case Revo/Zsoft trace monitor should be turned off (these screenshots are very helpful, you can clean reinstall a new version of a program and then redo 10 configuration windows in a few minutes).

I installed the paid Revo and jv16 Power Tools. The Registry Cleaner module of jv16 found and fixed over 1000 entries, so it really seems far ahead of Registry Mechanic and Easy Cleaner that I have used so far. For compacting the registry hives I will probably stick with the free NT Registry Optimizer, it automatically shows Restart button, the feature missing in jv16 Registry Compactor. Most compactors are probably ok.

http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/index.htm

[Kirkx]

Thanks a lot for the tips, I will try Zsoft Uninstaller on the second computer. Revo Pro installed on the main machine works like a charm. You can use it just to see all the files and registry changes after the installation, without actually uninstalling anything, just run "uninstall" in "custom" mode, analyze everything and then hit cancel button:

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/7664/12292009080200.png

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6543/12292009081404.png

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/1530/12292009080431.png

PS: my observation in previous post that Revo or jv16 dumped 1 GB of files on drive "C" was incorrect. I restored drive "C" from the older disk image and the difference in size turned out only 110 MB. I edited the post and removed that part.

[Kirkx]

JV16 registry cleaner messed up my Gavotte RAM Disk, I ended up having BSOD every day.

Gavotte in this configuration is a bit experimental, so you can't really blame Jv16. The RAM disk is setup to access non-addressable RAM using 36 bit PAE extensions, so for instance, your 32-bit Windows XP with 4 GB of physical RAM, 768 MB RAM disk and several applications running will show 2.7 GB of free memory.

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