Asked By
Dom Murphy
200 points
N/A
Posted on - 06/26/2011
Hi there,
Okay, so I am currently doing a program check on my Vista computer. I need to clear up some space on my hard drive. I suddenly noticed a program that really eats up a lot of space.
In this regard, I would like to uninstall the program, however, it tells me that the program is currently in use and that I have to close it first. Everything was closed and even double checked it in task manager, but would not be uninstalled still.
Kindly help.
I cannot uninstall a program
So you want to uninstall your computer program in Window Vista this might give you a solution.
"HOW TO UNINSTALL A PROGRAM IN WINDOW VISTA".
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Click "Start " button then click the "Computer".
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Click the Add program or change.
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Click the program you want to remove then click uninstall. Click YES if it prompts you to confirm that you really want to uninstall.
"HOW TO REMOVE UNWANTED PROGRAM".
1. Try to remove many times the program with "ADD/REMOVE Program" before trying something else. Sometimes in other reasons a program needs a little kind of convincing to be remove itself. Also be aware that for some kind of larger programs and even smaller ones removal can takes some minutes. If nothing happened don't worry, let the process go until you have get a message saying the removable has failed.
2. Exit "ADD/REMOVE program" and go to the "My Computer"access it from "Start Menu"then access Drive C, then to "Program Files." You may see "Program Files" and another name "Program Files(x86)" that means you have to repeat step three twice in both locations to find want you've been looking for.
3. Then look for the program files in the "Program Files" folder and "Program Files(x86)" folder if you have that. The folder names are often a manufacturer names and not a program name, which can make finding difficult, so try to search the program if you can't find it. In the upper right corner you will see a search bar use it.
4. Locate your program in "Program Files" folder and navigate in there. In the main folder,you could find a file "uninstall.exe" or something similar to "unins000.exe". Some larger kind of programs will have a more complex file structure and you may have to go hunting for this kind of file. You can do a kind of search like the one describe in the previous step to speed up the kind of process and once you've seen this file then double click it and it will take you to the uninstall process. If still this wont work to uninstall the program or you cant find that file then move on to the next steps.
5. Navigate the back out program's folder so that you can find yourself in the main "Program Files" or "Program Files(x86)" folder. At this moment the best you can do is remove the program files. This may leave files to the other places or reference on the programs registry, but at least it remove the so called bulk of the program's files. Locate the program were you found the program, and double check to make sure it's the one and lastly delete it.
Answered By
lee hung
75 points
N/A
#111331
I cannot uninstall a program
Hi Dom,
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You may be dealing with a Virus, a worm or some other a windows component.
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First you have to make sure that the file you want to delete is not a necessary component in Windows. This is important because you wouldn't want to delete something that is needed by your computer to operate. Doing so may crash the computer and you'll end up with more problems.
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If you can tell us what the file is, then we'll be able to help you check it. On the other hand, you may simply Google the file and find out what it is and check if it is safe to delete.
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If during your search you find that it is indeed a virus, then run a full virus scan. There are chances that what you see is only a part of the entire virus. Worms are known to replicate itself to an unknown number of times and use your email program to send itself to other people especially the ones in your address book or contacts.
A sure way to see the viruses or other malicious software is to run the full scan in Safe Mode.
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Restart the computer.
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Press F8 a few times to open the Windows Advanced Options Menu.
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Choose Safe Mode.
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Scan.
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Delete.
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Reboot.
If you know where the program is located, you may also use some online scanners. Having more than 1 opinion when it comes to viruses is always better since some viruses can be detected by one antivirus but not by another, especially the new viruses and other malware.
For these online scanners, all you have to do is upload the file. Other online scanner websites use Java to scan your whole computer. The scanning may several minutes. It would be ideal to close other application programs running while the scan is in progress.
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You can also use a third party deleting tool called the File ASSASSINÂ from Malwarebyte's Antimalware.
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This tool can delete files even though they are being used. Also, Malwarebyte's Antimalware is a great utility to have. It can detect plenty of malicious software that anti viruses can’t.
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You can get the anti-malware which comes with the File Assassin:
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www.malwarebytes.org
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Or just the File Assassin here:
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www.malwarebytes.org/products/fileassassin/
