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How to remove program from the list of installed programs. Some of the time we get in a situation where we do not want to display the installed programme to be visible there in a add or remove. I've been trying to remove ErrorSmart from my computer. It's not the complete program, just a scan so it does not offer its own uninstall option. Windows said it was preparing to uninstall then I get the message: The system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation.
Sometimes even after you’ve uninstalled a program, its entry will remain listed in the Add or Remove Programs or Programs and Features list under currently installed programs in the Control Panel.
This is usually caused by a badly written program that doesn’t properly uninstall itself. The entry is not removed from the registry and therefore remains in the list. If you try to uninstall it again, you’ll most likely just get an error message.
Newer versions of Windows will detect this problem and actually ask you if you want to remove the entry, which is nice. However, if you’re still running Windows 7 or Vista or XP, you’ll still run into this problem.
Remove Stuck Programs – Registry
Luckily, there is an easy way to manually remove these stuck entries from the list. It requires some registry editing, so be sure to make a backup of your registry first in case you mess something up.
To open the registry, click on Start and type in regedit. Now navigate to the following registry key and expand it.
You’ll see quite a few entries listed, some of which have friendly names and some that have a really long identifier.
You can easily identify the programs with the long identifier by just clicking on it and looking for DisplayName at the right. In the above example, you can see one of them is for a program called VMware Tools.
Find the program that is stuck in your program list and then right-click on it in the left-hand menu and choose Delete.
Now you might be wondering why all the programs you have listed under Programs and Features are not showing up under this registry key? The reason is because you might have 32-bit programs installed on a 64-bit version of Windows.
For all of these programs, you need to navigate to the following registry key where you will probably find a lot more entries:
Here, for example, you will find all the entries for Java, if you have that installed. You’ll also find a bunch of entries for Microsoft Office, if you have the 32-bit version installed. Again, just right-click on the entry and choose Delete to remove it.
Lastly, if the program was installed via a .MSI package, which might be the case in corporate environments, you also should check this registry key:
You’ll need to restart your computer and then open up the list of programs in Control Panel to see the changes. It should hopefully be gone.
Microsoft Fix It Solution
If you don’t want to mess around with the registry yourself, Microsoft has a free Fix It tool you can download that specifically deals with this issue of programs that cannot be completely uninstalled.
The program will run on Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.1. It does not work on Windows 10, but hopefully you should never have this issue on Windows 10.
Third-Party Tools
Finally, there is one other way to go about fixing this problem and that is using third-party tools. One of my favorite programs for cleaning up the registry is CCleaner because it’s super safe to use. It’s actually the only program I recommend for fixing problems in the Windows registry.
Hopefully, using one of the methods above, you will be able to clear out any entries that were refusing to go away! If you have any questions, feel free to comment. Enjoy!
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Note: You may be prompted for an administrative login to uninstall a program.
Using the Add/RemovePrograms
control panel
Windows 8
For help navigating, see Get around in Windows.
- From the Start screen or apps list, right-click or swipe the appand choose Uninstall.
- If you are uninstalling an app from the Windows Store, clickUninstall.If you are uninstalling a desktop app, the
Programs andFeatures
will appear. Select the appropriate app and clickUninstall.
Windows 7
- From the Start menu, select Control Panel.
- In Large or Small icon view, click Programs andFeatures. If you're using Category view, under 'Programs', clickUninstall a program.
- Select the program you want to remove, and clickUninstall. Alternatively, right-click the program and selectUninstall.
Windows Vista
- From the Start menu, select Control Panel.
- In Classic View, double-click Programs and Features. InControl Panel Home view, under 'Programs', click Uninstall aprogram.
- Select the program you want to remove, and click Uninstall.Alternatively, right-click the program and select Uninstall.
Windows XP in default XP view
- From the Start Menu, select ControlPanel.
- Click the Add or Remove Programs icon.
- Select the program you wish to remove and click Remove.
Windows XP in Classic View
- From the Start menu, select Settings, and thenControl Panel.
- Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
- Select the program you wish to remove and clickAdd/Remove.
Using an uninstall program
Many programs have an uninstall option. To look for such an option:
- From the Start menu, select Programs or AllPrograms.
- Find the folder for the program you wish to uninstall and highlight it.
- In many cases, on the menu that appears, you will see an uninstalloption.
Other options
If the program has neither its own uninstall program, nor a listing in the
Add/RemovePrograms
control panel, you mighttry installing it again, and then trying to uninstall it viathe Add/Remove Programs
control panel.If all the above suggestions fail, call the technical support numberfor the program and ask how you can uninstall it, or contact your campusSupport Center.