Is an Uninstaller Needed?



Posted: Wednesday, November 25, 2009

by
http://www.betterexercisenfitness.com

Uninstallers, such as Perfect Uninstaller, are PC programs whose purpose is to delete all the parts of a specific program.  Many software specific program removers' leave behind remnant files.  Don't believe me, download a third party uninstaller that provides a free scan, execute the scan, and notice how many files have been left behind on your PC.

Most business software vendors ship an uninstaller with their applications, but these program removers commonly lack completeness.  The predicament with the program specific uninstall capability is that this capability is usually built at the end of the program development cycle when the programmers are in a hurry to conclude their testing to get the product out the door. Additionally, as software gets more complicated and often integrate 3rd party components, many of these components are forgotten about by the programmers and without time to thoroughly test the uninstaller utility they leave remnants behind when the application is deleted.  Application development companies don't care about the quality of the uninstaller's capability because they make their money on the application install and use. The uninstall feature is generally an after thought.

With Internet access widely available, many PC users download freeware programs.  Consumers should be cautious only to get applications from known sources given that many free programs might be adware programs disguised as nifty utilities.  Additionally, many shareware programs can come bundled with all types of add-ons, which are purposefully left behind on the users computer even though the main program is removed.  These bits and pieces continue to litter the computer hard drive and, in many cases, are still executing in the background and slow down the computer's operation.

The elements of an uninstaller typically have the following:
- Uninstaller:  The uninstaller reverses the changes that the program made during installation.  The uninstaller program is the workhorse of the program and uses records collected through the logger and analyzer to resolve what files and registry entries need to be removed.  Since the primary functions of an uninstaller software are well understood inside the software community, the algorithms and monitor / detection mechanisms used by uninstalling programs is now what differentiates commercial uninstallers from each other.

- Logger: The logger observes which registry entries and files were changed and added when an application is installed (i.e., it logs what happens during installation).  This log profile is used later when the computer user wants to delete the application and revert the computer to state before the installation.

- Analyzer: The analyzer feature is where many shareware programs fall short.  When the software was installed earlier than the third party uninstaller was bought, the uninstall application relies on the analyzer function to read through the system files and registry to find out where the programs components are located and are their any other programs that use those components.  If another application is not using these files then you would like to remove them.  If other applications need the same system file then it is best to leave it alone.

- Supplementary capabilities:  With so many standalone uninstallers in the market, many applications have started to differentiate themselves with complementary add on functions like junk file cleaner, browser history cleaner, browser cache cleaner, etc.  These tools are not exactly related to the central uninstaller utility, but are add-ons to enhance the end users experience by providing additional hard drive cleaning capability.

Perfect Uninstaller, a popular uninstall application, includes the uninstaller, logger, and analyzer features in addition to many additional add on cleaner utilities.

For more pc performance improvements and learn about Perfect Uninstaller's features, go to www.pccheckit.com

This Article has been viewed 92 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.