Remove 11 November 2005 Version 4.0 Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Webdesign Mika Salonen software@mikasalonen.com http://www.mikasalonen.com ======================================================================= INTRODUCTION ======================================================================= Remove offers you a better way to uninstall programs you no longer want on your computer. Remove is a small but full-featured uninstaller and unique program for removing applications and entries from the Windows Add/Remove applet in the Control Panel. In addition to the standard uninstall option, it also allows you to remove, modify, and backup obsolete and other program entries. Remove will uninstall hidden programs and remove their entries as well. With a couple of clicks, you can easily get rid of all unnecessary applications, partially uninstalled software, and entries. WHY USING REMOVE? The standard Windows uninstall feature, the Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel, is a pretty common way to uninstall software. It is also known that it does not show all installed software and has difficulties with deleting the program entries. It is unable to remove the software completely. In such cases, run utilities like Remove. It is a powerful Add/Remove Programs list replacement and much more. No gimmicks here, Remove says goodbye to your unwanted software and program entries - shown or hidden - and makes it possible to restore one or more program entries already removed from the Add/Remove Programs program list. The newest version of Remove is able to highlight your phantom program entries. If the uninstaller for a particular program cannot be found, Remove highlights the program entry in red and helps you to know which entries should be removed. Deleting invalid entries could not be easier! REMOVE, UNINSTALL, BACKUP, MODIFY, AND RESTORE SHOWN AND HIDDEN PROGRAMS AND ENTRIES When comparing Remove with other uninstallers and Add/Remove Programs list cleaners, it is easy to notice that Remove can uninstall and remove much, much more software and entries. In fact, it is more powerful than its competitors because Remove has a great, unique feature: removing hidden programs and entries! Remove allows you to uninstall software which is installed on your computer but displayed nowhere in the Add/Remove Programs list. In addition to that, when removing entries by accident you can still get them back. Remove has powerful backup features. ======================================================================= SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ======================================================================= The following is a list of the Remove system requirements: - Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP operating system - less than 1 MB free hard disk space - file MSCOMCTL.OCX (version 6.01.9782 or later) - file MSVBVM60.DLL (version 6.00.9782 or later) ======================================================================= INSTALLATION AND UNINSTALLATION ======================================================================= Before installing Remove on your computer, it is good to create a new folder (C:\REMOVE, for example). After that use software such as WinZip to unzip the package REMOVE40.ZIP to the folder you just created. Run REMOVE.EXE. To uninstall the program, delete Remove's folder, all its contents, and shortcuts you have created. ======================================================================= USING THE PROGRAM ======================================================================= The user interface of Remove is very simple and user-friendly. In fact, the main window consists of the menubar and two separate parts which are "Remove/Uninstall Programs" and "Restore Removed Entries". INVALID, PHANTOM, AND OBSOLETE PROGRAM ENTRIES IN RED The newest version of Remove is able to highlight your phantom program entries. If the uninstaller for a particular program no longer exists on your computer, Remove highlights the program entry in red. In other words, the entries which should be removed or have something wrong with their uninstaller locations, will be displayed in red. The normal entries which do not have incorrect uninstaller locations, missing files, and things like that are still listed in black. USER-FRIENDLY APPLICATION NAMES If you want the user interface to be even more user-friendly, make sure that you have turned on the new "User-Friendly Application Names" option from the "View" menu. It is recommend to use the user-friendly application names because of two reasons. First of all, Remove will then be easier and more secure to use. On the other hand, Remove will display more program version numbers by protecting your program entries. When you are using user-friendly application names, you are allowed to modify less program entries than normally. If you want to modify more program entries, you should turn off the "User-Friendly Application Names". Then Remove will run faster, too. REMOVING ENTRIES WITH AN AUTOMATIC BACKUP FEATURE When using Remove, it is very easy and fast to remove your invalid Add/Remove Programs entries. This tiny application allows you to remove all those unwanted entries with a click of a mouse button. Just go to the "Remove/Uninstall Programs" part of the program and choose one entry to be removed. Once the program has been chosen, just right-click it and select "Remove Entry". Remove will remove the entry from the Add/Remove Programs list and backup the entry allowing you to restore it later. RESTORING AND DELETING REMOVED PROGRAM ENTRIES If you regret and would like to undo your last or any other remove actions, just activate the "Restore Removed Entries" tab. There you will see a complete list of all the programs you already have removed from the Add/Remove Programs list with Remove. To get your entry back to the system registry, go and right-click the application you wish to be restored and select "Restore Entry". You can delete a backup file by selecting it and choosing the menu command "Delete Backup". UNINSTALLING WINDOWS SOFTWARE To uninstall your programs, go to the "Remove/Uninstall Programs" section and select the program you wish to be uninstalled. Once the program has been chosen, right-click it, and finally select "Uninstall Application". When the uninstallation process ends successfully or fails, Remove will refresh its lists automatically. If the uninstaller cannot delete the program entry from the Add/Remove Programs list, Remove asks you if you want to delete it. It also takes a backup from the original entry information which you can restore by going to the "Restore Removed Entries" section and following the steps mentioned above. Before uninstalling your software, please note there are no undo or undelete commands available for restoring uninstalled programs! Anyway, you are able to restore the program entries you decided to remove from the Add/Remove Programs applet from the Control Panel. MODIFYING PROGRAM ENTRIES To modify the program entries, select one of the programs by right-clicking it. Select "Modify". Once the modify window has been opened, just modify the program name, uninstaller location, and/or program's version number. After finishing, click "OK" to save the changes you have made. There is also the checkbox "Backup the original data" and when you select it, Remove will backup the modified program entries. In other words, you will be able to restore the old values any time you wish. COPYING PROGRAM INFORMATION TO THE WINDOWS CLIPBOARD When you activate the "Remove/Uninstall Programs" tab and right-click list items, the context-menu opens and lets you copy program names, uninstaller locations, and version numbers to the Windows Clipboard if they are available. ======================================================================= HISTORY OF PROGRAM ======================================================================= Version 4.0 (11 November 2005) - fixed the known "run-time error 35603" bug which made it impossible to list programs with their numeric key values on the "Remove/Uninstall Programs" list - fixed a bug that caused problems when uninstalling and removing hidden programs right after the program list was refreshed - fixed a bug which prevented the unnamed deleted program entries to be restored and deleted completely - the program lists have a new column for version numbers - added tooltips for all program list items - when the "Remove/Uninstall Programs" tab is activated and you right-click one of the list items, the context-menu lets you copy program details to the Windows Clipboard - totally re-written the functions which list program entries, application names, uninstaller locations, version numbers, etc. (better support for Windows components and applications using InstallShield) - re-written the code which is used for modifying program entries (you are able to modify more entries and even version numbers of Windows applications and components installed on your computer) - the program entries will now be highlighted in red if they are phantom entries (e.g. uninstaller cannot be found) - added also a new "Phantom Program Entries in Bold" command to the "View" menu (choose this one and the red phantom program entries will be listed in bold) - because Remove is now able to display more user-friendly program names, there is a new "User-Friendly Application Names" command in the "View" menu (using friendly names is highly recommended because then Remove is easier to use and more version numbers can be displayed) - added a menu command to the "View" menu for displaying and hiding the status bar which was also added to Remove v4.0 - slightly modified the main window and its user interface - modified the program icon used in the "About Remove" window - the "Register" window tells you when the free trial version of Remove will expire or when it has expired - improved error handling - several minor improvements - corrected spelling mistakes and re-written several sections of Remove's documentation Version 3.1.2 (6 January 2005) - fixed an entry backup system bug which caused problems when modifying program entries (PLEASE NOTE: it is highly recommended that all users of Remove v3.0, v3.1, and v3.1.1 download and install this new version) - temporarily fixed a bug which caused the following error: "Run-time error 35603: Invalid key" - modified a couple of menu captions and the "About Remove" window - improved the registration system and "Register" window once again - corrected some spelling mistakes in the documentation and re-written several sections of it - the unregistered, fully functional trial version will expire after 30 calendar days Version 3.1.1 (12 September 2003) - fixed a bug which was found from the new registration system - fixed a minor bug when selecting list items - added support for Shift+F10 and the context key (you can use them with the lists on both tabs) - improved the message which you will see when an uninstallation process fails or is interrupted by you Version 3.1 (10 September 2003) - fixed a bug which prevented you from restoring deleted hidden program entries - fixed a couple of bugs which allowed you to uninstall, remove, and restore the same entries and programs twice (or at least try it) - fixed a minor error handling bug - added new features for making backups from the program entries without removing the entries (right-click the entry you wish to backup and select "Backup Entry") - all backups made by Remove can now be deleted (just right-click one of the deleted entries and select the command "Delete Backup") - if you decide to uninstall an application and the process is successful but the program entry cannot be deleted, Remove asks if you want to get rid of it and if you do, Remove will delete the entry and backup its original data automatically - totally re-written and optimized the code which is used for modifying program entries (better support for hidden programs and a new backup feature) - modified the user interface, main window's size and texts, Help and context menus, user prompts, "About Remove" window, etc. - merged both shown and hidden program entries into one program list (previous version had a separate list for hidden programs and their entries) - improved the registration system, including the "Register" window - the entry "InstallShield Uninstall Information" is not listed on the program list anymore - re-written the documentation Version 3.0 (16 July 2002) - fixed a bug which has caused unpleasant expiration problems to some unregistered users of Remove - added a new "Restore entry" menu command which restores the program entries already removed and deleted from the Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel - improved the user interface and program lists: gridlines added, full-row selection and re-ordering allowed - now Remove will automatically refresh the program lists when the uninstallation process fails or ends successfully - when you try to uninstall one of your programs with Remove and the uninstallation fails, Remove will ask whether or not you want to remove the programs entry from the Add/Remove Programs list - improved the error handling and user prompts - updated the whole documentation and copyright information - modified the "About Remove" and "Register" windows - the unregistered version will expire after 21 days - Remove requires the system library MSCOMCTL.OCX instead of COMCTL32.OCX which used to be required earlier Version 2.0 (17 February 2002) - fixed a couple of minor bugs - added a new feature for modifying the program entries - updated the author contact information and menu commands - updated the system requirements - updated some basic information of using the program - first final Shareware version Version 1.2 Freeware (7 August 2001) - when you right-click and select "Remove", you are prompted for whether or not you want to remove the program from the Add/Remove Programs part of the Control Panel - improved user interface (smaller main window) - updated the author contact information and menu commands - updated the system requirements - included some more information of using the program Version 1.1 Freeware (2 April 2000) - first public release ======================================================================= DISCLAIMER ======================================================================= The author of this program accepts no responsibility for damages that may be caused by this program and make no warranty or representation, either express or implied, with respect to this software. This software is provided "AS IS", and you, its user, assume the entire risk when you use it. THIS IS AN EVALUATION (TRIAL) VERSION OF THE SOFTWARE. You are allowed to use this program as a trial version for a maximum of 30 days from the day when you first try it. When the trial period expires, the program's functionality will be blocked. In order to continue using the program after your free 30-day trial period, you must purchase a license. After buying the license, you will acquire the right to use this program. ======================================================================= PURCHASING THE FULL VERSION AND REGISTRATION ======================================================================= In order to continue using the program after your free trial period, you must purchase a license. For the latest pricing information and to order your license with a registration code, please visit the following URL: http://www.mikasalonen.com/order.shtml After placing your order and receiving your registration code via email, you have to enter the code to the register form. You can get the form by clicking "Register" from the Help menu. PLEASE NOTE: When you buy a license for Remove, you will get unlimited free technical support, future versions, and improvements for free! The registered version has no limitations or nag-screens. ======================================================================= DISTRIBUTION ======================================================================= You are free to distribute this unregistered trial version of Remove as long as the following conditions are met: 1) Remove v4.0 must be distributed as a complete package (REMOVE40.ZIP) including only the following files: FILE_ID.DIZ 493 bytes README.TXT 19 126 bytes REMOVE.EXE 196 608 bytes If you did not receive all these files, please contact the author via electronic mail to software@mikasalonen.com. 2) The package including all related program and documentation files cannot be modified in any way. 3) This version is not to be sold. However, you may charge a reasonable distribution fee for the package. ======================================================================= CONTACTING THE AUTHOR ======================================================================= You can send your messages, comments, bug reports, suggestions that can improve the program, etc. via email to remove@mikasalonen.com. When sending bug reports, please describe what you did, what happened, what version of Remove you have, any error messages program gave, what kind of computer or operating system you have, and anything else you think might be relevant. For updates and other great products, please check out our website at http://www.mikasalonen.com. Author: Webdesign Mika Salonen Software development: software@mikasalonen.com http://www.mikasalonen.com Web design services: info@webdesignsalonen.com http://www.webdesignsalonen.com/en/