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ART3
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1993-03-27
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The UnInstaller
for Windows
by Tony Curro
The State that brought you: Hank Aaron, Ty "The Georgia Peach" Cobb,
Jimmy Carter, Billy Beer, Ray Charles, Margaret (Gone With The Wind)
Mitchell, Erskine Caldwell, Galdys Knight, Martin Luther King Jr.,
Flannery O'Connor, Jackie Robinson,and the Atlanta Braves, now
brings you the best program to compliment Windows. This should not
be an optional program, but a program that all Windows users MUST
have.
A few months ago I commented on the problems' users face when
removing an application from Windows. Well, unknown to me, such a
program was tucked away in, Marietta, Georgia.
MicroHelp, Inc. released the first in a series of utilities for
Windows. The UnInstaller is a gem, that anyone who even thinks about
Windows, should own. I just received this package last week. Due to
the amount of software that I have to review, it usually takes me
2-3 months to get around to a package I receive. However, due to my
immediate need, and that this product should be known to all
quickly, I pushed aside other programs to review this one.
As the name implies, The UnInstaller removes programs from Windows.
Many of us, at least those on the 'cutting edge,' want to try every
piece of software that we see in the stores. BBS users, download,
and try every shareware program. All these programs have a tendency
to leave a 'residue' behind. Most programs do create, or suggest
that you create, a subdirectory for its files. However, many of
these also put, or request that you place, files in the \WINDOWS
and/or \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directories. Several of these are in the form
of DLL or DRV files. In addition, they either create their own INI
files, or alter the WIN.INI or SYSTEM.INI files.
Therefore the removal of any Windows program is NOT an easy task.
You can delete the subdirectory, but are still left with files in
the other directories. Unless you have a specific list of ALL files
and locations, and changes made to the above mentioned INI files,
you will start amassing a collection of files that you will never
use again.
Enter The UnInstaller. Installation for this program is very quick,
and requires less than 1MB of hard disk space. Once installed, you
have two icons: IniClean, and UnInstaller. The IniClean utility
helps you when delete an application without using UnInstaller. It
will allow you to view, edit, or delete any INI file on your system.
UnInstaller will remove all traces of an application.
Once you run UnInstaller, you click on SELECT. It will then show you
all the applications on your system. To delete an application, you
highlight it. You will then see all files and references, up to the
location of the icon. You can then choose the delete option to
remove this program. I had installed a program a few weeks before I
received UnInstaller. When I ran UnInstaller the first time, I
selected this program. UnInstaller found most of the associated
files. I then ran the SmartLinks option of UnInstaller. SmartLinks
searches all drives and files, and checks all executable code on
your system and attempts to determine which applications use which
DLLs. The first time it is run, SmartLinks can take several minutes.
It saves the results to a file. Subsequent scans just update this
file. SmartLinks found the DLLs and several other references to my
program. I then had UnInstaller delete the program. In the manual of
said program there was a list of all files that had to be removed.
After UnInstaller finished, I searched for these files. Not one was
left. UnInstaller DID remove the program and all related files
quickly and easily.
UnInstaller will also work on a network. It allows a network
administrator to remove applications from a server and all the
workstations on the network. UnInstaller accomplishes this by using
its SmartDecoy Technology. Simply, when the administrator removes
files from a workstation the files are renamed. Then when a user
tries to run the program from that workstation, they receive the
message that the program has been uninstalled. They then click on OK
to have all remnants of the files removed completely from the
workstation. This saves the administrator many hours of work.
As you can tell, I cannot say enough about this program. It is a
wonderful program. MicroHelp even offers a 30 day unconditional
money back guarantee. This applies if you buy the program from them.
If you purchase it elsewhere, there is a form that you can return to
place of purchase for a refund. I don't know if this applies to all
areas, but here in NYC, quite a few stores will not take back a
software package once it is opened. So if you are in doubt, I would
suggest ordering it from MicroHelp directly.
Product Information
The UnInstaller
for Windows
List Price -- $79
MicroHelp, Inc.
4359 Shallowford Industrial Parkway
Marietta, GA 30066
800 922-3383
404 516-0899
404 516-1099 (FAX)