My opinion of Revo Uninstaller Pro

[jimdagys]

It was mentioned in a previous post that Revo Uninstaller Pro could be used to get rid undesired registry entries from uninstalled malware. I was curious about this, so on a public computer, I decided to put it to the test. This public computer is Windows 7, and can't be hurt unless you punch the computer. When you turn off the computer, it re-images from some master file. On this computer you can install/delete programs and also edit the registry with regedit.
I installed the malware (KM Player) and then uninstalled it from the supplied uninstaller in the menu. As before, I looked at the registry and found maybe 100 entries to KM Player, and as before, KM Player appeared as the file type designation on many types of files, even though I supposedly uninstalled the program. Then I installed Revo Uninstaller Pro and choose"forced uninstall", "advanced" on the string KMPlayer. It found many entries in the registry and I choose to delete all of them. However, doing a search in the registry, I still found a huge number of KMPlayer entries, and KMPlayer still appeared on many file type designations. Since I knew I couldn't hurt the computer, I started manually (and rather sloppily because I don't exactly understand the registry) deleting entries in the registry related to KMPlayer. I was able to stop KMPlayer from showing as file type for avi, and other file types, before I ran out of my 1 hour time limit on the computer.
So I have to say that Revo Uninstaller Pro didn't seem to work in this situation. The best answer to get rid of the malware in this case is use the Windows System Restore.

[aedipuss]

that's a little extreme. system restore to reset file associations??? open a video player like vlc and just reset them all to vlc. or right click/open with on a video file with the wrong one and set it to something else.

[Hoser Rob]

I don't particularly trust any windows registry editing programs. I don't think revo should be singled out. If there were better ones I strongly suspect someone would have recommended it.

However, I'd still recommend them for many users because manual registry editing is not something any user who is not very, very knowledgeable should do.

Before doing either you should have a good restore point and backup recovery discs. You can seriously break windows.

This is just one of a number of reasons I use linux now. I'm not saying software can't do the equivalent of messing up the windows registry. But it's much harder, and no program that did it would make it past beta testing in the repos.

Same thing with codecs. If it says right in Microsoft tech support that you should not use any 3rd party codecs on a win7 system ... which is true, and probably even more so for windows 8 ... why in the hell is it so easy for program installers to remap your registry?

[hello_hello]

What's your definition of an "undesired registry entry"? If it's one which causes something to run which you don't want running etc, then I guess it's undesirable, but if they're just "orphaned" registry entries left over after uninstalling software etc, then they're not doing any harm. Cleaning your registry won't improve your PC's performance. It won't make it run better. A lot of software leaves registry entries behind by design so if you re-install it your settings remain intact. Some software gives you an option to remove that type of thing when you uninstall it.

PS. The codecs comment above is often repeated nonsense. It's not true you shouldn't install third party codecs on Win7, regardless of what Microsoft tech support might say. Sometimes installing codecs can cause problems, but then again so can installing third party software and connecting to the internet. You just need to be careful about what you install, same as any other type of software. From Microsoft:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/windows-8/codecs-frequently-asked-questions
"Install only codecs, filters or plug-ins from trusted, authorized sources such as the official website of the codec manufacturer. Be careful when you install codecs that you find on the Internet, particularly the free codec packs that claim to include codecs from many companies, because these codec packs might damage your PC. If you've installed any codec packs and are having problems with the Player, we recommend that you remove them."

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Codecs-frequently-asked-questions
"Use caution when installing codecs that you find on the Internet, particularly some of the free codec packs that claim to include codecs from a wide variety of companies or organizations. Incompatibilities are known to exist with some of the components in these codec packs that can cause serious playback issues in the Player and other players, lead to system corruption, and make it difficult for Microsoft Support to diagnose and troubleshoot playback issues. For these reasons, we strongly discourage you from installing these codec packs, and recommend that you remove them if you have installed them and you are having problems with the Player. Install only codecs, filters, or plug-ins from trusted, authorized sources, such as the website of the official supplier. Even then, use caution: some codec suppliers offer minimal customer support. Before installing any digital media components, set a system restore point. The restore point enables you to return to your original system configuration, if necessary."

[ranchhand]

Jimdagys: If you want to clean your registery of targeted, leftover entries from installations, I have a free program I have been using for years and it will search and batch remove multiple register files. The amount of these can be amazing. When I cleanup friends' computers from Microsoft Office installations, they want Silverlight removed and I regularly remove over 3000 register entries on that module alone in just a few minutes.

[jman98]

ranchhand - jimdagys is "special". I remain amazed after all his posts that people like all of you above me in this thread continue to take him seriously. My personal favorite was his post about wanting to deliberately infect a PC with a virus so he could "study it", even though he's admitted not having the background to be able to handle such. I also was pretty fond of the time he picked up a random USB stick and installed it on his PC and got infected with a virus.

[jimdagys]

I have a free program I have been using for years and it will search and batch remove multiple register files.

Please post the program, or tell me where I can get it.