If you think the next thing you need is an Add/Remove Programs replacement, then you do have a valid thought there. As with a lot of built-in features of Windows, they’re crap and many other programs can do the job a lot better 10 times over. As with the case of uninstallers, they do not necessarily remove all traces of program installations, particularly empty directories and registry keys. These, when left unattended overtime and many cycles of installations and uninstallations, build up as clutter in your hard drive.

For a long time, 3rd-party uninstallers that were good enough to do the job was dominated by shareware or paid software. Not anymore as a lot of free programs are now available to do the job. Like Revo Uninstaller for example.

Going beyond the call of duty to simply uninstall programs, this utility can clean related files, directories and registry keys after the default program uninstaller finishes. This means you really eliminate traces of the software.

A word of caution though, this program might be for more advanced users especially with the “hunter mode” and ability to check the registry for related keys. If you’re not really sure what you’re doing, you might end up messing with your whole registry. But for a guy like me, this is exactly just what I need to really decrapify my PC from those rogue files and keys.

As a bonus, I think that it’s drive cleaning features and startup management options are there to boot. While I don’t necessarily use them for that purpose, an uninstaller program with a few more tricks in its bag is surely a treat. It works from Windows 2000 to Vista.

Download Revo Uninstaller here.