Question Delete programs from Settings

[Alarian]

I have a problem where I have a TON of programs still listed under Apps that are no longer on my computer. It is a surface book and I had an external hard drive on it that went bad. I had most everything stored on the hard drive with only core stuff on my internal C drive. Everything is recoverable, so the drive loss is no big deal, but how the heck to I get rid of all the listings in the settings|Apps list? I know you can go in the registry and do it manually, but there has to be an easier way to wipe out all the dead end links. There has to be at least 100 dead apps listed there currently. If I try and uninstall normally, it just says it can't find the program on my d drive (which doesn't exist currently).

Any help is appreciated!

 

[Grobe]

Well, Windows are build in such manner that it is dependent on the existence of the folders where the apps binaries are stored.

When that said, there are cleaner software out there that claim to be able to remove dead registry entries. However the overall success rate vs. the risk of deleting some entries that can do further damage to the OS is somewhat disputed.

Here is a long shot (probably won't work but shouldn't hurt trying) - Somewhere in the windows folder, there should be copies of .msi files tied to the software installation. See if you can right click on one of those and choose uninstall.

 

[Bob.B]

I have a problem where I have a TON of programs still listed under Apps that are no longer on my computer. It is a surface book and I had an external hard drive on it that went bad. I had most everything stored on the hard drive with only core stuff on my internal C drive. Everything is recoverable, so the drive loss is no big deal, but how the heck to I get rid of all the listings in the settings|Apps list? I know you can go in the registry and do it manually, but there has to be an easier way to wipe out all the dead end links. There has to be at least 100 dead apps listed there currently. If I try and uninstall normally, it just says it can't find the program on my d drive (which doesn't exist currently).

Any help is appreciated!

Grab a copy of revo uninstaller.
Give it a test drive.

 

[gardenman]

Another option:

CCleaner will allow you to delete the entries from the Add/Remove programs list. If you try CCleaner out, I suggest avoiding the registry cleaner that is built into it.

In CCleaner / Tools / Uninstall, select the program then on the right choose Delete to delete the entry.

 

[Alabalcho]

The "cleanest" way for me is to (re)attach the hard drive, reinstall, uninstall.

 

[Cj-tech]

The "cleanest" way for me is to (re)attach the hard drive, reinstall, uninstall.

It sounds like the drive was lost or defective… in which case that wouldn’t be possible.

I had an external hard drive on it that went bad.

 

[Alarian]

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried revo uninstaller and it was able to find all the bad links, but then couldn't get rid of them automatically. It would bring up the registry keys for me for each program if I clicked on them but then I would have to select the registry key to delete. MUCH faster than scrolling through the registry by myself, so if CCleaner doesn't work, I may go back to that.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

[Alabalcho]

It sounds like the drive was lost or defective… in which case that wouldn’t be possible.

It doesn't matter where the apps will be installed (even on the main drive). The idea is for app' uninstaller to clean up after itself (including files spread over the system drive)

 

[Cj-tech]

It doesn't matter where the apps will be installed (even on the main drive). The idea is for app' uninstaller to clean up after itself (including files spread over the system drive)

I agree that the OP could use the uninstallers. However, that would be a tedious process of installing/uninstalling every piece of software. That would take a long time, and the OP may not have enough storage. I assumed that is why the OP had a second drive in the first place.