The Download Blog

At or near the top of the list of aggravations for new PC owners is the trial version of a program that came preinstalled on the system refusing to uninstall once the trial period expires. The irritation really peaks when the product in question is from Microsoft.

Before I could install a bought-and-paid-for copy of Outlook 2007 on my laptop, I had to uninstall the trial version of Office Enterprise 2007 that was preinstalled on the machine's hard drive when I bought it several months ago. Very early in the uninstall process, an alert popped up reporting Error 1310 and instructing me to verify that I had access to a certain directory.

An attempt to uninstall the trial version of Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 generated an error message.

(Credit: Microsoft)

I decided to try the uninstall again using the free Revo Uninstaller utility. In addition to cleaning up the Registry entries, files, folders, and other refuse that the program's own uninstaller misses, Revo Uninstaller finds and deletes junk files on your PC and performs other cleanup duties.

Many of my favorite freeware tools have more-than-adequate competitors out there, but you can never have too much of a good thing. Here are four utilities that you may not have heard of to help you back up your files, take screen captures, uninstall programs, and test your download speeds.

MyUninstaller replaces the default Windows Add/Remove Programs utility, and is a strong alternative to Revo Uninstaller. They both uninstall programs, and that's just about where their similarities end.

MyUninstaller

(Credit: NirSoft)

MyUninstaller feels extremely lightweight compared to Revo and contains none of the system tools extras like Autorun Manager that Revo brings to its game. It's far less customizable than Revo, and with the fewer options comes faster uninstall times. Revo took about 2 minutes to get rid of Adobe Reader at the Moderate setting, while MyUninstaller had the task done in less than 20 seconds.

It's not without its little strengths, of course. You can keep files, copy, change installation, and search your list of installed programs. Change installation lets you alter a program by rerunning the installer. MyUninstaller's interface looks like it hasn't changed since Windows 2000, so those looking for a slicker and more robust program will probably gravitate toward Revo. If you're looking for blazingly fast, you might want to make MyUninstaller yours.

(Credit: AutoVer)

AutoVer backs up your files, and does it from another simple interface. This simplicity, though, belies what the program actually can do.

Commands for adding and deleting files you want to watch and backup are straightforward. Adding new files was as easy as creating and naming a new file, adding the folder you want to backup, and then choosing the backup location. Folder creation happens immediately, and backups can be initiated as soon as you save the record. More advanced settings let you include or exclude specific files from the backup process, time stamping, pausing and resuming specific folder backups, and a search feature that lets you explore your backups.

Big, primary-colored icons give the program a WinZipesque feel, but that's just about the biggest drawback.

DownTester is a portable app that tests download speeds from multiple HTTP and FTP URLs simultaneously. It's unobtrusive and gets the job done, but it also comes with some useful features that make it worth downloading.

DownTester

(Credit: NirSoft)

The Advanced Options menu is well-rounded. You can configure the tests to conclude and move on based on time or bytes downloaded. You can also set the program to retry upon failure and configure the number of times that repetition should occur before moving on, with Passive or Active mode available for FTP. Users have the option to export their test list or import a new one.

Users can't paste directly from the clipboard to the test list. DownTester forces you to open the Add URLs List window first, but that seemed to be just about the only drawback to this utility that anyone diagnosing connection speed problems should check out.

You may not have thought that the world needed another screenshooting program, but GreenShot works pretty well after a half-day of testing.

(Credit: GreenShot)

Like many of its competitors, it lets you take screenshots from your monitor using a user-defined rectangle. It displays coordinates as you draw your capture rectangle, and then opens the captured area immediately in a quick-and-dirty image editor with limited but focused features. You can draw boxes, ellipses, lines, or arrows, or add text. You can save the image as a PNG, JPG, BMP, or GIF. You can change the color of any shape or text you add to your screenshot, and change the line thickness.

There's also a good variety of other options, including toggling the save-to location, naming convention and folder, file format, and hot key hooks. Light on resources, it's surprisingly effective for a beta. The arrowhead implementation could use some work when you choose double-arrowheads, but overall it's a freeware worth keeping an eye on.

If you're using a freeware program that you think deserves more attention, mention it in the comments below.

Sometimes the best interface is no interface at all. Compared with other Mac uninstall programs, AppTrap is simplicity itself--and it really does seem to provide the uninstall functionality that Apple "forgot" in OS X.

AppTrap is not actually an app but rather a System Preference pane, which you install and then it runs in the background (and you can set AppTrap to automatically start at log-in). Whenever you drag an application to the Trash, AppTrap will prompt you to delete all the application's related files, including any files installed in that application's cache, library, or application support folders.

As with all uninstallers, your mileage may vary and AppTrap may occasionally miss some files--but for a well-designed piece of freeware with a seamless "interface," AppTrap does an excellent job.

Power-packed beyond Registry tweaks, RegToy focuses on Registry edits to optimize your computer performance--but novices shouldn't expect much hand-holding. Though the tweak options are carefully labeled, users must know the consequences of altering them, as the few onscreen notes don't provide adequate assistance. You can restore the Registry settings to the Windows default, but that's an emergency final resort, as it will undo many changes made by you and other programs. RegToy also includes a poorly explained feature for saving and loading settings.

Other features include a file renamer, a file shredder, a start-up manager, an uninstall manager, and a disk cleaner for removing unnecessary files. The app has a pretty nested-button-and-tab interface, which may put off some because it doesn't follow XP standards. Options are primarily of the enable/disable variety, and most changes take effect immediately, although some might require a reboot.

You also get a Registry cleaner for removing invalid Registry entries. It's very rare to find such a powerful and free tweaking application. Intermediate to advanced users will quickly make RegToy an integral part of their toolboxes.

While the jury is still debating the efficacy of Registry cleaners, Registry Repair from Glary seems to do its main job quickly and accurately. True to its name, the utility scans your PC's Registry, then fixes any errors it finds. Some of the extras are worth noting, too.

The app's main interface is easy to grasp at first sight, letting you check and uncheck boxes when deciding which portions of the Registry to scan. For instance, the program looks for such entries as obsolete software, invalid fonts, bad shortcuts, and even spyware. It's also handy that Registry Repair offers a brief explanation of why each key is no longer necessary. Nevertheless, it takes no risks and automatically backs up the Registry before you remove anything.

In addition to its main job, the application also can manage which programs launch on start-up. You'll also find a disk-cleanup utility and an uninstaller. These features are not remarkably different from Windows' built-in tools, but it's still nice to be able to access them from the app's main window.

Correcting a long-standing oversight by Apple, AppCleaner completely removes unwanted programs from your Mac OS. Dragging applications to the Trash just isn't enough because almost every app installs various support files in several different places all over your computer.

AppCleaner is one of the best utilities around to help you track down and delete these files. It provides a slick, 3D interface and two options for deletion: you can either drag and drop applications onto AppCleaner's main window, or you can have AppCleaner list potential applications--and even widgets, plugins, and screensavers--to uninstall. The program will then show you all the related files for any app you're uninstalling and ask which you want to delete.

You can set AppCleaner to "protect" certain applications from accidentally getting trashed, too, by manually specifying them or just by auto-protecting all default and currently running apps. AppCleaner also comes with a SmartDelete option that detects when apps are trashed and offers to remove the related files, making it great for cleaning up past messes as well as preventing future ones.

Although we love freeware Revo Uninstaller here at CNET Download.com, ZSoft Uninstaller should appeal to users who want something better than the native Windows installer, but don't need all the extraneous features. As the developer promises, ZSoft Uninstaller is indeed far superior to the native Windows program uninstaller. The freeware first runs the unwanted program's original uninstall option before cleaning up with its own technology. But for a more thorough uninstall, ZSoft Uninstaller offers an analyze function that you can use during the initial installation of programs to track exactly which files are being added to your system.

Later, when you want to uninstall a program, you can click the Analyzed Programs tab and rest assured that when you uninstall the program every associated file will be included. The search box for finding specific programs and the capability to get rid of temporary files are useful additions.

ZSoft Uninstaller works well, although it's not as robust as Revo. Even though it may not have all the chrome of the competition, when it comes to getting its core task done--uninstalling unwanted applications--ZSoft Uninstaller is a good choice.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

As a software reviewer, I download a lot of programs to test them out. Some are great programs deserving of a space on my hard drive while others just are not up to snuff. With all the available software here at CNET Download.com, you've probably found a few gems worth keeping, but you've inevitably also downloaded a few programs that just didn't work out. We understand.

On a Windows machine, you can go to the control panel and choose the Add/Remove programs tool to find and uninstall software you don't want. But on a Mac, it's not as easy. When you install on a Mac the process usually involves dragging the software into your Applications folder. What you may not know is other files associated with that program are automatically installed into different folders to make the program work properly. So if you simply drag that app icon to the trash, you're leaving a significant amount of unused files on your hard drive.

Today, we have a group of freshly reviewed apps whose purpose is to extricate those unwanted apps and leftover files from your hard drive. They come in a few different versions, but all are worthy of checking out if you want to trash that one program once and for all, or if you just need to make space on your hard drive.

AppTrap is less of an app than it is a free System Preference pane. Once set up (you can have AppTrap start at login), all you need to do is exactly what you've probably done all along: drag the application to the trash. When you do, AppTrap will ask if you want to delete all associated files. Simply answer yes and you're done. If you're looking for the least work to get your Mac apps off your hard drive, AppTrap is your program.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

AppCleaner is a free program that lets you be a little more hands-on than AppTrap. You can drag unwanted apps to the nice-looking interface, or browse through a list of possible apps to uninstall. AppCleaner shows you all the files you will be deleting before your confirmation so make sure to look closely before you pull the trigger.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

AppZapper is a shareware program I've talked about before and does a fairly good job, but it will cost you ($12.95). Like AppCleaner you can drag-and-drop apps to the interface to display associated apps. But AppZapper also offers the UnZap command, letting you retrieve previously "zapped" software components from the trash. As an added bonus, you can also have the program search for other trash files on your hard drive with the Genie.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

CleanApp is another shareware alternative with a few extra features than AppZapper, and yet it's more affordable ($10). CleanApp offers the same drag-and-drop functionality, but also allows you to track all future installations so you can make absolutely sure you delete every file upon uninstallation. CleanApp seems to forever remain in beta, but does a nice job otherwise and might be just the solution you're looking for.

Not all downloads are good downloads. Unfortunately, when you're on a Mac, it's more difficult to completely extract all files associated with unwanted software. Check out our reviews and look at the available features before installing the uninstaller that's right for you.

One of the best programs out there for giving more control over Windows functions to users, Revo Uninstaller does far more than fast uninstallations. It has several levels of programs removal, from basic to giving your Registry a thorough scrubbing. Revo also provides in-depth resources for researching just what a program is and does, so you know what you're removing, as well as offering a suite of strong system tools. Check out what it can do for you in this First Look video.