| What’s It Do?
This application uninstalls programs quickly and completely with
a simple interface, removing programs without a trace, repairing
broken Registry entries, and cleaning nonfunctional Start menu
shortcuts, browser toolbars, plugins and hijackers, etc. Does it do what it promises? Reviewer 1: Advanced Uninstaller Pro does much more than its name implies. In addition to providing a more thorough uninstallation process, it also can clean up and/or manage the start folder, startup files, registry, Internet browser, files and folders, and Control Panel. It can also help manage installed fonts in a more Advanced manner than I have found in other programs. Reviewer 2: Yes, it does what it promises and more. Reviewer 3: Touted as the "world's best Uninstaller", Advanced Uninstaller Pro is a windows XP- and Windows Vista-compatible suite of utilities that can help uninstall software easily. It contains over 25 tools to help dig out the most recalcitrant program and get it off one’s system, including all the little Registry entries that most programs leave behind when they are uninstalled. Reviewer 4: I had mixed results. Although Advanced Uninstaller Pro has an impressive list of features, it did not always seem to perform as it was supposed to. Reviewer 5: No. It does not uninstall any application completely and many of its individual tools are inadequate and/or dangerous. Its Web site claims that “Advanced Uninstaller Pro can . . . remove a lot of items that other uninstallers can’t even touch.” It does not say what those “items” are nor can I determine what they may be after several months of testing. Was It Easy To Install? Reviewer 1: Yes. Reviewer 2: Yes, the 23.8 MB file installed without any problems or conflicts. Reviewer 3: Yes, it was a typical Windows installation with no problems. The final install size ended up at around 30 MB, with a total of 391 files in 15 different folders. Reviewer 4: Yes. It was a standard windows installation, which allowed me to put the program and its shortcuts in the locations of my choice. The EULA (End Users License Agreement) states that the program can be installed only on one computer but be available for all users of that machine. During installation, a second dialog appears, giving the user a brief summary of the main features of Advanced Uninstaller Pro. Although the registration code is complex, it is entered with a simple copy-and-paste on the main screen of the program when it starts up. Reviewer 5: No. If ever there were a prize for “bloatware,” then Advanced Uninstaller Pro would win it hands down. While the installation itself is not difficult thanks to wizards, the huge 23.9MB download might be prohibitive to some and, taking nearly an hour to download, certainly test the patience of any dial-up user. The EULA (End User License Agreement) is unusually restrictive (only a single machine as best as I could understand it), needlessly confusing, and more that just a bit paranoid (the developer warns against its use and disclaims any responsibility for the use of the software in nuclear facilities or activities involving life-support!). And while the software prides itself on being able to remove all traces of a software program, it then leaves traces of itself throughout one’s system: using the programs uninstaller left three files and 89 Registry fragments remaining. Good points. Reviewer 1: Advanced Uninstaller appears to do a standard Windows uninstall of the program followed by a lengthy search for leftover remnants of the program in your desktop, Registry, files, and folders. This follow-up process usually takes longer than the uninstallation itself, but it seemed to find many of the annoying and unnecessary leftovers from otherwise sloppy uninstallation. Programs that were installed since the last time Advanced Uninstaller was run are marked in red. This makes it easy to identify those programs that are likely candidates for removal. The startup manager has most of the standard features found in similar programs, including the ability to remove or reversibly disable programs. Enhancements include advanced information about each program in the startup menu. Reviews are included in an online forum. The font manager is more sophisticated than most programs I have encountered in this area. Installed fonts are listed on the left and a sample of the selected font is displayed in the right column provided that the font is variable sized and not fixed. One can change the size of the font displayed and have the option to display the font’s entire character set rather than just an alphanumeric sample. Unwanted fonts can be removed or disabled. Disabling leaves the option of easy restoration of the font should it be needed later by one’s system or a program. Under “Reports and Info” there is “Installed Programs” which displays a printable list of all installed programs. Printing this list could provide a useful resource for a future time when it becomes necessary to reinstall an operating system or programs. Reviewer 2: Advanced Uninstaller Pro is a maintenance-type suite of numerous utilities that remove unwanted programs, settings, files, etc. which the user no longer wants and which if not removed would slow down the performance of the PC. Advanced Uninstaller Pro is an easy program to use that requires little effort to navigate and activate the desired utility; however, it has an extensive help section that is linked to the type of help a user would need. Using a program such as this involves deleting files and changing/deleting Registry files which, if done wrong, could produce unwanted results. Advanced Uninstaller Pro excels in providing the user with the information he/she needs in making decisions of what to remove or deactivate. It explains what the component is and what would happen if the component were removed or deactivated. This type of help extends beyond the program to the Internet with predefined searches that I used to find accurate information about programs and files that were not in Advanced Uninstaller Pro’s database. Programs that remove files are very common. Programs that help the user to decide which files to remove and removes those files are rare, and Advanced Uninstaller Pro does this in a clean simple manner. These features make Advanced Uninstaller Pro excel over other uninstalling software that I have used; and make it worth the $39.00 price tag. After all, what good is a program that removes unwanted files if the user doesn’t know which files should be unwanted? Advanced Uninstaller Pro’s utilities provide many different ways of removing and disabling files, programs, and settings; and I tested nearly all of them. It would be too lengthy to cover each in detail, so I will highlight what I consider the most important aspects of these utilities. Advanced Uninstaller Pro uninstalls programs by two different methods – 1) programs that were not monitored by Advanced Uninstaller Pro when they were installed and 2) programs that were monitored by Advanced Uninstaller Pro when they were installed. Uninstalling programs that were monitored by Advanced Uninstaller Pro is the best way to ensure that files and settings in the Registry are restored like they were before the install. The only drawback to this method is that it does take more time when monitoring the install, but I consider it a small price to pay considering that the uninstallation will be thorough. The uninstall of programs not monitored by Advanced Uninstaller Pro is far better than the uninstall file that comes with the program. Advanced Uninstaller Pro searches and finds left over shortcuts, files, and registry settings after it uses the uninstall file that came with the program. My searches after an Advanced Uninstaller Pro uninstall did not find any leftovers that could be deleted. On some uninstalls (even the ones that had been monitored), some files could not be deleted. I found that I couldn’t delete these manually either because access was denied. The Advanced Uninstaller Pro StartUp Manager is very good with descriptions of what each program is, as well as advice on whether or not it should be disabled. I tested it against some stubborn programs that other startup managers have difficulty in stopping and found that it would stop these difficult programs. Likewise, I was very pleased with Advanced Uninstaller Pro’s descriptions and advice for running the different Windows Services. Often it is from Windows Services that malware lurks and launches. The Advanced Uninstaller Pro Quick Clean utility makes very effective and selective removal of most recently used files, temporary files, Internet tracking, and other unwanted files. Adding this setup to the scheduler in Advanced Uninstaller Pro makes this maintenance task automatic. Advanced Uninstaller Pro’s removal of invalid shortcuts was quite effective, but I don’t see much use for this function on a regular basis. I did find the function to hide certain Start Menu items useful in shared PC situations without having to set up elaborate permissions. The Font Manager allows for quick uninstall of unwanted fonts. I liked the character map for each of the fonts along with the image view of the font and the keystroke for that character; however I did notice that some of the more graphic fonts (like Wingdings) did not display correctly. The Control Panel utility performed correctly and would allow the disabling and enabling of Control Panel icons. Although the Icon for that Control is not shown in the Control Panel, the application is still accessible through the Run menu and thus not really disabled. I was very pleased how Advanced Uninstaller Pro handles Add-ons for Internet Explorer 7. These add-ons often cause users headaches in trying to delete the ones they really didn’t want in the first place. Advanced Uninstaller Pro makes this an easy process. Although I don’t use FireFox, I did note that Advanced Uninstaller Pro helps remove extensions that the user does not want. The Registry cleaner, optimizer, and restore utility is very easy to use and, because it makes automatic backups before any cleaning, it is safe to use. As compared to other Registry cleaners that I have used and tested, it was quite accurate and thorough. Considering the number of Registry keys that it reviews, I considered its engine to function faster than many of the other Registry cleaners I have used. I did find several registry keys that Advanced Uninstaller Pro’s Registry cleaner did not remove. Reviewer 3: The user interface is very clean and well designed. It is divided into six logical areas on "tabs" or “categories” down the left side and each area has multiple selections. The whole interface is actually "skinable", with dozens of variations. Overall, I found the program to work quite well, easily removing remnants of old programs that I had previously uninstalled using the built in uninstaller for that program. Like many, I typically opt for the built in uninstaller that came with the program, assuming that it knows where to put things and will remove them on its way out. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. Uninstalling generates the dreaded message "some components could not be removed and must be removed manually." The difficulty is in finding those components, and it seems that Advanced Uninstaller Pro actually can. Clicking on the Uninstall Programs button under the General Tools category displays a complete list of everything installed. Any software installed since the last time this function was used is highlighted in red and a pop-up message notifies that new software has been installed. Each program is displayed with the accompanying icon provided by the program, which makes for quick identification. A nice function is a text entry box to search for a specific program, rather than needing to scroll the entire list. With over 262 programs installed on one system, this proved to be a time saver. Advanced Uninstaller Pro uses a program’s normal uninstall string to remove the program, but it doesn't stop there. Once the uninstall is finished, it then proceeds to scan the Registry for any bits and pieces left over and then displays them in a tree hierarchy with checkboxes allowing the user to decide to keep the bits or delete them. Another interesting feature was Advanced Uninstaller Pro's ability to remove multiple programs at one time. I guess it would be useful for a "slash-and-burn clean up" but otherwise, I rarely need to remove multiple programs at one time While Advanced Uninstaller Pro is obviously an uninstaller tool, it is actually quite a bit more. The uninstall function falls under the general tools category, but there are five more categories with a number of tools under each;
Reviewer 4: Advanced Uninstaller Pro is primarily a program to monitor installation of new programs so that it can easily completely remove them later if desired; however, there are other related tools as well to manage many housekeeping functions. These are grouped into five main categories: General Tools, File and Folder Tools, Internet Browser Tools, Registry Tools and Reports and Info. I was surprised by the variety of functions inside each of these general categories. I already have programs that carry out such functions as a Font Manager, a Start-up Manager, a Temporary Files Remover and Registry Cleaners. But Advanced Uninstaller Pro contains about 30 different program modules, as well as a number of other functions that are related to Advanced Uninstaller Pro itself. There are several functions that I have not seen in any other set of utilities. For example, there is a Control Panel Manager. With this, unused Control Panel Applets can be disabled or later restored to their original state. There is also a Start Menu Manager to organize or reorganize the Start Menu items. This can be done within Windows itself, of course, but Advanced Uninstaller Pro does it much more easily. Although I have a couple of programs with which I can remove temporary and useless junk files, I was surprised at the speed with which this feature works in Advanced Uninstaller Pro. Advanced Uninstaller Pro did a complete scan of my computer in a few seconds and came up with a list of program history files totaling over 375 megabytes of temporary files, In comparison, the program that I usually use for this took almost 30 seconds to "analyze" my disks and revealed about 368 megabytes of temporary files. Unfortunately, Advanced Uninstaller Pro did not always clean out the lists in all the programs selected. (See "Weak Points" below.) Some features have built-in protection to recover from undesired results. For example, the Registry Backup Tools includes a Backup and Restore feature. Here, any backup of the Registry can later be restored to its original setting. Although I would normally do a backup of my Registry before doing a clean-up or Registry optimization, Advanced Uninstaller Pro has a built-in Undo feature which can actually restore the changes made by the clean-up operation, even without having made a backup first. The presentation of the errors that it finds is also well thought-out, and easier to understand than some other Registry-cleaning tools that I have used before. Reviewer 5: Advanced Uninstaller Pro combines an easy to use and skinable interface (GUI) with 14 potentially useful features containing approximately 35 separate tools and/or functions which include uninstalling software programs; cleaning the browser cache, history, and cookies as well as usage tracks of Windows and over 100 third-party applications; cleaning and defragmenting the Windows registry; a duplicate file finder; a start up manager; a font manager; and on and on. One might describe it as a Swiss Army Knife of software programs as the more one looks, the more tools one finds available. While it would be impossible to discuss each tool, and while some work better than others, I will simply point out a few that I thought were either unique or worked especially well:
Weak points. Reviewer 1: The “second stage” of the uninstallation process, where the leftover items are scanned for and removed, is a long process. This is probably necessary due to the extent of system and Registry scanning needed to find the leftovers. I would like an option to have the uninstaller to go through the full uninstall process without the mandatory pause that requires selecting “next” before proceeding. The Registry backup allows naming the backup file but it gives no information and no control about where it is stored. The Registry cleaner was confusing and awkward to use. After running a full scan, the results were displayed by category and severity. Then, I selected one category and checked the items within it, and I unchecked the other categories. Running the option to repair only the checked items resulted in ALL of the found problems being repaired. I restored the Registry and repeated the process and this time it only repaired the checked items. One explanation for this could be that I had clicked on the wrong box to execute the repair; however, I am certain that I clicked on the “Repair checked” box. The only feature I found lacking compared to other programs is the ability to delay an item’s startup. Reviewer 2: I encountered problems with the uninstall basket for the drag and drop method. I found two different programs that would not uninstall by this method. These caused the Advanced Uninstaller Pro to hang and become non-responsive. After several failed attempts, I was able to completely uninstall the programs by utilizing the Uninstall function within the Advanced Uninstaller Pro main application page. Some programs had files that would not uninstall, so a complete uninstall of all files related to those programs was not possible. The response was that the files had access denied. This happened on one application that was monitored, and defeats the purpose of taking the time to monitor the installation so all files can be removed. This is a known way by software makers (deny permissions) to install files such that a user cannot delete them. Although I noted a Forced removal function, I did not see any way to use this function for the remaining unremoved files. I feel that Advanced Uninstaller Pro should be able to change settings so these files are accessible and thus complete the deletion of those files. I have other programs that can perform this task and delete those files left by Advanced Uninstaller Pro. Most users will have both programs that were not monitored by Advanced Uninstaller Pro and programs that were monitored by Advanced Uninstaller Pro. I suggest that those programs that were monitored by Advanced Uninstaller Pro be accessible through the main program and not just through the Installation Monitor icon context menu. I found several Registry keys that Advanced Uninstaller Pro’s Registry cleaner did not remove. Reviewer 3: Under the "Internet Browser Tools" category, Advanced Uninstaller Pro appears to recognize Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers but not Google Chrome or Opera. While Google's Chrome browser is fairly new on the scene, Opera has been around for a long time and has a small but fairly strong following. It seems that offering 46 skins, called "themes", with adjustable hue and brightness for each, is overkill for what is essentially a utility program. There is even an "Advanced" button to further customize the theme. Reviewer 4: In uninstalling programs including the bits and pieces most programs leave scattered throughout the computer (e.g., short-cuts, leftover files and folders, Registry entries, etc.) I found Advanced Uninstaller Pro’s success rate to be better in many cases than the uninstallation modules of the programs themselves (and not all of them have uninstallers); however, it was less than completely successful in comparison with other tools that I have used to accomplish this same task. In the case of one program in particular, Advanced Uninstaller Pro was not only unable to uninstall the program (which had no Uninstaller of its own) but the "Forced Delete" feature also had no effect. To be fair, it almost always does a better job than the Add-Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel, is simpler to use, and is visually far superior. I was disappointed in the Installation Monitor module. In many ways, this is an ideal feature of Advanced Uninstaller Pro, and one, which is lacking in other uninstallation programs. It resides on the System Tray and supposedly can automatically detect new program installation, or it can be started manually before installation of the program. The first time that I used it, I had it set to monitor installations automatically. It did not keep any record of the installation, did not produce a log file, and could not uninstall the program. This necessitated returning to Advanced Uninstaller Pro itself to run the uninstall program that I would normally run to remove programs previously installed. I then tried to use the Installation Monitor manually. In that case, I had to use Windows Explorer to click through several layers of folders to locate the program’s installation file. Each time that I used this method, Advanced Uninstaller Pro hung up completely, and I had to do a physical reboot (using the on-off switch) of the computer. When the installation monitor it is called upon the first time, it inserts itself into the group of programs that automatically load at boot-up time. If I refused it this access (with the help of WinPatrol), it removed itself from the system tray, and, at the same time, made it impossible for me to access Advanced Uninstaller Pro itself. If I tried to use the Start Menu or a desktop shortcut, I would get a message that Advanced Uninstaller Pro was already running; yet I could see no sign of it, nor was I able to access any of its features. To do so would require a reboot of my computer, without the installation monitor running. Although one cannot always judge a program by its looks, presentation is always critical. First impressions are lasting, and hard to change. I did not like the fact that the program takes up the whole screen, and cannot be resized. Later I discovered that there is a way to shrink the main window, as well as choose the colors and presentation of the interface by selecting different "themes." But as I had become accustomed to the first, large interface, it took some time before I was able to use it easily. I am not always sure that Advanced Uninstaller Pro really does clean out all the history files in all the programs in its list. For example, Skype is listed as one of the programs that it cleans. Yet, when I opened Skype after having run the Clean Temporary Files function, the complete history of the phone calls that I had made were still there. Reviewer 5: For me, the biggest weakness of this program may well be its name as “uninstaller”. That is not only the least of what it does but also in my testing that which it does least well. The most troublesome specific weaknesses for me were, however:
Developer's Web Site Reviewer 1: The Web site is oriented mostly towards describing/promoting/selling programs. The forums are devoted towards providing descriptions of external programs and processes, which Advanced Uninstaller can control. I found very little useful product support. Reviewer 2: I found the web site to be well laid out and easy to navigate. I did note that many of the forums topics had no listings other than those put there by the site administrator and these offered very little information other than someone stating “a good app”. Reviewer 3: The Web site is very clean and easy to navigate, just straight graphics and text, no flash animations and distractions. About 12 different software applications are advertised with a small screenshot of each and a single paragraph description of that application. The left side of the homepage has a panel listing "latest news". Identified as a "Microsoft Certified Partner", apparently the company feels that its software speaks for itself without a lot of puffery and questionable accolades from unheard-of publications. I agree with this concept; it works quite well. Reviewer 4: The site is well designed and easy to navigate. An online manual for Advanced Uninstaller Pro is available on the site, and links to the users forum are prominently displayed. It is a friendly site, and even includes instructions on how to uninstall one of their programs. I was disappointed that the price of Advanced Uninstaller Pro when converted to Canadian dollars was significantly higher on the Digital River purchasing page than the current rate of Canadian-US dollar values. Reviewer 5: The developer’s Web site was cluttered and difficult to navigate. I found some pages accidentally that, once found, I could never find a second time. While I appreciate that this developer is in business and as such needs to make money, his business should be in selling software, not cluttering up his or her Web site with “ad sense” type ads. This is not, to me, the mark of a professional developer and certainly does not make for a professional looking software Web site. Other comments. Reviewer 1: There is a function labeled “Space Explorer” which is supposed to give an enhanced view of the structure and qualities of one’s directory and file layout. I did not find it more useful than Windows Explorer. The “Services Manager” was another section in which I did not find a significant advantage over the features available in Windows XP. The “Internet Browser Tools” section contained the usual tools for cleaning browser history, temporary Internet files, cookies, and browser extensions. There were separate sections for cleaning the browser history for both browsers installed on my system, Internet Explorer and Firefox. The title of this program only describes a small portion of what this software can do; in fact, it is almost a misnomer for this potpourri of functions. Reviewer 2: None. Reviewer 3: This application is just the next in a long series of similar applications we have tested in the past. Reviewer 4: There are other alternative uninstaller programs that do a very good job and cost less than Advanced Uninstaller Pro. The fact that Advanced Uninstaller Pro is, in fact, a suite of tools, its other features might be considered as well as the uninstallation module; however, it seems rather expensive for the kind of features that it offers. Reviewer 5: I was quite surprised with my findings. Advanced Uninstaller Pro has been around for several years and has gone through continuous development. Additionally, from what I could tell, many of its changes have been as a direct result of responding to its customers’ complaints and suggestions. As a result, I expected to find a much more developed program with far fewer weaknesses. I do think that what has happened over the life of this program is that it has become bloated by constantly adding more and more tools to the point that it no longer knows what its true purpose is, and as so often happens in this case, more becomes less. I would hope the developers might re-examine this program and refocus it to a few superior tools rather than to claim an abundance of features that represent a plethora of so-so tools. Will you continue to use it? Reviewer 1: Yes. Reviewer 2: Yes, I will add it to my maintenance utilities arsenal as a vital tool. Reviewer 3: I will leave this one in place for a while, because I like its interface and the fact that it appears to work quite well. Reviewer 4: It will remain on my computer, but only for some of the features that I do not have available in other programs in my computer toolkit. Reviewer 5: No. |
OPERATING SYSTEMS USED IN THIS REVIEW
Windows XP Pro, XP Home, XP Media Center, Vista Home Premium
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