Ashampoo Uninstaller 4
Ashampoo Uninstaller 4
Reviewed March, 2010
What’s It Do?

This program lets you test software with confidence because you can be sure that no trace of programs you remove are left in your system. It does this by comparing compact “Before” and “After” snapshots that identify exactly where all program components and settings are located. These comparisons can be used to monitor and identify secret activities of any program, such as hidden files and Registry keys. Ashampoo Uninstaller 4 provides automatic backups and a Reinstaller to reinstall programs with all their settings, an advance hard disk defragmenter, a file wiper, a file undeleter, and Internet cleaner, a Windows Registry cleaner, a Windows system restore manager, file and folder backup, etc.


Does it do what it promises?

Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request: This program does much more than its name implies. Rather than just being an advanced uninstaller program, it is a suite of Windows management tools. This is a mixed bag since some of the extra tools did not work as well as other programs which were dedicated to doing just one or a few of these tasks exceedingly well.

Reviewer 2 – Peter Royle: Yes, it does fairly uninstall programs if the “before" and "after" analysis has been done; but, there are free programs that do the same more efficiently. It also includes other tools and file and disk management utilities. Some work well, and others are less effective than programs that specialise in those particular features.

Reviewer 3 – Dana Bostick: Ashampoo Uninstaller is an application that has several additional utilities in addition to its uninstalling functions. It actually contains over a dozen Windows maintenance tools to defragment discs, wipe files, undelete files, an "Internet cleaner", a Windows Registry cleaner, a Windows system restore point manager, a file and folder backup, a drag and drop Uninstaller, a Start Menu cleanup tool, and font management tools. I found all these tools to be functional and useful.

Reviewer 4 – Mark Snyder: Yes. As its main function, the Uninstaller does remove all traces of programs when using this software with the before and after snapshot function.


Was it easy to install?

Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request: Installation was complicated by a diversion to install an Ashampoo Toolbar with the options to set MyAshampoo Web search as my homepage and MyAshampoo Web search as my default search. This is essentially an entirely different program than Ashampoo Uninstaller and has its own separate license agreement. I opted not to install this Toolbar, which was both flagged as “recommended” in parenthesis and checked to install by default.

One outstanding feature is that it checks for updates automatically during installation and gives the option to install them on the spot.

Ashampoo Uninstaller’s license agreement is restrictive in that it allows installation on only one computer at a time and it permits only one backup copy. In today’s world where multiple backups of one’s computer are essential, it is impossible or irresponsible to avoid violating the latter part of the agreement. Otherwise, the license agreement seems relatively simple and standard.

Reviewer 2 – Peter Royle: Yes, it is a standard Windows installation that allowed me to put the program and its icons in the locations of my choice. The licence in the EULA screen allows for the program to be installed on one computer only, although it may be used by all users of that computer. If it is moved to another machine, it must be uninstalled from the first one. A second screen appears that gives technical information about the program, links to the program Web site, and support if needed. The full address of the company is also provided. The downloaded file allows for a limited trial version, but if one furnishes his email address, a licence code is provide to extend the trial period to 30 days.

When I first installed Ashampoo, it also created a link to "The Page" -- "Create your own welcome page for free with your own name as a logo." What is this and what has it to do with an uninstallation program? This unnecessary, unneeded and unwanted bit of fluff is, unfortunately, a warning of things to come.

After I completed the registration, I was informed that there was an update available. It downloaded the file, found the original installation folder, and went through the process with no need for user input. The update process actually worked better than the original installation. When it finished, though, it brought me to an Ashampoo page that offers a whole set of other "Exclusive offers for Ashampoo Users -- Limited Time Only." This was not appreciated. It needed a reboot to complete the installation.

Recently another update was announced. Like the first one, it was easily installed over my current version with little need for user intervention. Unfortunately, it proposed that I install additional stuff along with the program. This time the "Ashampoo Toolbar" was recommended, along with setting the MyAshampoo Web search as my homepage and the MyAshampoo Web search as my default search. I declined.

But again, when the installation was finished, I was brought to an Ashampoo page where more offers were made. This is a waste of my time and bandwidth. Finally, this upgrade had somehow lost track of my registration information, and I had reenter my registration key and another ad appeared. Fortunately I saw a settings button; when I clicked on that, I found that I could shut off these so-called ‘service channels' which I thankfully did.

Tim Schiemann, Product Manager for aShampoo replies: Please note that some of our customers actually do profit from our Ashampoo toolbar, service channel or service letters.

Just a few example: All our products are priced at 50% discount from within the toolbar. Furthermore all our products can easily be found and directly downloaded from within the toolbar. I personally like getting automatic news, TV, radio and direct access to social networks or YouTube from our toolbar but of course that is for each user to decide.

All our products can be bought at 25% – 70 % discount from within service channels. If you are using older Ashampoo applications Upgrades to successor versions are generally offered from 50 % - 80 % discount within service channels. Of course the same and / or even better discounts can be made from within our regular service letters.

Furthermore please note that disabling the update channel will deprive you of updates and improvements that might fix problems of predecessor versions. Again all of this is optional. So if you don’t want service-, update channels, Ashampoo toolbar or service letters, there is no problem, just deactivate, uninstall, or unsubscribe.
Reviewer 3 – Dana Bostick: While the installation was fairly easy, it does need to be monitored as there are a lot of "pre-checked" choices that the installer makes that one may not desire. The typical choices that one normally finds such as desktop icon, quick launch icon, install for all users or only current user are normal but pre-checked. The other not-so-normal items were to install "the-Page.com" icon on the desktop which links to www.thePage.net that appears to be a way to build a custom start page.
A few things that I found objectionable during the install process were Ashampoo’s attempt to install something called "service channels" for Ashampoo news, new programs and updates. It also attempts to install an Ashampoo toolbar, to set “MyAShampoo” custom start page as the search home page in my browser, and set MyAShampoo as the default search. (See comments about the "The Page.net" personal home page above) While all of these were optional, if one doesn’t pay attention during the installation he will get a lot of unexpected surprises.

Reviewer 4 – Mark Snyder: No. While not a huge program at 10.27MB that downloaded in only 35 seconds on a moderately fast broadband connection, it is not small, and I resent the several hoops that must be jumped through to avoid installing unwanted toolbars, search engines, and third party software that are not only bloatware but add to the size of the initial download. There is a standard wizard to aid in installation, which was smooth and event-free as was the registration, but I was also less than happy that, by default, it places itself in my start-up program running a process in the background. I appreciated the choice to install a desktop and/or Quick Launch icon, but was dismayed that it installed two desktop icons rather than the expected single icon. One needs also be aware that while it is a 10.27MB download, it suggests that “at least” 18.9MB of hard drive space is needed (it occupied 24.0MB on my hard drive) and that this space will increase in time depending on “snap shots” of installations, log files, backups, etc. The EULA (End user License Agreement) was a fairly standard single license, i.e. use on only a single computer, which I do find penurious-especially for software priced at $49.99 US. It contained the standard disclaimers as to liability, i.e. none.

Tim Schiemann, Product Manager for Ashampoo replies: Please always read and apply the setup options according to your needs while you install the software. We take a lot of care to always integrate options for all additional content so that our customers can choose what they feel comfortable with and please bear in mind that things that you might dislike someone else might love. In the north of Germany we have a saying: was der Baur nich keent dat freet die nich which, translated, means something like what the farmer does not know he wont eat.


Good points.

Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request: As soon as a program is detected as being installed, an Ashampoo window pops up asking whether one wishes to monitor the installation. If the user opts to have his installation monitored, then Ashampoo Uninstaller captures a snapshot of the current configuration. After the installation is complete, he is asked to start and exit the installed program before saving an installation log. This log file reportedly can help later to remove all traces of the installed program. The process of uninstalling a program which had its installation monitored seemed to be very thorough when it worked (see below). Uninstallation of previously unmonitored programs did not seem remarkably different than uninstalling them through the “Add or Remove Programs” function built into Windows.

The Duplicate File Finder did a fast and efficient job of finding duplicates with appropriate options for their selection, clearing listings of their names and location, and providing appropriate warnings posted about dangerous file deletion. The only feature I found lacking was the ability to open the files from this display.

Once the initial error display was bypassed (see below) and a single drive was selected, the “File Undelete” function gave a nice description of the files, which might be recovered, and a clear graphic showing the likelihood of their successful recovery.

Reviewer 2 – Peter Royle: The Ashampoo Uninstaller main window makes it very easy to navigate to the different modules of the program. Actually, this is one of its best features in terms of program presentation and design. It makes me think of a loose-leaf binder, as down the left side are six tabs representing the six modules of the program: Overview, Uninstaller, Actions, Advanced Functions, Tools and Manage. Except for the Uninstaller tab, all the others produce large buttons of the "Assistants and Tools". To the right there is a constantly changing “Information Window.” As the cursor is moved over each of the Assistant/Tool Buttons, the text in the Information Window tells what that particular feature does. Clicking on Help, or using the F1-key will instantly call up context-sensitive help. The Help itself is also well-designed and easy to navigate, using underlined links, buttons on the toolbar at the top, the Explorer-style tree on the left or the Index, Search and Favorites Tabs above the Explorer Tree.

The Uninstaller Module goes directly to a window that looks like the Add/Remove feature of Windows, although it is much more complete. A nice touch is a check-box "Hide Windows Updates", that quickly reduces the clutter normally seen in the Add/Remove Applet of Windows. Many of the programs listed there will have been installed before Ashampoo Uninstaller. To see only those which have been installed with the help of Ashampoo, one should uncheck "Display apps without log file"..

Ashampoo puts an "Installation Monitor" in the system tray. As a new program is installed, this Monitor starts the process of keeping track of what changes that new program will bring to the computer. This is all recorded in a "Log File" of the changes: Registry Changes, "File Changes" and "System File Changes." When that program is uninstalled, Ashampoo will use this log file to remove all the new files that program had added to the computer, restore the Registry entries, and replace any files that had either been changed or deleted in the program installation. I found that it was useful to take a look at those logs because they gave an interesting perspective on what the new programs did to my computer. Sometimes, one program will conflict with another. Although I did not install enough programs with the Ashampoo Monitor to verify this, I expect that someone who uses it all the time could sometimes find the source of conflicts in these log files.

During uninstallation of a program, one is given the option of creating a reinstall file. This is an interesting feature that I have not seen in other Uninstaller programs; it can be used to restore a program that has been removed from one’s computer. I tried this out with one program that I was testing. After completely eliminating it, I asked Ashampoo to restore it. The Uninstallation was a bit confusing, though, because references were made to both the Uninstallation and the Restore process at the same time. However, the Restore was quick and simple, with only one choice offered, asking if I really wanted to restore the program in question.

In addition to the uninstallation features of this program, there is a grab bag of other disk and file management tools. Similar to the Uninstall features of Ashampoo, there are safety features built in where they may be important. For example, in the "Find and Delete temporary files" a backup check-box is selected by default.

The opening screen for each tool shows the Information Window, one-click access to Help, and panels with the choices or activities relevant to that particular tool. They are also complete: for example, the disk defragmentation tool has all the choices I have seen in dedicated defrag programs. I was less impressed by the Registry Cleaner since the results of running the Registry scan were very skimpy compared to my regular Registry scan program.

Ashampoo includes a "Manage Fonts" module, which is an interesting feature. Installed fonts are displayed and those never used can be deleted.

Reviewer 3 – Dana Bostick: The main functionality of this program is achieved by using "snapshots" of the system Registry files, both before and after an installation. These can then be compared and used in various ways for system maintenance and later uninstallation of an unwanted program. This "comparison method" is fairly foolproof as any changes made to the system during installation can be easily discovered and undone. By using these snapshots, Ashampoo can uninstall and reinstall a program and not lose any the customized settings that you may have made.

During an uninstallation routine, Ashampoo provides a very in-depth view of the files that one will be working with.

Reviewer 4 – Mark Snyder: Once again, all of those often used metaphors or phrases such as “the Swiss army knife of”, or such and such is a program “on steroids” applies here. While branding and defining itself an “Uninstaller,” Ashampoo Uninstaller has packed the program with multiple tools—most of which have nothing to do with uninstalling a program (font manager, Registry cleaner, hard disc defragmenter, Internet cleanup tool, undelete tool, file wiper, duplicate file finder, etc.) and most of which can be found for free elsewhere. So, I will concentrate on the program’s stated and advertised purpose, i.e. uninstallation of installed software programs and those related tools, which performed well.

point By taking a before and after “snap shot” of one’s entire system including all Registry entries, the locations, dates, sizes, and versions of all files and the contents of all configuration files which it places in log files, it can then compare before and after any software installation to make sure it returns the system exactly as it was prior to any installation. This is a complicated procedure and did work very well.

point The program offers what it calls an “Installation Monitor” which is simply the program running in real time or background and thus automatically creating the above mentioned snap shots anytime it detects a software installation.

point There is a Reinstaller feature, which allows reinstalling an uninstalled program without the hassle of downloading it and configuring it all over again.

point The program installs a second desktop icon that serves as a drag and drop location. One can drag and drop a program to the desktop icon where the program will be uninstalled. This worked well also but I found it no more convenient than simply using the regular program and thus saving the real estate on my desktop.

point Additionally, the program allows one to remove orphaned entries from the Windows Add/Remove applet; monitor program activities and log any system changes a program; and it can search for and remove remnants of failed software installations.

point There is a uniquely generous trial period that can be made available for a total of 40 days.

Again, each of the above tools worked reasonably well in my testing. After removing programs using AShampoo Uninstaller, I did a manual search for leftover files or folders or Registry entries and could find none, neither could Macecraft’s jv16, which I have long relied on for this very important clean-up function. I also ran two additional Registry cleaners and neither found any orphaned keys in the Registry left over from programs installed using the Shampoo snap shot method of installation/uninstallation. The other many tools contained in this program worked as promised with only a very few stumbles.


Weak points.

Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request: While the Uninstall portion of this package is intended to take a snapshot of the configuration of one’s system before a program is installed, and compare it to the configuration afterwards, there is no “big red flag” to delay the new program’s installation while the snapshot is completed. Therefore, I was able to proceed with the installation of a program before Uninstaller’s initial snapshot was completed.

I also performed a monitored installation where I waited until I had fully installed, run, and shutdown the newly installed program before completing the post-installation snapshot. When I searched for the snapshot, it had disappeared from my system. When I attempted to uninstall the new program, no installation log file was found and so Ashampoo Uninstaller was unable to assist me in the uninstall process.

The defragmentation portion of the program simply did not work well on my system. I highlighted a drive and, in either analyze of defragmentation mode, it crawled to a stop after highlighting a handful of sector blocks in color code.

The “service channel” annoyingly popped up Web pages showing other Ashampoo products that could be purchased. Fortunately, there is a configuration page, which allowed this feature to be turned off.

While the “Manage Fonts” section does a nice job listing and previewing fonts, it does nothing to indicate which fonts are “system fonts” or about where, when, or if the font was used. Therefore this tool that is described as intuitive and easy can disrupt a system by encouraging one to delete a needed font.

While the “Manage Restore Points” does a nice job of listing the system’s restore points and their description, it does very little else that isn’t already capable of being done within Windows.

The “Find and Delete Invalid Links” section generated a number of “exception errors” during its scan. The results of this search, however, appeared to be mostly valid.

The “Undelete File” section also generated “exception errors” with the title “Windows – No Disk” as soon as it was started. This error could not be further explained, but once the next screen was displayed and a single drive selected, the undelete functioned normally.

Reviewer 2 – Peter Royle: There is a choice on the Main Screen of Ashampoo Uninstaller "Learn How Uninstaller Works." I thought that this was a tutorial that would take me through the processes used by the program. I quickly got lost. Whereas in other places, the help is very well-done, I did not know what this was trying to do. The first step took me to the Registry itself, where I was in RegEdit mode. This tool is used by those who know what they are doing to edit the Registry. We are always warned in bold letters to be sure to back up the Registry before making any changes, because errors can seriously mess up how the computer functions or cause it not to function at all. Since I had neither backed up the Registry, nor was I sure whether I was editing the Registry or not, I withdrew very gingerly, and decided that this tool was a bad idea. I tried it several times, but eventually gave it up.

Ashampoo Uninstaller will put an icon on the desktop: "Drag & Drop Deinstallation." However, this only works with programs installed using the Ashampoo Monitor. One of the other programs that I have used has a "Hunter" mode. When this is activated, I can drag a program file or shortcut to the Hunter icon and it will "deinstall" just about anything, much more powerful than the Ashampoo Drag & Drop.

Even though the "Installation Monitor" has been in my System Tray for several months, it has often missed noticing the installation of new programs. When it does suddenly appear, its window either gets in the way of the windows of the installation procedure underway, or disappears behind it. This will either obscure the installation, or cause Ashampoo to miss critical steps in creating its log-file for later uninstallation. Since most installation windows seem to have a fairly small screen in the center of the computer screen, Ashampoo should, by default, place its own windows somewhere else, where they will be seen, and not get lost in the installation procedure. Making itself different from the "normal" installation window would also help to reduce the confusion.

The time that Ashampoo takes to create its pre-installation log procedure is long and tedious, usually stalling a program installation by several minutes. Maybe it needs to take a snapshot of the complete hard-drive, and all the other associated, affiliated, connected drives, folders and directories. I know that I can deselect other drives, but why they are there by default escapes me. Even when I had changed that setting so that it would examine only the c:\ drive, it took a long time before any program I was installing could continue its procedure. At the end of the installation process, the Installation Monitor prompts to start, then quit the new program immediately, so it can write its “Log File”. This is not always practical or even possible. In more than one case, I lost track of the opening steps in a program that Ashampoo was monitoring and I had to close it for Ashampoo to complete its work.

I really do not recommend that anyone sign up for the Ashampoo "Newsletters" and open themselves to too much junk email and advertising for many products. I could accept "News" about the particular program I have installed, but do not need all the other flyers about all the other stuff.

Reviewer 3 – Dana Bostick: While I felt the program itself was very good at doing what it does, I did object to its attempts to make changes to my system during the installation process that I didn't want. Adding unwanted toolbars and start up items is a hallmark of malware, not a legitimate program. I also felt that this very able program could be more than a bit confusing for the novice user by providing far too much information and too many "decision points" for someone not familiar with all of the deep down workings of the Windows Registry and operating system.

Reviewer 4 – Mark Snyder: As I have stated before in these reviews, all too often more is less and, with Ashampoo Uninstaller, this is again the case. Rather than concentrating on offering an excellent uninstaller, they have chosen instead to pack this program full of unrelated tools that, in my opinion, detracts from its main purpose and makes its use more difficult than need be. As a result, the program and the GUI (Graphic User Interface) become so cluttered as to be almost impossible to used effectively. In addition, I have to seriously question the decision to include a duplicate file finder that, as is commonly known, left in the hands of anyone but an expert can instantly render a computer unusable. Beyond these general criticisms, I found the following items to be problematic at best and cause for concern at worst.

point First and foremost is Ashampoo's decision to engage in what I believe to be one of the most onerous practices we have begun seeing today in software downloads: the attempt to install other programs as a part of the installation process. In this instance, if not careful, one will install a new search engine as the default search engine, a new homepage, etc. Worse still, installing the “recommended” toolbar will also install several third-party programs ranging from a radio player, TV player, social media apps, games, etc. Even more egregious, Ashampoo is not content to try to trap the user once but even after installing, a second window pops up with even more offers (all pre-checked for acceptance, of course) of additional software. I know that many software developers--many respected developers such as Adobe--are now doing this as a deceptive form of raising advertising dollars, but this does not make it right nor does it indicate to me a company that is consumer oriented. In fact, I refuse to recommend any software program or developer than engages in this practice—especially of pre-checking the boxes to install this bloatware by default.

point The program itself did not work smoothly but would freeze upon opening when clicking on the help file or “About” tab. It would run my CPU at 100% and I could only shut the program down by opening Task Manager and killing the process. Usually on opening a second time it would settle down and work properly, but not always. It was always hit-or-miss. I contacted support and was told to reinstall the program, which I did but the same problem occurred.

Tim Schiemann, Product Manager for Ashampoo, replied: Ashampoo UnInstaller 4 has a fully context-sensitive help system. To display the online help file just press the F1 key or select Help in the Help menu or application dialogs to view the topic of this help file most relevant to what you are currently doing. If you get really stuck you can contact Ashampoo Support, but please study the help carefully first -- we've put a lot of effort into making it as comprehensive as possible and chances are you'll find the answer here if you look! The help file contains roundabout 32851 words and about 79 different topics.

point Support. The only technical support is by email only with no indication of turn around time. In my tests for support, one email was never answered and a second was answered only after three days with a recommended fix that did not resolve the problem. There is no customer forum, no demo or tutorials available on the Web site, and the built in help files are typically skeletal. This is not what I would call adequate for a software program that insinuates itself so deeply and intricately into one’s operating system with all of the potential for problems inherent in such, and certainly not for a program that is charging $49.99.

While almost any one of these items is cause for concern, I am prevented from recommending this program simply due to the above referred to bloatware that it attempts to install by default. If one installs and uninstalls a lot of programs, then this might be worth considering; however, there are other free programs available such as Revo, which will do much the same thing, as well, and without the high overhead of Ashampoo Uninstaller.

Tim Schiemann, Product Manager of Ashampoo replied: At Ashampoo we believe that support is part of the product. We provide free email support for all our products, including freeware, shareware and trial versions. If you have any problems with or questions about our products please contact our support staff at one of these addresses:

Support Web site:  http://www.ashampoo.com/support

 Email support:  sis@ashampoo.com 

Please do not hesitate to email our support team again if any problems with our applications may arise or something is still unclear. Our support manager and support team answers more or less 5000 support emails each week. I don't know what went wrong regarding your unanswered questions and of course we are only human and mistakes might happen. Not all problems can be solved but please be assured that normally all questions of customers are handled with great care and respect and we take criticism seriously and try to improve our applications from our users feedback. Please send us your problem reports and bug reports so that all issues can be resolved in the future.


Developer's Web site.

Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request: The Web site is more commercial than most. Ashampoo produces a wide variety of programs and they are all there with substantial cross-promotion. For example, when one upgrades the Uninstaller, he is redirected to a Web page offering an “exclusive offer” for another of their products. The description of Ashampoo Uninstaller is clear and thorough.

The support section contained about nine questions and answers dealing primarily with installation or registration problems. Notably missing was a user forum or any other format where tips for using the program or discovering its nuances could be found.

Ashampoo Uninstaller detected Avast Antivirus’s update as a fresh installation and popped up a monitoring screen each time it updated. There was no way to automatically ignore or suppress this.

The “Manage Services” section seemed to provide the same functionality provided under Windows.

Reviewer 2 – Peter Royle: Ashampoo seems to have many programs that are brightly advertised on the Web site. Information about the Uninstaller is there, but is hard to find in the plethora of other products from Ashampoo. The advertising for Ashampoo products is truly distracting. Anyone who is looking for support for Ashampoo Uninstaller must navigate through the Main Site support menu, then look for the Uninstall segment -- under the title "Magic Uninstall", finding the FAQ that deals mostly with installation and activation problems. If this does not solve the problem, one will eventually find the online support form. My overall impression is that the site is heavily geared towards marketing and much less towards assistance or factual information about the product.

The price in Canadian dollars on the Web site when I was checking, was $12.50 more than it should have been, according to the actual currency exchange rate for that day. This means that the currency update function on the Ashampoo Web site, if one exists, was weeks out-of-date.

Reviewer 3 – Dana Bostick: This was one very busy Web site! Apparently, Ashampoo offers 27 different applications! The layout was actually fairly clear and easy to navigate using all the typical menu functions one would find on a Web site of this type. There is a search box at the top of the page to help find something as well as top and left side menu selections to hone in on the different types of software

There is a scrollable list of titles available at the top of the homepage and a tool called "Product finder" that asks, "What do you want to do?" By selecting various checkboxes in this product finder, the company will make suggestions about which software offering might be suitable for one’s needs. There was only one slightly distracting flash animation running on the right-hand side of the page offering their "Burning Studio" application. Clicking this ad navigates to a CNet download page.

Reviewer 4 – Mark Snyder: The Web site is little more than a billboard for advertising Ashampoo's other products, complete with banner and flash ads. In fact, until one realizes that it can be closed, the banner ad that appears across the top of the site actually covers the tabs for locating support, etc. I think that alone tells where this developer’s priorities are. There are no help files, no real FAQ, no forum, no demos or tutorials—nothing to help the consumer, just to sell to the consumer.

Tim Schiemann, Product Manager for Ashampoo, replied: Our Web site is being improved at all times and a complete redesign will hopefully go online by mid-year, so that you will hopefully have less trouble finding the needed information about our products.


Other comments.

Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request: It has been my experience that programs that try to do too many functions do few of them exceedingly well. In my hands, Ashampoo Uninstaller seems to hold to this rule.

Reviewer 2 – Peter Royle: I like the concept of an Uninstaller, mainly because Windows Add or Remove Programs is so basic. Given its name, I expected the Ashampoo Uninstaller to uninstall, clean up the Registry items, broken links, and scattered bits and pieces; and, offer to delete any left-over directories and files once the uninstallation was done. Adding a lot of other functions leads to bloatware, which this seems to have become. It needs 18.5 MB of disk space, according to the update installation; my other uninstallers take up around 2 MB. It is also much more expensive than similar programs.

Reviewer 3 – Dana Bostick: Ashampoo’s primary means of an uninstallation is to monitor and compare an installation log that it created. That's fairly straightforward. If, on the other hand, the program was not monitored by the Installation Monitor running in the system tray or predates the installation of Ashampoo, I would strongly recommend the use of the "Uninstall Assistant" feature to step through the process of removing a program. This "Wizard" style procedure walks through the installation and helps one you make needed decisions. After stepping through each screen using the "Next" button one will be given the opportunity to review all the selections made before actually deleting anything.

Ashampoo Uninstaller significantly extends the time needed to install any program if the installation Monitor is used as intended. It effectively does a basic complete Registry backup, called a snapshot, before and after the installation. This can take a while. On the other hand, doing so makes uninstallation and reinstallation if desired an easy task.

The Internet Cleaner tool allows deleting temporary cache files and records of visited sites as well as managing cookies in both Firefox and Internet Explorer. The Find and Delete Invalid Links tool does just what it says, searching the Registry for invalid links and displaying a page of all links found that are then marked as skipped, valid or invalid. One can then choose to delete any invalid links if desired. The Find and Delete Empty Folders tool allows one to select any connected drive for scanning and also select individual directories within a drive by clicking on the + next to that drive. With Find and Delete Duplicate Files one must exercise caution. Sometimes there are duplicate files for a reason and deleting them can cause problems. The Undelete Files tool can be used to delete any unintentionally deleted files. Any connected drive may be scanned and the utility displays all deleted files found and assigns a "grade" to that file (Lost, Poor, Doubtful, or Good) about chances for recovering it. Delete Files Permanently offers five different schemes for permanently deleting files: overwrite data once, overwrite data three times, overwrite data seven times, DoD style three times or an extremely secure 35 overwrite procedures.

The final tab on the main interface is called "Manage" and it allows one to manage restore points, services, Internet Explorer add-ons, the backup files and folders, a font manager, restore backup files and to check for invalid installation entries. On my system, the list is rather extensive, running from 911 through 984, each containing a date and description of why this restore point was established.

Reviewer 4 – Mark Snyder: This is program that disappointingly fails to follow through on its stated purpose and instead seems to want to justify a high cost by packing the program full of unrelated tools. As I stated above, the actual uninstall processes worked well, and the before and after snap shot function is an innovative and worthwhile idea as it will provide for clean uninstalls—something that generally requires a lot of manual work by someone with some computer expertise to do effectively. Focus on that part of the program and that only, reduce the cost to $29.95, and stop trying to entrap customers in to downloading and installing unnecessary bloatware and this could have been a program I would have been happy to recommend.

A final irony came when I attempted to uninstall Ashampoo Uninstaller. Even one of the most aggressive and complete uninstall programs, Revo, was unable to uninstall it completely and I was informed that a manual uninstall would be needed. The manual uninstall revealed one file, and 48 remnants in the Windows Registry. One would think that a software program that provides itself in being the best and most complete uninstaller would contain proper code for a complete uninstallation of itself. One other note of concern: During the uninstallation process a Web site ominously tried to open in Internet Explorer and this was prevented by my firewall, indicating a "highjack alert."

Tim Schiemann, Product Manager for Ashampoo, replied: Ashampoo feeds about 60 employees and their families and we take great pride in creating easy to use shareware that the customer can test up to 40 days without having to pay a cent; so, for us, it’s very important that it’s the user’s choice alone after evaluating our products if they actually want to buy our products. Besides our 40 different shareware products we also offer about ten products that are completely free of charge.

Of course our applications might have bugs and errors since no application is perfect; but, we also have a bug tracker and a great test department that works hard to improve the quality of all our applications. We can only improve what is buggy or not working if you contact our support and let us know what actually went wrong; but, please also bear in mind that not all bugs and problems are actually caused by Ashampoo. Other software, hardware and Microsoft sometimes also causes our applications not to work as they should. I could go on and on and go into your program criticisms but I will consider them when we think about what to implement and improve in Ashampoo Uninstaller 5.


Will you continue to use it?

Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request: No. Despite some nice features, this program’s performance was too inconsistent, and too many error messages generated, for me to want to continue with it.

Reviewer 2 – Peter Royle. No.

Reviewer 3 – Dana Bostick: Yes. I have used many "uninstaller" applications over the years. They all worked slightly differently and were either easy or difficult to use depending on how much decision-making was left up to the user. Most are fairly much an "all or nothing" process. Ashampoo Uninstaller Pro lands in the "High Techie” end of the spectrum and earns the "Pro" name in its title. It is fine-grained in its analysis but flexible. The added features above and beyond the simple uninstall function only add to its utility. I will keep my primary Uninstaller application for the "quick and dirty" removal of an application. If I really need to fine tune the process and save settings so that the application can then reinstalled, I will use Ashampoo Uninstaller Pro.

Reviewer 4 – Mark Snyder: No.

OPERATING SYSTEMS USED IN THIS REVIEW
Windows XP Pro, XP Home

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