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What is an Uninstaller Key?

Posted: July 5, 2009

Any computer system employing one of the several different Windows operating systems contains a registry, and a computer's registry contains a built in Uninstaller mechanism that can be utilized to remove unwanted programs by using a specific program's registry entry to easily uninstall a particular program.

A Basic Understanding of Window's Registry Importance

Your computer system's registry is a hierarchical framework that contains all of the core data, configurations, and essential settings for your system. The registry is a vital and necessary part of your computer system. Without its registry, your computer would not be able to launch Windows OR perform any of the essential functions that you rely on it to perform for you each and every day.

Increasingly, technologies – especially our favorite individual computers – continue to become more and more a key part of our daily lives. For many of us general, modern-day, twenty-first century computer users, our dependency on computers rivals that of our dependency on cell-phones to get us through the day. In many workplaces, computers are even considered necessities than cannot be done without.

With this said, regardless of how much we continue to rely on our technologies, most of us continue to be befuddled and baffled by all of the inner workings and core functions of our computer systems. Most general computer users probably do not even see the point in seeking out a better understanding of such things, but the registry is an imperative part of a Windows-based system. It is both useful and helpful to have at least a basic knowledge of its fundamental and essential components. Your registry's Uninstaller is one such fundamental and essential component.

Defining Your Uninstaller and Uninstalling Programs Using Your Computer's Registry

Most computers can boasts a few different uninstall tools. One of the more popular and most used uninstall tools found on a computer running a Windows OS is the 'Currently installed programs' list, which is located in the 'add/remove programs' tool. While this list is helpful for managing many programs, difficulties can arise when you attempt to remove or uninstall certain programs and/or types of programs.

This particular component of your system's registry is especially important in terms of your computer's security environment. Various harmful applications – namely programs, such as malware, rogue anti-spyware, trojans, spyware, worms, and other harmful and dangerous computer security threats – are well-known for their penchant of corrupting compromised computer systems' registries.

This is where your computer's registry comes to your aid. Anytime a new program is added to your computer, a registry entry is automatically created. Even if you are unaware of the programs installation, you can be sure that a registry entry will be created for it. Likewise, for every currently installed program that exists on your computer, there is a corresponding uninstall entry located in your system's registry. These uninstall entry's are a part of their respective programs' uninstaller registry paths.

In other words, for any and all programs currently installed on your system – including those of a malicious, hard-to-remove nature – your computer's registry can be employed to uninstall them. This is true of any existing installed programs on your computer. Your registry can be utilized to remove them, via their uninstaller registry paths and uninstall entries.

You can find the uninstall strings for most applications in the following uninstaller registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

All of the uninstall entries contained on your computer are grouped together in your system's registry under a registry entry, titled 'uninstall'. This makes the process of finding, choosing, and uninstalling a specific, unwanted, and/or difficult to remove program, using your registry, straight-forward and pretty simple.

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