Logon password will expire in 5 days

Clairvaux said:

How do you trace drivers ? Not through Task Manager ?

Well I keep an eye on drivers using various softwares but when uninstalling a program - if it installed a driver and it happens to be running then I stop the driver and delete it before uninstalling the software. There's no way you should do that without a proper backup as deleting a critical driver can leave you with an unbootable machine. Particularly if you mess about with drivers that are installed by security software!

I used to keep Driver Radar Pro (free) installed but after a while I ditched it. It lists current drivers and whitelists them then notifies you if any new drivers launch or are installed. What I am concerned with is unsigned drivers but I use other software that checks any new files before they get to run so I don't need Driver Radar Pro any longer.

Clairvaux said:

Layback Bear said:

I do things these days a little different removing things.

*First I remove the program using Ccleaner.

*Then I check Windows Search for left overs. Windows Search never finds anything, of course.

*Then I use the little program Everything Search. Great little program.

*Then to finish things off i do a (regedit) search.

Very interesting. So you're doing it all by hand.

Thanks for letting me realise, by the way, that C-Cleaner could uninstall software. I'm well aware of its window where it shows installed software, and I frequently use it because it's better than Windows. But it hadn't struck me that you could as well uninstall programs from there.

What do you search for ? Only the program name ? Including in the registry ?

Would all items bearing the program name in the registry be related to that program's installation, and therefore be eligible for deletion ? Would it be possible that some other software, which should not be deleted, refer in the registry, by name, to the program currently being uninstalled ?

Conversely, couldn't there be some registry items, recorded at installation, that would not bear the program name at all, but just an undecipherable string of letters or numbers ?

Their is always a chance of something being left behind no matter what method is used.
With scans with Malwarebytes, MSE, SAS, AdwCleaner and Eset along with Ccleaner the odds of something left behind that will damage a system or call home are slim in my opinion.

Yes I do those things manually.