You frequently do have to manually delete folders and registry references after you uninstall insistent software, if you want it all gone.  To remove (nearly) all of it, you may have to do a search on the registry for McAfee, which can take some time - or you can use a registry cleaner that will "fix" broken links and remove unaddressable or unaddressed execuables (see below).  You can check (Start / Run / msconfig / Startup (tab)) for a McAfee startup, although it may be labeled unintelligibly.  There are also a couple of registry keys that contain startup files that are run at boot, but I can't think of the names at the moment (one is "RunOnce").  Maybe someone else knows??  There is also boot.ini - some of these paid apps can be very sneaky about where they put things once they get a "foot in the door" in your computer.

There are a couple of windows and registry cleaners that are free, have been around for many years, and are excellent and safe.  I have used them for years and never had a single problem. (I did, however, have a problem with Registry Mechanic, for which I paid a hefty price and had to abandon because I could not trust it.)

First, backup your registry with the free and completely safe ERUNT - then you can always restore your registry if you see anything you don't like.  For instance, at first, when I cleaned things, I let the cleaner clear my "Start/Run" MRU list/history (the list of things you have entered into the / Start / Run / textbox), which I like to keep.  But I just restored my registry with ERUNT and changed the cleaner's options to keep that particular history list.  

I use ERUNT before defragging also, just in case the PC shuts down in the middle - power outage or something.  After you clean everything, you can use NTREGOPT to defrag your registry.  It is free and safe.  And you can use ERUNT to restore your entire registry if you have any problem.  These apps have been around for many years.   ERUNT is small and fast, backups your registry in seconds.  You can even set it to automatically make a new backup once a day when you start the PC and have it store the files where you can get to them from Windows Recovery Panel in case you can't boot the machine.

http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
Shows separate column for ntregopt, but if you look in the middle of the second box on the left under ERUNT you will see where it says in bold "includes NTREGOPT."

Windows - Registry - Internet trace Cleaners: (Free, but they accept donations if you like the apps) (I use all three)

    CCleaner by Piriform    (over 285,000,000 downloads)
    http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/   
   http://www.ccleaner.com/     

    Eusing Free Internet Window Washer    
    http://www.eusing.com/Window_Washer/Window_Washer.htm
    http://www.eusing.com

    Eusing Free Registry Cleaner 
    http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm 
    http://www.eusing.com
        Note that you can "analyze" and clean sections of the registry separately, 
        so that instead of a huge confusing listing, you get a limited list and you
        know what type of problems you are looking at (dead shortcuts, broken
        links, etc.).  Although, you don't NEED to know - you can trust these
        apps to know.

The best, very best, insurance is an app like Aronis True Image.  You can keep an image file of your hard drive when it is working well, and restore it whenever you wish, whether windows will boot or not.  This is far better than System Restore, which can be dicey and is limited to a recent timeframe.  

You can make an image file before you install something, then, if you don't like it, you can restore the image, which removes EVERY TRACE of the installation by restoring you to a point in time BEFORE you installed it.  The restore is very fast if you consider it is restoring the entire hard drive or partition - certainly way faster than trying to track down app traces manually.

With an image file, you can keep the original install image to put EVERYTHING on the hard drive or partition back exactly as it was when the PC was brand new, plus a current image file (and in-between image files, if you wish).  (see below about keeping current documents & email, etc.)  If you keep a journal (shortcut on quicklaunch or start menu) of installs and changes made between images, you can restore your pc to any point in time just by restoring an image and following your journal to the current point, minus any problems (malware) or dicey downloads.

You must, of course, create the image file on a different drive or partition than the partition you are imaging, so this type of app works best - much easier - if you have a second hard drive (or external HD).  But you can partition one drive and store the images on the second partition.  You can still save many of them by writing them to DVD, but it is certainly more cumbersome.  Although, I would make several DVD copies of a fresh install and store them at different locations.  You can get two or three image files on one DVD, along with the files necessary to restore them to a formatted HD without Windows even being pre-installed.  This will not "get around" activation - the hardware still has to be close enough to the hardware hash (which can include parts serial numbers) that is stored in the image file,

Be aware that the image file restore will also restore My Documents and your email folders/settings back to what they were at the time the image was made, so you will want back these up before restoring the image and then restore them back on top of the restored image.  

I have My Documents and my email store (O.E.) moved to a separate partition, so they are not included in my images (smaller images) and are not clobbered by a restore (I back them up separately).  If you want to do this, ask how, because there is a particular way to move these files so Windows does not get confused and the internal user shortcuts all still work properly.  You can't just drag/move these items.  

I also use the "folder relocation" options, within any application that permits it (MSWord 2003, Outlook Express, most apps), to reassign the data folder location to the DOCUMENTS partition intead of the system partition so they are with my data backups rather than within the system image files and so are not affected at all when an image file is restored.

An image of the system partition is the safest way to avoid problems with any kind of restore AND the quickest, surest way to escape a virus on your hard drive - you just restore an image made before you got the virus, trojan, etc. and "pouf" it never existed.  

The OS, Registry, and Program Files (installed programs) should be backed up (imaged) together as a single unit at a given point in time because they are intertwined (this is preferable to just backing up the registry - ERUNT is good for a temporary backup, but if you restore an OLD registry to a changed set of installed programs or settings, etc. you can end up with a mess).  My Documents and email stores are best separated from the OS and best backed up separately.  I maintain an uncompressed, FAT exact duplicate of these folders on a separate hard drive (using SecondCopy by Centered Systems), so they can be manipulated anytime, anywhere, by pretty much anything and are safe even if the system/document HD fails.

Acronis and SecondCopy are not free, but they have proved to be WELL worth EVERY PENNY I paid for them.  I also use (not free) Express Assist by AJSystems to back up my O.E. data mainly because I can read the backups without restoring them AND - big plus - when I install an OS, Express Assist completely sets up my internet and email for me automatically - as long as my ISP is the same and I'm still using Outlook Express.  With SecondCopy, besides backing up My Documents and O.E., I can set profiles to cherry-pick files from the C-partition that I don't want clobbered by an image restore (such as the SecondCopy "profiles.dat" file) to include in the documents backup.  You can actually configure Express Assist to back up pretty much anything on your computer, but I just prefer SecondCopy for that because I find it easier to use for this purpose and I can maintain an uncompressed duplicate of My Documents that requires no application to read.  

If you are using the FREE version of  Zone Alarm (which is great), you will also need an anti-virus.  My personal favorite is the free version of Avast by Alwil Software.  It takes some configuring to take full advantage of all its features, but it is excellent.  It can even scan web pages before delivering them to your screen.

--AnnaSummers


----- Original Message ----- 
From: John Green 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2009 3:55 PM
Subject: [PCSOFT] Removing Software


I recently uninstalled my McAfee Internet security 2007 and switched to Zonalarm. McAfee did not completely uninstall, and I keep receiving alerts about McAfee Anti-Spam trying to contact the web. Would it be safe to use regedit and manually delete the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/McAfee and McAfee.com, then go to C:\Windows\Programs\McAfee then delete the remaining files? I know there are so many registry cleaners, however, I am too afraid to trust any of them as I have heard so much about some of them being malicious software. and to be totally honest, I do not believe any of the publications out there as I believe they are paid to say what is good and what is not good. 


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