Command Your Uninstalls Correctly

Finally get rid of programs

Add-Remove Master is the latest uninstall manager that I was given to play around with. It's a little different from the rest of the uninstall managers I've worked with. It's not built off the idea that you have to have the manager installed before you start removing programs. It doesn't work like the typical managers that create an image, and then restore your machine to that image (which can sometimes cause undesired effects).

The program's design looks nice and professional. They've made it quite aesthetically pleasing. The interface even subdivides into three separate views (basic, standard, and advanced mode). But aesthetics alone can't win me over, let's hope it has more functionality.

Inside

I was a bit let down by the search function of Add-Remove Master. It kept on highlighting the wrong icon whenever I typed in the name of a program. To make it actually work correctly I had to run the search, then click in the window pane where all the programs were to refresh the screen in order to highlight the right program.

I thought the ability to make a report in .txt or HTML format was great, too bad the HTML reports are only available with the fully registered version. Add-Remove Master does a good job at removing your programs and cleaning up their unused registry entries afterwards.

The best tool I thought that Add-Remove Master supplied was their ability to export your program list. Finally, here are all the programs (hidden included) that you have installed and you can go through and edit the listing to your taste.

I thought a fun tool was the icon editor where I could change what the icon looks like. Something like that is usually found on tweaking programs, not uninstall managers. Aside from these functions, I noticed that there wasn't more offered.

Maybe more?

Wow, they give you the ability to manage registry entries manually, but all that really means is it sends you into your Registry (you can do this without the program by going into your start menu=>RUN=>regedit) and letting you roam free around it.

When I say I'd like to see more added, I mean that I expect more from a Master. A nice function to include would be an automatic scan to see if the programs do match up to their uninstall strings (and if they don't, to tell me about it). Don't automatically kick me to C:Program Files because that's the default directory. Some users actually prefer to diversify and go against the norm (myself included) and specify their own install directories.

The Good

There's a lot of good that this program does. When it comes to interface, it's one of the cleanest I've seen for an uninstall manager and certainly easy to work with because of the three different viewing modes. It does uninstall programs and get rid of things that you don't want there anymore. It's got reporting capabilities and exporting options, things which help when you've got a lot of programs to sort through. The full version includes their patented MMH Cleaner, a tool to help you to clean your junk files, recent programs cache, temporary files. It also helps you control your startup programs and running processes.

The Bad

For all the good it does, I'd think that it can do a little more and do it a little better. Compared to other uninstall managers, it beats them on aesthetics and even on some features. But I need more functionality, like a button that automatically scans what you have in your program files and compares it to your registry to tell you what's not needed anymore.

The Truth

I'm going to say that this little uninstall manager isn't bad at all. It could definitely be improved, but it's most worth the test run and the trial period. Knock yourselves out with Add-Remove Master and see what you can get rid of.

Check out the pics below.