Total Uninstall 6 Review

very good
key review info
application features
  • Uninstall programs
  • (5 more, see all...)

Those of us keen on exploring various types of software often face problematic scenarios after uninstalling programs, such as leftover files and registry entries, which eventually lead to system crashes.

Some software developers create products specifically for handling these types of situations, by thoroughly eliminating every piece of information that was originally included in a program's package. Notable names include Revo Uninstaller Pro, Your Uninstaller! Pro and IObit Uninstaller.

Total Uninstall is another reliable tool in this domain. It evaluates all installed programs on the computer and reveals all their files and registry keys, making room for examining and managing data. Apart from its main goal to uninstall applications, it gives users the possibility of monitoring a tool's behavior to find out the exact items it creates on the hard disk (such as updates or add-ons), which are otherwise difficult to spot.

The full package is priced at $29.95 / €28.26, and users may run the trial edition with all features unlocked for 30 days. The app's setup is standard and rapid.

At startup, Total Uninstall loads a list with all detected installed programs, along with their install date and size. In case it missed anything, users can manually add a new utility to the list by pointing out its name, install folder and built-in uninstaller, edit these properties for existing items, rename entries in the list, change icons, add notes, as well as create groups and subgroups for managing programs that serve a particular purpose. A search function placed above the list shows results in real-time when looking for a particular app.

There are three types of analysis profiles for each installed program: safe, normal and advanced. The last one is thorough, but it implies the risk of including files shared with the operating system, which may possibly lead to stability issues after removing them.

What sets it apart from other tools dedicated to uninstalling programs and removing leftover files, is that Total Uninstall shows information on every corresponding file or registry entry before actually removing a program. Users may inspect all files in their original folder structure without leaving the main window, view their properties just like in Windows Explorer, as well as access their content or examine it via text or hexadecimal display.

Selected entries may be excluded from display in future scans, removed from the system, or copied to other locations. It is possible to undo actions if any mistakes have been made, and to redo them as well. The same rules apply to the registry section, where users can open an entry's location in Registry Editor.
Switching to the “Summary” view shows details on the program's publisher, install date history, analysis profile, as well as detected changes when it comes to the total number of created and modified files, folders, keys and values, along with the file system and registry sizes. The corresponding log and backup files can be accessed from this section as well.

There's also an advanced search tool that supposedly runs with filters to look into all or user-defined programs for any combination between files, folders, keys, values, registry data and date attributes, with or without masks and case sensitive enabled. However, this feature is only available in the professional edition of Total Uninstall.

Before proceeding with a program's uninstallation, Total Uninstall can be set to back up files and registry items to restore them at any time if any Windows stability problems occur. The list with installed programs, or an app's changelog or uninstall log can be exported to file. For example, the changelog can be used at a later time to compare it with updated information on a particular utility.

Moving on to the main event of Total Uninstall, programs can be removed in single or batch mode. In single mode, the uninstaller can be asked to remove all data resulted from the analysis, or just use the program's built-in uninstaller (similar to using the Windows default programs remover).
By default, the uninstaller plays it safe and creates a system restore point along with a backup before getting rid of the selected programs; any of these steps can be skipped. On task completion, users may view the uninstall log with total successful actions, errors and warnings (if any), in addition to the full path of each deleted file, folder and registry key. Typically, errors and warnings occur if the program's files are currently in use, and they are removed by Total Uninstall automatically at the next system startup, so users do not have to worry about manually deleting each item.
The programs monitor is a separate component that allows users to be cautious when planning to install a new application. Total Uninstall first needs to create a pre-install system snapshot of the registry and file system, which it later uses to compare it with a new snapshot after the target's installation. Its name and setup path can be indicated in the next step. Other than that, it includes the same previously described features in the installed programs module.
The last component, Cleaner, is dedicated to finding disposable files, folders and registry keys that clutter the system (similar to CCleaner). It scans only in safe mode to prevent any OS stability issues and shows the full path of each item while preserving the original folder structure. Any selected items can be eliminated.

As far as program settings are concerned, Total Uninstall is able to minimize to the system tray. It integrates in the Explorer context menu for monitoring programs, but this option can be disabled. Advanced users may reconfigure the analysis and uninstall profiles in detail, from changing their names and adding descriptions, to adjusting the levels for detecting program settings and shredding files instead of sending them to the Recycle Bin.

Basically, all three main components (installed programs, monitored programs, and cleaner) can be thoroughly customized. For instance, users may handpick the types of invalid entries, Windows, system and web browser files to be scanned by the cleaner.

The Good

Total Uninstall worked smoothly during our evaluation on 64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro. CPU and RAM consumption was low. It supports multiple UI languages, several color schemes, and help documentation.

All three modules are quite effective. In our case, the application did not leave tracks behind after uninstalling programs. Although it's not a mandatory component for a software uninstaller, the cleaner does a great job and significantly simplifies the user's job in identifying and removing clutter. All activity can be recorded to file.

The Bad

Some presented features are just eye-candy because they are only available in the professional edition, and they are not labeled as such before attempting to use them. Some examples include the advanced search function and custom analysis profiles.

Some tasks take a long time, such as analyzing all files and registry items which belong to a program, as well as backing them up.

The interface could have used a little more work in the visual department. Less experienced users are likely to get lost in Total Uninstall's advanced features.

The Truth

Taking everything into account, Total Uninstall remains a valuable asset to power users who frequently deal with numerous (and usually temporary) software products that step in and out of their computers.

You can also read our previous review for Total Uninstall 5.0.2.

user interface 3
features 4
ease of use 3
pricing / value 4


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good