OT: Brief help with this computer problem?

[onomastikon]

Thank you.

I can find the folder (under /ubisoft) without a problem, there is no setup or uninstall icon there, only a game.exe.

I can click on the folder and hit "delete" -- but I thought that uninstallation is a much different process, involving registry data and all of that? If I simply hit "delete", wont I be leaving the program on my computer, wont it still be in my "software" properties without hope of me ever getting rid of it?

Thank you very much, oh computer-smart people

[Dedas]

If you want to delete the information from the registry do this:
1. Press "Start"
2. Click "Run"
3. Type "regedit" and press enter. The registry should reveal itself to you.
4. Press F3.
5. Type Ubisoft and press enter.
6. You should be presented with a folder named Ubisoft. If not press F3 again.
7. Under the Ubisoft folder you should find a subfolder named Homm5 or the like.
7. Delete the Homm5 folder.

You are done. Ubisoft do not write much more to the registry than this. At least not to my experience.

There are also programs that could do this (delete unused registry entries) but this is how you do it manually.

[Jazzepi]

I generally advise people to avoid editing the registry unless they feel extremely comfortable doing so. Whatever cruft is leftover from the game not being properly uninstalled is not worth the risk of making your computer unbootable by accidentally deleting the wrong thing in the registry.

Getting rid of the game directory frees up 99.9% of what the computer installs as far as the space a program takes up on your hard drive. You should also check your MY DOCUMENTS folder. Some of the newer games use that as a place to store your saved games and some customization files. Personally I think this is a terrible practice to spread a program's install over more and more places.

Jazzepi

[onomastikon]

Thanks so much people.
I will leave the registry alone then. I dont feel comfortable with that, especially not after the warning. I merely asked because I thought that is what an "uninstall" program should be doing -- my (poor, faulty) understanding of these things was that the "folder" in which the program files are stored is merely there as a base from which the program's "install shield" puts all the things it needs into place, and God only knows where those places are, so that the "uninstall" program goes and finds them and removes them. By clicking start -> config -> system -> software and checking out that list, I see HommV demo there, despite having used the uninstall program a year ago and having clicked "remove" in that list a couple of times, hence I figured something "tricky" must be done. But if you say that deleting the folder in the c:/programme directory will do the job, I am relieved.
Leaving entries in the registry is not harmful?
THANK YOU!!

[Endoperez]

Leaving entries in the registry is not dangerous, but it will clutter the registry, and if you always just remove the programs' directories knowing what you have and what you removed will become quite difficult.

[onomastikon]

Endoperez said:
Leaving entries in the registry is not dangerous, but it will clutter the registry, and if you always just remove the programs' directories knowing what you have and what you removed will become quite difficult.

So you recommend that I delete the folder only just this one time, but not make it a general practice, or do you recommend that I try that regedit program?
thank you

[Torin]

search for a clean registry application that cleans it for you.

[Jazzepi]

Endoperez said:
Leaving entries in the registry is not dangerous, but it will clutter the registry, and if you always just remove the programs' directories knowing what you have and what you removed will become quite difficult.

I just find that registry "clutter" is extremely relative. If you've actually poked around in there, it's filled with so many different items, that deleting a handful that aren't caught by an uninstaller just doesn't seem worth the risk. Especially since you don't look at the registry on a regular basis.

But to answer onomastikon's question, you should definitely use the uninstaller whenever possible. It will, as you said, get rid of all those other little things the program installs. The important thing to remember is that the vast majority of the install files end up in the Program Files directory.

Jazzepi