Brittany asked: As the functionality of your PC and the internet continues to grow exponentially, the amount of applications, drivers, and plug-ins we install on our computers increases. Whether it’s the latest and greatest music player, or the software for your new digital camera, your hard drive can fill up fast. You don’t have to spend your money on an external hard drive; instead, you can free up space on your hard drive by uninstalling programs you no longer use. Sometimes this is not as easy as it should be, and you will encounter uninstaller errors. This is likely a problem in the Windows registry and if you are aware of why and how this occurs, you can fix it.
Even if you aren’t trying to free up more room on your hard drive, it’s a good idea to uninstall programs you no longer use. Unfortunately, when you attempt to do this, you may get an uninstaller error.
• The most common uninstall error is “Error 1324: The path xxxxxx contains an invalid character.” The ‘xxx’ here refers to a folder on your computer. Everything gets installed into a particular folder, but if this folder has moved been renamed, or changed in anyway, your computer cannot find it to delete it.
• Uninstall error 1404 is another error that will state that you cannot delete a particular registry key. It will further state that you do not have sufficient privileges to do so. Your computer believes you do not have the rights to access the information to delete it.
Both of these errors originate in your registry. The Windows registry is a fundamental directory that stores settings and information for your operating system, including all software, hardware, and user preferences. The data stored here is essential to the operation of virtually everything on your computer from the way your desktop looks, to word processing, to viewing a web page. There is information that is native to your computer, that is, comes with it from the day you take it home; but, every time we install something, new information is recorded in the registry. Like any other storage system, over time it can become unorganized and overcrowded. Data may be duplicated, “filed” in the wrong place, mislabeled, or even become lost in the shuffle. When your computer attempts a particular function it will call upon the registry for the information it needs. In the case of uninstaller errors, when your computer attempts to find the information it needs to delete in the registry, it cannot do so.
There are a few ways to fix this. The first may sound counterintuitive, but some suggest that you reinstall the original program, then again attempt an uninstall. The idea is that all bits of data, even the part that uninstalls the program, get re-recorded correctly. This is not the ideal solution, however, because you aren’t improving the condition of the registry. There may be old bits of information that are misfiled or clogging up the system, or duplicate information will be recorded. Instead, you could manually edit the registry, correcting the path to the program you want to uninstall, reset your shell folders, or edit the permissions. However, most of us do not have the knowledge or skill-set to do this. The easy solution is to use a registry cleaner.
RegCure is an advanced registry cleaner that analyzes your registry for missing, obsolete, and corrupt entries. Compatible with all third party applications (Microsoft included), RegCure seeks out remnants left behind on your registry from failed installations, incomplete un-installations, disabled drivers, spyware applications, and more. You can download RegCure and scan your registry for free at RegistryRepairProgram.com. If you choose to use RegCure to clean your registry, any corrupted components of your registry will be repaired. In addition to eliminating any uninstaller errors, this will prevent future errors and keep other applications on your computer running smoothly.
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