Banzai! Questions about Search and delete in registry for unistalled/ deleted programs

Okay, I had installed Solidworks and AutoCAD on my system. Student
licence, which expired years ago.

I have uninstalled them from Windows and through CC_Cleaning
tools. Some refuse to go away. e.G.,
"Z_AutoCAD kruft"
and
"Z_Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014 64 Bit Object Enabler on Autodesk
360"
both of which are not there, both of which got the "z_" prepended to
the entry to make them at least drop to the bottom of the list.

But the Soldiwork files are still there. I've been cheerfully
deleting them, too.

Now, what I am wondering is: deleting references to either
Solidworks or AutoCAD/Autodesk in the registry? What do I delete: the
value name (eg LastUsedSource)
the key name (e.g.,
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Patches\A9892C5E7522B5 546A84310B85E09174\SourceList
)
Or just the last part "\SourceList"

I've already made restore point "Before the Fall", but ... this is
my first "search and destroy err repair" attempt in the registry which
was not a cookbook "change this entry from 'a' to 'b'. So, I am
cautious before I start.

thanks in advance for any advice.

pyotr
--
pyotr filipivich
The question was asked: "Is Hindsight overrated?"
In retrospect, it appears to be.

pyotr filipivich wrote:
Okay, I had installed Solidworks and AutoCAD on my system. Student
licence, which expired years ago.

I have uninstalled them from Windows and through CC_Cleaning
tools. Some refuse to go away. e.G.,
"Z_AutoCAD kruft"
and
"Z_Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014 64 Bit Object Enabler on Autodesk
360"
both of which are not there, both of which got the "z_" prepended to
the entry to make them at least drop to the bottom of the list.

But the Soldiwork files are still there. I've been cheerfully
deleting them, too.

Now, what I am wondering is: deleting references to either
Solidworks or AutoCAD/Autodesk in the registry? What do I delete: the
value name (eg LastUsedSource)
the key name (e.g.,
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Patches\A9892C5E7522B5 546A84310B85E09174\SourceList
)
Or just the last part "\SourceList"

I've already made restore point "Before the Fall", but ... this is
my first "search and destroy err repair" attempt in the registry which
was not a cookbook "change this entry from 'a' to 'b'. So, I am
cautious before I start.

thanks in advance for any advice.

Just out of curiosity, why are you taking the chance in deleting the
registry entries? The leftover registry entries are harmless, and if you
err, it can be a costly mistake.

That said, my guess is you can take it back to the root entry (not just the
\SourceList), since presumably that root entry ONLY links to that
sourcelist. One way to find out would be to run CCleaner (or another reg
app) and see what it says it would like to remove.

But again, it's still a bit of a risk, which is presumably why you made a
restore point before hand. Keep in mind though that even though you made a
restore point, in a few weeks that restore point will be gone, and then
(later) a problem might show up, and you will have no recourse. Sometimes
you don't know the ramifications until days later when you run some other
program and something acts up. BTDT.

"pyotr filipivich" wrote in message
...


Okay, I had installed Solidworks and AutoCAD on my system. Student
licence, which expired years ago.

I have uninstalled them from Windows and through CC_Cleaning
tools. Some refuse to go away. e.G.,
"Z_AutoCAD kruft"
and
"Z_Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014 64 Bit Object Enabler on Autodesk
360"
both of which are not there, both of which got the "z_" prepended to
the entry to make them at least drop to the bottom of the list.

But the Soldiwork files are still there. I've been cheerfully
deleting them, too.

Now, what I am wondering is: deleting references to either
Solidworks or AutoCAD/Autodesk in the registry? What do I delete: the
value name (eg LastUsedSource)
the key name (e.g.,
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Patches\A9892C5E7522B 5546A84310B85E09174\SourceList
)
Or just the last part "\SourceList"

I've already made restore point "Before the Fall", but ... this is
my first "search and destroy err repair" attempt in the registry which
was not a cookbook "change this entry from 'a' to 'b'. So, I am
cautious before I start.

thanks in advance for any advice.

pyotr


You're on a slippery slope and even if you don't bork something, doubtful
you will get rid of all the entries in the registry and then get nailed with
permission problems when you delete folder entries. I've used CCleaner for
years and it does a fine - safe - cleanup but nothing gets it all. One
other utility I've used to help get rid of leftovers is Glary Utilities -
https://www.glarysoft.com/

It has options to restore what it cleans out so you are relatively safe but
anytime you go dumpster diving like this - stuff happens.

Don't obsess over the left-overs since you can create more problems than you
solve trying to clean things up.

As an experiment - run CCleaner registry cleaner, then Glary's registry
repair and you'll see what I mean. I have the Pro version but as I recall,
the download is fully functional for a trial period.


--
Bob S.

"n/a" on Fri, 1 Feb 2019 21:40:36 -0500 typed in
alt.windows7.general the following:

You're on a slippery slope and even if you don't bork something, doubtful
you will get rid of all the entries in the registry and then get nailed with
permission problems when you delete folder entries. I've used CCleaner for
years and it does a fine - safe - cleanup but nothing gets it all. One
other utility I've used to help get rid of leftovers is Glary Utilities -
https://www.glarysoft.com/

I've seen recommendations for Glarysoft before. "Will have to
look into it."

It has options to restore what it cleans out so you are relatively safe but
anytime you go dumpster diving like this - stuff happens.

Don't obsess over the left-overs since you can create more problems than you
solve trying to clean things up.

Sheesh, you sound like my wife. B-) "Does this need to be done?"
she'll ask. Well, no, but it lets me avoid doing other stuff, which I
really should be doing.

As an experiment - run CCleaner registry cleaner, then Glary's registry
repair and you'll see what I mean. I have the Pro version but as I recall,
the download is fully functional for a trial period.

I've run CCleaner, and someone's Free Registry repairer. Will
check out the Glary software.

On the whole, I think I may just delete the leftover files (1.1
gig so far) and ignore the rest.

--
pyotr filipivich
Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing?