One of the main reasons for a PC to be slow are the remains and junk files that remain on the computer when we uninstall an application. Normally, when we eliminate a Windows program, it still usually leaves files pending here and there, in addition to leaving its imprint within the Windows registry itself .
All this causes the trash to accumulate, taking up unnecessary space on the computer’s hard drive and consuming RAM memory unnecessarily. To solve it, nothing better than to erase any remnants or traces of the program once it is uninstalled.
A couple of tips before you start
- Remember that to uninstall a program it is not enough to delete the application icon that appears on the desktop. If you have Windows 10 you will have to go to ” Settings -> Applications” and uninstall the program.
- Once the program is uninstalled, don’t forget to delete any folder related to the application. For example, if you have uninstalled a torrent program, you will probably have a lot of “.torrent” files in the documents or downloads folder. Now that you no longer need them, delete this type of residual files as well.
How to delete any trace or residue of programs that we have already uninstalled from the Windows registry
Whenever we are going to use the Windows registry editor, it is important that we download a backup copy of the registry first. Thus, if we make a serious mistake during the process, we can restore the registry. Do not forget!
- Press the key combination Win + R and type the command ” regedit” (without quotes). This will open the Windows registry editor.
- Now go to “File -> Export” and make a copy of the Windows registry. Save it in case there are problems.
- Next, go to “Edit -> Search” and write the name of the program that you just uninstalled. If you do not find any results, try possible variants of the name of the program (for example, if you have uninstalled Office, search for “Word”, “Winword” or “Microsoft Word”).
- Once you are sure that it is a record directly related to the uninstalled program, right-click and select “Delete.” eye! Before deleting any registry make sure that it is not related to any other program that you still have installed on your PC.
- Repeat the erasure process for all registry items related to the uninstalled program.
Although for the screenshots in this tutorial we have used Windows 10, the registry works the same way in the rest of previous versions of Windows, so this same process can be applied without any problem.
If at any time you need to recover the backup of the registry, you just have to reopen the editor, go to “File -> Import” and load the backup that we exported at the beginning of the tutorial.
Automated cleaning tools
Before finishing, remember that if all this seems too delicate, well … you are right. If you prefer that all this process of cleaning the registry be carried out automatically, you can install a free program such as CCleaner , which will perform an analysis of the Windows registry and will help you eliminate any residue or trace of programs deleted with anteriority.
