Removing Ghost Programs

Have you tried double clicking on a certain program on the list, but were unable to launch it? Or maybe, you tried uninstalling it but it still persisted in the list. There are times that you have already deleted a program but when you check your Add/Remove Programs list, it still shows up. Then when this occurs, and you try deleting the program again, an error message comes up. But the program is still there on the list. It seems like a ghost that doesn’t want to go away. How do you get rid of it?

This ghost program can be removed by tinkering around the system registry. Unfortunately, from the point of view of an expert, this may not seem like a good idea, especially if you have a limited background in computers. Why? Because the registry data is important stuff and a wrong move, delete or change to it may lead to a crash in your computer, never to wake up anymore. But if you think you can handle it, then, by all means, go ahead and do it. But you have to back up the registry of your computer first before playing around with it.

These are the steps to get those ghost programs out of the computer:

1. First go to the Start Button, select Run, and then enter on the space provided regedit. This will let the registry appear in a window on the desktop.

2. Since your registry is now present and running, back it up first by selecting File Menu, then Export Registry. This is just in case anything happens to the computer.

3. Then Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Uninstall.

4. Under the Uninstall folder, you can view all the items listed on the Add/Remove Programs list. Look for the folder that is the culprit for your ghost program. Right click on its name and the select Delete from the menu of the pop-up window.

5. Go back to the Control Panel and select the Add/Remove programs. Check if that certain folder is still available in the list. If you followed all things correctly, it is very probable that you have successfully deleted that ghost program forever.

So whenever you see some ghost programs in your computer, you already know what to do to remove them. You can be a program ghost buster and get rid all those ghost programs in the computer.