Is there a way to find out what all files (mainly registry) a program installs, so that a program can be COMPLETELY removed?

If you have leftover registry entries, the best way I have gotten rid of them is to open a dos prompt, type regedit, click on edit, then find, enter a program name or file name then click on find next. if it finds something and you are sure you don't need it you can delete that entry. hit f3 to find the next occurence. you should deffinately back up your registry before you do any editing or deleting of it. to back it up, from the regedit screen, just click registry then export and save it to a safe place in case you mess something up. also in dos mode you can run scanreg /restore and it will let you restore a previous (hopefully working) registry date.

G'day Jag, yes, there are installer programs like 'In Control' that will record the installation of a program. It will generate a file showing registry keys installed, what files go where and files that may have been modified in the process [like Win.ini] It even continues the recording if your machine has to reboot. It's free and should be available from most major software sites, like Winfiles.com or Tucows etc.. There may be better ones around as well

http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/index.shtml Freeware Registry Cleaner. Removes all traces of program from registry and has many other features. Check it out.

More info on installer programs, can't find "In Control" Thnx!!

boot to dos prompt and type scanreg /fix

Look into all the files with the extension "inf" on the install disk(s). You will find out where the install or setup has made changes to your registry. Before you install a program you can restart your computer in MS-DOS mode and use the DIR command to list all files in the WINDOWS and SYSTEM directories and save the listing to a text file named BEFORE. Like this... Dir c:\windows /a-d/on > c:\before.txt Then start Windows, install the program, restart the computer so any changes take effect. Then again restart the computer in MS-DOS mode and do a Directory listing again on the WINDOWS and SYSTEM directories, this time name the file AFTER. Like this... Dir c:\windows /a-d/on > c:\after.txt Now you have a before and after listing that you can use the FC (file compare) command on to show you the differences. Like this... fc c:\before.txt after.txt > c:\diff.txt Now while still in dos mode open the file named diff.txt with the EDIT command. Like this... edit c:\diff.txt If the file is to big you'll will have to restart windows and use Wordpad to view the file.