Cause
After installing any utility, driver, or other software program you can encounter an almost endless list of issues that can be caused by any of the below reasons.
- Confliction with other software installed on the computer.
- Issue with program.
- Improper installation or problems with installation.
Solution
Reinstall or uninstall the program
If you're encountering problems with your computer or other programs after installing new software on your computer, uninstall the program and see if the issues persist.
- Uninstalling Windows software.
After the program has been uninstalled try installing the program again.
Solution
If a software program or game is no longer being used or played or additional space is required it may be necessary to uninstall or delete it. Below is a listing of different methods of uninstalling software from a computer running Microsoft Windows.
Install/Uninstall option
Pro: Will remove all or the majority of all files copied to the computer during installation.
Con: Not all programs support or use this feature.
Con: Not all programs support or use this feature.
- Click Start
- Click Control Panel or Settings and then Control Panel
- Double-click Add/Remove Programs or Uninstall a program.
- Within the new window select the program you wish to uninstall and click the Remove button or Uninstall/Change button.
How do I know what to delete? Often users may be concerned about what is safe and what is not safe to delete our best suggestion is if you don't know what it is we suggest that it not be removed or ask about what it is first.
If the program or game is not listed within this list, continue reading this document for alternative methods to uninstalling software.
- Unable to remove a program from Windows Add/Remove programs.
Unwise Wizard
Pro: Generally created or programmed by the developer of the program that will allow the program to delete any files that were originally installed.
Con: May cause errors with other software because it can uninstall files that other programs may be using.
Con: May cause errors with other software because it can uninstall files that other programs may be using.
- Click Start
- Open the Programs folder under Programs or All Programs.
- Within the folder look for an Unwise or Uninstall shortcut. Click this shortcut to start the uninstall.
or
- Open Windows Explorer.
- In Explorer Open the folder containing the program you wish to uninstall. If you're not sure where this is located a good place to check first would be the Program files folder.
- Once the folder has been located and opened look for an unwise or uninstall shortcut link or executable program.
Note: Do not search for unwise.exe since it's likely several of these files exist on your computer and may be associated with another program.
If the program or game you have does not have this option, continue reading this document for alternative methods to uninstalling software.
Third-party software
Pro: Will generally remove files and registry settings associated with the program, which manually deleting the program will not.
Con: May not remove everything since it's third-party and not something the developer created.
Con: May not remove everything since it's third-party and not something the developer created.
There are various commercial and free available solutions for uninstalling software on your computer. We highly recommend and suggest users use Revo Uninstaller, a free and easy to use uninstall program and junk file utility.
Manually delete
Pro: Manually deleting the software from the computer will help save space when no other options are available.
Con: May cause additional errors if the operating system or other programs require files that are deleted.
Con: May cause additional errors if the operating system or other programs require files that are deleted.
Before manually deleting any software from the computer we recommend you do each of the below suggestions.
- Make sure your Recycle Bin is empty and that files that are deleted are sent to the Recycle Bin. This will help allow you to restore those files if they are required or cause you errors after deleted.
- Backup all important data.
Once you are ready follow the below steps to manually delete the files.
- Open Windows Explorer.
- Highlight the program or game folder making sure you're not highlighting its containing folder such as Programs files.
- Press delete to delete the files.
- After deleted reboot the computer to verify no errors occur. If errors occur the files can be recovered from the Recycle Bin.
- How to install a software program.
Note: If after installing a program you're unable to boot into Windows, try booting into Safe Mode.
General Tips
- Make sure your computer meets the requirements of the program, game, or utility you are attempting to install.
- The manuals for the program or the readme file located in the same directory as the install commonly contain exact instructions on how to install a program.
- After installing or during the installation, a program may need to install other programs, files, or utilities before it is able to run. If this is the case, the program will commonly prompt you to install the program or you may need to run a separate install before the program can be fully used.
- When installing a program, utility, or game, it is always a good idea first to close or disable any other programs that are running.
- After installing a new program if it prompts you to reboot the computer, do it.
Many software programs, games, and utilities have an AutoPlay feature that will automatically start the setup screen for the software program when the CD is placed in the computer. If your program, game, or utility contains this feature, run the installation through the screen that appears after inserting the disc.
If you are installing a program, game, or utility that does not contain this feature or you are installing a program from a floppy diskette, follow the below steps.
- Open My Computer.
- Within the My Computer window, open the drive that contains the installation files. For example, if the files are on a floppy diskette, open the A: drive. If they're on a CD or DVD open the D: drive or the letter of the disc drive.
- Within the drive that contains your files, locate either a setup or install file. Double-clicking on this file should start the installation for the program, game, or utility. If you see multiple setups or install files, try to locate the Application file or double-click each of setup or install files until you find the file that starts the installation. Many times the icons associated with the installation files have the same name.
An alternate method of starting the installation in Microsoft Windows
- Click Start and Run.
- In the Run Window, type x:\setup or x:\install where x is the letter of the drive you wish to start the installation from. For example, if you are attempting to install a program from the floppy disk drive you would type a:\setup or a:\install.
Users installing a program from Microsoft DOS should have a basic understanding of the MS-DOS commands. If you are unfamiliar with any of the commands listed below, click the link to get additional information and examples on the commands.
- Before installing a program in MS-DOS, you must switch to the drive or directory that contains the installation files. If you are installing a program from a CD or diskette, switch to that drive. If the installation files are located in a different directory, use the dir commandto list the directories and the cd command to switch into the appropriate directory.
- Once you are in the directory or drive that contains the installation files, run the executable for the setup. Many times this can be done by typing setup or install at the prompt to start the installation. If both of these commands give a bad command or file name error message, type dir *.exe or dir *.com or dir *.bat. These commands will list any executable files; if any files are listed, execute these files to run the installation or setup of the program. If no files are listed when typing all three of the above commands, it is possible that either you are in the incorrect directory or drive letter, or that the program.
Check for software program updates or new versions
If you continue to experience issues verify that the program, game, or utility you're installing doesn't have any updates by visiting the developer of the program website.
If you're installing a software program or drivers for a hardware device such as a printer. Get the latest software and drivers from the manufacturer instead of using the included software. A listing of links to drivers can be found on our drivers page.
