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A first look at IOBit Uninstaller 7

IOBit Uninstaller 7 is the next version of the popular Windows software uninstaller which will be released soon by the company.

IOBit released a beta version of Uninstaller 7 today; reason enough to take the program for a test ride to find out what is new and changed.

The core functionality of the program remained unchanged. You can use it to remove any installed program on a Windows system. The core difference to using the application's uninstaller only is that a leftover scan is run after removal to catch and delete any files or Registry entries that were not removed during uninstallation.

IOBit Uninstaller 7

iobit uninstaller 7 interface

Installation of the application itself was straightforward and without any surprises. IOBit Uninstaller lists all installed programs on start.

You may sort the listing by name, size, or install date, and use search or preset filters such as infrequently used or large programs, to filter the listing.

The uninstallation process runs the default uninstaller first, and then the cleanup operation. Uninstaller 7 creates a system restore point before the removal of leftovers, and may process these either automatically or manually on user request.

This new uninstall process is actually one of the changes to previous versions. While you may want control over what is removed after the leftover scan, you can speed up the process by letting IOBit Uninstaller 7 decide on what is to be removed and what is to stay.

The scan itself seems a lot faster as well than before. IOBit noted that the new version of Uninstaller ships with an enhanced scan engine which is faster and more thorough.

On of the core new feature of IOBit Uninstaller 7 is the ability to monitor program installations. The focus of the feature is not to log the installation of software, but to detect bundleware such as adware, browser plugins, and other third-party offers that may be part of the installation process.

Information is scarce on the feature right now. I contacted IOBit for clarification on how it works, and will update this article as soon as I receive a response.

Update: IOBit Uninstaller 7 detects bundleware included in five different installation systems: Installshield, Inno Setup, Wise Installation System, Windows Installer, and Nullsoft Scriptable Install System.

When it detect added software, it makes a record of the connection. When the user uninstalls the main program, IOBit suggests to remove the linked software as well. This is optional, and up to the user.

software updates iobit uninstaller 7

The second new core feature of IOBit Uninstaller 7 is a software update checker. Select Action Center in the program interface, and you get a list of installed programs.

The list is somewhat limited to -- very -- popular programs. You get VLC, Notepad++, Firefox, Google Chrome or Thunderbird listed there.

Each program that is listed is listed with its installed version, the latest version that is available, and if the software is not up to date, options to install the update or ignore it.

One issue that I ran into right from the get go was that the program suggested the wrong update for a Firefox ESR installation. It suggested Firefox 54 but that is the latest version of Firefox Stable, not Firefox ESR. The latest version of Firefox ESR is 52.2.0 at the time of writing.

The feature is nice to have regardless of that, but it is not as powerful as what dedicated programs such as SUMo offer in this regard.

Closing Words

IOBit Uninstaller 7 Beta introduces several new features and improvements to the Windows application. Some of these need a bit more work, but since the program was released as a beta, this can still happen before release.

You can download the beta version from MajorGeeks.

Now You: Do you use a dedicated software uninstaller?

 

This article was first seen on ComTek's "TekBits" Technology News

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