The internet is full of snake oil salesmen with penchants for making empty promises and false declarations. Like much of the modern world, it’s an unsafe place for the gullible and naïve. It’s a dream world that will have you believing that you can substantially increase the size of your member in three days, make millions from the comfort of your desktop computer or if you install a piece of advertised software; it will change the way your life works forever. The greatest lessons are learnt from making mistakes; there is no greater teacher than trial and error. We can agree that we all make mistakes (right?); some of us wear these scars of learning proudly, while some of us wish we could get rid of them. I can’t help you with your regrets but I know something that could help you remove that pesky crapware, bloating up your PC. Wise Program Uninstaller will rid your computer of software that’s overstayed its welcome.

WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DOES IT DO

Main Functionality

You may recognize Wise Program Uninstaller from the Wise care 365 suite. It’s a free standalone version of what you would find on the suite and it works just as well. It provides an alternative to Windows’ Uninstall or Change Programs screen, under the Programs and Features utility. It gives you a comprehensive tool to modify software along with all associated files and settings.

Pros

• It is intuitive and simple to use.
• It does not come with any visible adware or bloatware.
• Its lightweight both in processor usage and disk space.
• Allows you to open items in the Windows’ Regeditor.
• You can export the entire list of installed software along with their respective details to a text file.
• You can either choose to modify, safely uninstall or forcefully uninstall an item.
• You can even rate items on this list, using an out-of-5 star rating system.
• You can choose to display it from the Windows context menu.
• It is multilingual.
• It has an aesthetically pleasing user interface and design.

Cons

• The view and layout cannot be customized. You cannot add or subtract items from the details bar.
• You cannot export the details of a singular item.
• There is no easy way to get an items path as text.
• It is not natively system tray minimizable. This may be a pet peeve for some people.
• It does not always initiate a check for residual files and settings, after it has completed an uninstall.
• It is not keyboard friendly; you cannot go through the list using the arrow keys or page through it using the paging keys on your keyboard.

Discussion

Some of the most popular types of third party software applications are uninstallers. According to CNET, Wise Program Uninstaller is the most downloaded uinstaller on the website. It’s easy to see why, with its user friendly design and straightforward controls. It thematically looks like any other application from Wise – same colour scheme and all. With that also comes Wise’s user interface inflexibility. What you see here is what you get, no room for customization or change. There’s an advantage here, if you’ve used a Wise application, you’ve used them all. This somewhat straightens the learning curve.

Like most of Wise’s applications, it doesn’t have a menu bar. However it does have a little menu icon next to the window controls (close, minimize and restore) which allows you to share your experiences with the application through social media and forums, contact the developers, change the language that the application is currently in, display the application in the Windows’ context menu and change other small settings as well. Underneath that, stands a search text field that allows you to search through the items.

The list of installed items is displayed along with and according to item names, sizes, installation dates and rates. An icon accompanies each name. Each item is rated according to a 5 star system but I don’t fully understand what this is for, probably for social media and sharing purposes (*shrugs*).

With each item, you get a right click context menu with three options: Open in RegEditor; which opens an item and it’s registry details in the Windows Registry Editor, Google search; which uses your default browser to perform a Google search on the selected item and Export to Textfile; which allows you to export the entire list of items to a text file.

Items can be safely uninstalled, modified and forcefully uninstalled. Usually a safe uninstall will use the programs uninstaller or clean up procedure. After it’s done with a safe uninstall, it will try to pick up and scan your computer for any residual files. If it finds any, it will give you a list of results and you can choose to remove them or keep them as mementos. It’s rare to find a program that can be modified by Wise’s Uninstaller. Forcefully uninstall gets down to brass tacks by deleting all associated files and registry items.

Conclusion And Download Link

The majority of third party software removes borderline themselves on a corner of redundancy and uselessness. What I like about Wise Program Uninstaller is that it tracks applications faster and the start-up is faster too. Plus, it cleanly uninstalls fairly well too. It’s not patronizing but it does not feel like you’re performing surgery that may mess your OS up in the long run. If you’re looking for a good clean uninstaller, then this one definitely deserves a try. Also be sure to read dotTech’s review of best free clean uninstallers for Windows.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 1.59.78

Supported OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8

Download size: 1,80 MB 

VirusTotal malware scan results: 0/50

Is it portable? No

Wise Uninstaller homepage