Ashampoo Uninstaller 2017 is a utility to uninstall apps that includes several basic tools like Defrag, Drive Cleaner, Registry Optimizer etc. Installation has changed slightly from prior apps/offers -- when I entered an email address to get the key, instead of a log-in window they sent an email for address verification. While I go into more detail below, the quick summary is IMHO don't bother downloading this one.
Installing Ashampoo Uninstaller 2017 adds the program's folder plus folders in ProgramData, & Public Documents [where log files are stored]. It also adds a couple of drivers -- the Defrag driver shows up as a service in Control Panel -> Admin Tools -> Services, but I don't see a similar entry for the "Ashampoo Uninstaller FileSystemChanges Driver". Both driver files are located in the program's folder [rather than Windows Driver folder], so removing the app effectively would remove those too. In total I recorded 190 new registry entries in my win7 32 bit VM.
The ad copy says: "Ashampoo UnInstaller 2017 removes software completely without any leftover files, even in the case of nested setups." -- LIAR!
I have a habit of monitoring installations etc. in my VMs, so I have an idea of what apps add, what their uninstall routines remove, & what uninstall apps really do. I won't repeat myself on the complicating factors -- I'll keep it simple & short as possible this time -- just reporting the test results when I logged everything adding & removing today's other GOTD, Leawo Music Recorder, with Ashampoo UnInstaller 2017.
The test...
In my Windows 7 32 bit V/Box VM [with minimal software added] I started up InstallWatch Pro, started up Ashampoo Uninstaller 2017, created a snapshot in InstallWatch Pro, turned on logging in Ashampoo Uninstaller 2017, installed & activated Leawo Music Recorder, shut it down, stopped logging in AU 2017, & created a 2nd snapshot for comparison in IWP.
Leawo Music Recorder added an older copy of the Microsoft C/C++ runtime files, a virtual audio driver, & the program's files. It also triggered new HKLM\Components & HKLM\Schema registry keys for a total of "265839 registry entries added" -- after restarting the win7 VM those 2 keys were not found using Regedit. This is just normal behavior that occurs sometimes, & can be recorded with Regshot as well as IWP in a normal Windows install as well as a VM.
In IWP after sorting the new entries alphabetically I exported them -- opening the HKLM .reg file in Notepad, I clicked in the last line, then found the next Schema entry going up, then copied & pasted everything below that into a new text file as the real changes to the HKLM key. Now I had something to compare with the logs that AU created in the C:\Users\Public\Documents\Ashampoo\Ashampoo Uninstaller\logs\ & C:\Users\Public\Documents\Ashampoo\Ashampoo Uninstaller\logs_raw\ folders.
AU filtered out all those registry entries under HKLM\Components & HKLM\Schema keys, which is cool, but it also did not record all of the remaining new registry entries either, which is not so cool. I then created another snapshot in IWP & had AU uninstall Leawo Music Recorder.
AU did not remove the leftover temporary files used by the Microsoft C/C++ runtime files installation, & it did not remove those runtimes... it lists the runtime installation separately, which I guess might make sense since they do show up in Control Panel -> Programs and Features, where they're listed along with the option to uninstall -- AU just didn't run that uninstaller, & it didn't ask about it. In fact AU didn't provide any hints that Leawo Music Recorder added those runtime files -- I'd have to check its logs to find out for myself as far as I could tell.
It did run the uninstall routine for Leawo Music Recorder, which left behind folders in ProgramData, Users\ [UserName]\ AppData\ Roaming\, My Pictures, My Music, and files/folders related to the virtual audio driver the software had added. Lots of entries were also left in the registry, including most for the driver that Leawo Music Recorder installed, though it did remove it from the Windows Sound window you get to by right clicking the Task Bar speaker icon.
All of which leaves me wondering why anyone would want to use AU... it doesn't show you everything, & it doesn't seem to do any more than run whatever app's uninstaller.
