Computers & Tablets

[quixote]

New laptop from Best Buy.  I need to remove the "Best Buy PC App" junkware from the computer, but the "Uninstall Program" control panel only removes it from the user who uninstalls it.  Other users still see the junkware installed when they first login, and must then uninstall it themselves.

In other words, using the "Uninstall Program" control panel only seems to remove the junkware shortcut.  It doesn't appear to actually uninstall the program.

How do I completely remove the "Best Buy PC App" from the system?

[quixote]

as additional information, there are a couple of related subdirectories under C:\ProgramData, a few varied registry entries, and a shortcut in C:\Users\Default\AppData\...\StartMenu\Startup that i suspect kicks off the install for a new user. 

so it appears that simply deleting all this will get rid of the app, but is there no clean, automated, supported method for uninstalling it?

[Entropy]

Hmm.  I don't know if it'll work for you, but there is a software package designed to "clean up" PCs with too much preinstalled shovelware.

Google "PC Decr*pifier" - You can guess what the * is.  (Unfortunately, part of the name of that software is on the forum's "naughty words" list...)

[quixote]

entropy, thanks. that's a reasonable suggestion, and i'm aware of such softwares.

it doesn't really answer the question, tho, which is: why doesn't "uninstall" uninstall the Best Buy PC app, and what, specific, manual-if-necessary, steps can i take to remove it from my PC?

[coover]

It probably could have been completely removed prior to adding a second user on the computer if the first user had administrator rights

[SlimJim77]

Why is it so imperative to remove this so called "junkware"? It probably takes up less than .5% of disk space.

[quixote]

coover: you mean Win7 uninstalls differently if i run the control panel as Administrator versus as a regular (administrative) user?  (the user i used did have administrator rights, but that's not the same thing as being Administrator in Win7.)  hmm.  i suppose that could make some kind of sense.  how do i run the control panel as the Administrator so that it's the Administrator uninstalling the app?  can i just "Run as Administrator" from the context menu?

slimjim77: it's not about disk space.  it's about finding an answer to the question of how.  it's possible i'm doing something wrong; but it's also possible (and seems more likely) that the BB PC app has a broken uninstall routine.  if the former, i'll learn something.  if the latter, maybe posting this will get it fixed -- and if not, maybe it'll lead to instructions that others with the same question can find.  does that bother you for some reason?

i did manually remove the shortcut under C:\Users\Default\AppData\...\StartMenu\Startup, and that prevented the app installing itself for new users.  can't look into more than that at the moment since i don't have the laptop with me.

[CrystalWoW Community Veteran]

I've uninstalled it for two different relatives, and two of my own computers recently and it always uninstalled completely for all users with no issues so I don't think the uninstall is broken.

[SlimJim77]

---"slimjim77: it's not about disk space.  it's about finding an answer to the question of how.  it's possible i'm doing something wrong; but it's also possible (and seems more likely) that the BB PC app has a broken uninstall routine.  if the former, i'll learn something.  if the latter, maybe posting this will get it fixed -- and if not, maybe it'll lead to instructions that others with the same question can find.  does that bother you for some reason?"

No, it doesn't bother me at all. You do seem bothered by my question, however.

[hockeycanuckjc Trusted Contributor]

I used Revo Uninstaller to completely remove the traces of the Best Buy PC App after downloading it and seeing what it was all about. You have to use the advanced mode. After the built in uninstaller is complete, you make it scan for registry entries left behind from the application and any other miscellaneous relevant files pertaining to the app. 

The free version of Revo Uninstaller works fine on Win 7 32 bit but may have a difficult time on 64 Bit.