Every inveterate gamer, and just an ordinary user who sometimes likes to plunge headlong into virtual game worlds, must be able to remove the game from the computer. Yes, so that not a single trace of it remains in the operating system.
Otherwise, in the absence of this skill, things will be very difficult for them. Just imagine. Here is my favorite RPG, both up and down: for Palladin, and for the Mage, and for... God knows who else. I already want something new. And this new thing is installed in the size of, like, 20-30GB, or even more (well, for example, the same Grand Theft Auto V for 50GB). What's old? It hasn't gone anywhere. So-so it remains in the OS. But the volume of a hard drive is not dimensionless, in the sense that, like everything in this perishable world, it has boundaries and limits. And this operation is repeated many times (after all, there are a lot of games, and all very interesting!) - put on a toy, play and put on another one, and another...
As a result, the system partition - drive C - is “filled” to capacity (by default, most games are installed on it), so that poor Windows has nowhere to “turn around”. The PC begins to slow down terribly, complain and swear, displaying messages on the display like “So, they say, so, I can’t exist and function normally without free disk space.”
Also, this whole sad story can happen because of games that you simply didn’t like. (Well, if you don’t like them, the question is, why store them on disk?)
What can you do to get rid of this problem? Nothing special! Just delete the game from your computer, and then another one, etc. It feels good for both the user and the machine to “breathe easier.”
Standard uninstallation
The game is excellent, not only because it is exciting and colorful, but also because it can be easily removed from Windows. Fact! That is, the developers have provided it with a convenient uninstallation mechanism. All that is required from the user, as a maximum, is to use the standard OS functions.
Method number 1: activating the uninstaller in the Start menu
1. Click the “Start” icon (the system menu icon in the lower left corner) or the “Win” key.
2. In the menu bar, in the left block, click “All programs”.
3. Open the folder with the unwanted game.
4. Find the uninstaller in the list of items it contains. It can be called differently: “uninstall”, “uninstall”, “remove”.
5. Click on his name once with the left mouse button. And then carefully follow the instructions in the window that opens. Wait for the cleaning procedure to complete. It does not last long, on average from 20-30 seconds to 3 minutes.
Method number 2: removal via Control Panel
If for some reason you cannot find the game folder in the Start menu, use the “Uninstall a program” system function:
1. Open the Start window and go to Control Panel.
2. Select “Uninstall a program” from the list of “Customize your computer settings” options.
3. Look in the list of installed software for the game you want to remove from your computer.
4. If one is found, right-click on it. And then activate the “Delete” command in the mini-menu.
5. In the uninstaller window, do everything as it “requests”. You may need to select removal items and make additional settings. Although in 90 cases out of 100, before cleaning, only confirmation of the operation is requested (are you sure...?) and its launch (“Next”, “OK”).
Method No. 3: removal using the installation disk/installer
This option is only possible if there is a corresponding option in the game’s installation menu. Its presence is very easy to check.
1. Open the installation window using one of the options below (depending on how and where the game is saved):
- insert the installer disc into the DVD drive;
- create a virtual disk from the .iso, .mds, .mdf image (from which you installed);
- run the file with “Autorun” from the folder of the downloaded game.
2. Activate cleaning (click the “Delete” menu item).
After these steps, the installation module will automatically enable the necessary system functions and safely clean the hard drive of its folders and files.
Bring in heavy artillery!
In special cases, software tools from third-party developers come to the rescue. There are quite a lot of them, so in order to more or less decide, the CCleaner program will be considered in the article. Or in Russian - “Cleaner”. It will scan the operating system and registers in search of all files with which no connection has been established, or that have been seemingly deleted, and report their presence. And a person only needs to agree to their removal or become familiar with the fact that the program has identified it as garbage. Also, if you couldn’t get rid of something, believe me, CCleaner will block all protection mechanisms. And the program will be deleted.
In what specific cases might her help be needed? For example, the question is: “How to completely remove the Warface game from your computer?” And if this is a pirated version, where something has probably been cleverly done, then the standard features certainly won’t help. Just a few clicks in CCleaner - and you no longer worry about how to completely remove the game from your computer. “Tanks”, “Assassin Skreed”, “Age of Empires” or something else – it doesn’t matter. The program will be deleted.
Using special utilities
Of course, deleting the game using standard Windows tools is correct and correct. However, this is not always convenient, especially if the user is a beginner. In addition, the built-in uninstaller does not always perform cleaning efficiently. That is, after the deletion procedure, some elements still remain in the folders and registry.
To avoid these problems, and also to save time, entrust cleaning the system to special uninstaller programs. They will cope with this task 100% guaranteed. The “toy” files and keys will disappear from Windows forever. Choose one of the popular solutions below and act.
Uninstall Tool
Performs uninstallation three times faster than the built-in system utility. Supports batch uninstallation of applications.
Soft Organizer
It has clear, simple controls: activation of cleaning in two clicks of the mouse. It meticulously performs uninstallation without leaving any “traces” of the game on the disk.
Revo Uninstaller
One of the most popular “removers”. Distributed in two versions: Free - free, Pro - paid. Cleans out all file directories and registry branches.
How to use the programs?
The cleaning algorithm using uninstaller utilities is simple and almost identical to any of the above solutions:
- Launch the assistant program.
- Select the game you want to remove from your PC from the list of software available on the system. Select it with a mouse click.
- Click the “Uninstall” or “Uninstall” button in the control panel.
- Follow the instructions of the game's built-in uninstaller (its window will open immediately after starting the cleanup).
- Upon completion of the procedure, run a system scan (it will start automatically, you just have to confirm the action). The utility will scan the registry and disk directories for remaining application elements after removal.
- Clear all found keys in the registry and files, folders in directories.
Manual removal and if there is no Uninstall file
If there is no built-in uninstaller, you can permanently remove the game from your Windows 7, 8, 10 computer in forced mode. To do this you should:
- Enter safe mode . This is done by pressing the F8 key on the keyboard until the Windows logo appears upon reboot. Then select “ Safe Mode ” from the list.
- Launch the task manager and end all processes related to the game. If they are absent, you can move on to the next point.
- Find the folder where the game files are located. To do this, in the properties of the application shortcut, pay attention to the “ Working folder ” field.
- Select all files and delete them. Then search for the remains by entering the name of the game in the search bar of the explorer.
What to do if the game is not deleted?
If none of the above methods help to uninstall or the game is not in the Start menu or in the list of installed software (the “Uninstall a program” setting), or the game uninstaller is missing/does not work - in general the game is not uninstalled - follow these steps :
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What to do if files from drive C are not deleted?
1. Restart Windows in Safe Mode: Hold "F8" during restart to open the mode selection menu.
2. Stop active game processes:
- open Windows Task Manager (key combination “Ctrl+Shift+Esc”);
- click on the “Processes” tab;
- find an element in the list (its name can use the name of the game);
- right-click on it;
- Select "End process" from the menu.
Note. If there are no running processes, proceed to the next cleaning step.
3. If the location of the game is unknown (that is, it is not known in which folder and on which drive it is located), view the properties of the shortcut intended for launching:
- right click on it;
- in the context menu, click “Properties”;
- rewrite or remember the path specified in the “Object” field on the “Shortcut” tab (this will be the location of the application on the disk).
4. Delete the game folder:
- open the directory where the folder is located (path from the shortcut properties);
- drag the folder to the trash.
Attention! If the files from the folder “don’t want” to be deleted, use the special Unlocker utility or its equivalent: run it → right-click on the file → select “Unlocker” from the context menu.
5. Search for remaining items on the disk:
- press "Win+E";
- in the “Search” field (top right) enter the name of the game;
- press "Enter";
- delete all found files and folders using standard system tools (Trash, context menu).
Advice! Additionally, search for “Save” or “Saves” to find game saves.
6. Clean the registry:
- press “Win+R” at the same time;
- enter - regedit (+ Enter);
- in the editor, press “Ctrl+F”;
- In the search bar, type the name of the game;
- click “Find next...”;
- delete the found key: right-click → Delete;
- continue searching (key “F3”);
- scan the entire registry.
Using Revo Uninstaller
When installing a program or game, your computer's operating system usually offers a specific location in which you can “write” the files. But in the future, some data may be copied without your knowledge to the registry, where it may remain indefinitely, even after the utility or toy has been deleted by the “user”. To clean the system disk and registry, you can use a special utility, namely Revo Uninstaller. This utility can permanently remove applications, search for files, completely clean your PC of junk, and much more.
How do I delete a game from my Steam library?
(using the example of the game Dota 2)
Clients of online games from the Steam service and, in particular, Dota 2, cannot be completely deleted by throwing the folder and files into the trash. After the next system startup, the Steam application will refer to its entries (keys) in the registry and other remaining elements (libraries), and then begin to download the missing game elements that were deleted earlier.
In this case, cleaning the disk from the client must be performed directly while in the Steam service browser, or library:
1. Launch your browser.
2. If the game is open, exit it: in the browser, click the “Exit” icon (top right) → confirm the action (click the “Exit” button).
3. On the left, in the list, right-click on the game you want to get rid of.
4. In the context menu, activate “Delete contents...”.
5. Confirm your intention to uninstall the application.
6. Once the cleaning is complete, the game will be permanently removed from the OS.
Removing a game from the registry
By manually deleting files from your computer, you must also clean up the registry. To launch it, you need to hold down the Win + R and type the command “ regedit ” into the search bar.
What is Ubar and how to use it
Then, in the editor itself, press Ctrl+ F and enter the name of the application in the search bar that opens. Delete the keys found in this way and repeat this action until the editor notifies you that there are no search results.
