[Webslinger64]

My step-son, who should have known better, came over today and used my computer without permission to download and install some programs. I was unaware of it until I got home from work 15 minutes ago and found an unrecognized icon in my system tray.

This is what he downloaded and installed on my computer. The icon in the system tray is for Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.4.0 . Under the "start" button, "all programs" there are two new programs listed. One is Elaborate Bytes and the other is SlySoft.

Both programs offer an uninstall option, but when I select that option to remove the programs, I get the following message:

Problem with Shortcut
"The drive or network connection that the shortcut 'Uninstall.Ink' refers to is unavailable. Make sure that the disk is properly inserted or the network resource is available, and then try again."

I went to Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel and did not find either Elaborate Bytes or SlySoft listed. I did find Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.4.0 though. Tried to uninstall it from Add/Remove Programs and got this message:

"An error occurred while trying to remove VirtualCloneDrive. You do not have access to H:\VirtualCloneDrive\vcd-uninst.exe . You can specify the new uninstall program below."

"Command line for the uninstall program:"

Here is some system information that may be helpful.

System:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Version 2002 Service Pack 2

Computer:
Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 3.06GHz
3.07 GHz, 2.00 GB of RAM

I appreciate any help you folks can give me.

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Hello

• Download Revo Uninstaller (free edition) from here
• Save the file to your desktop, for example C:\users\your username goes here\desktop
• Double click the file to open and install it
• Find the programs you wish to remove and double click them to begin the removal process
• Make sure you do the advanced uninstall as it removes the whole program

When you get the error relating to the .exe just ignore it and continue with the removal process as I think the installation maybe corrupted.

Thanks

[wizzy2k5]

Hello

• Download Revo Uninstaller (free edition) from here
• Save the file to your desktop, for example C:\users\your username goes here\desktop
• Double click the file to open and install it
• Find the programs you wish to remove and double click them to begin the removal process
• Make sure you do the advanced uninstall as it removes the whole program

When you get the error relating to the .exe just ignore it and continue with the removal process as I think the installation maybe corrupted.

Thanks

[Webslinger64]

Hello

• Download Revo Uninstaller (free edition) from here
• Save the file to your desktop, for example C:\users\your username goes here\desktop
• Double click the file to open and install it
• Find the programs you wish to remove and double click them to begin the removal process
• Make sure you do the advanced uninstall as it removes the whole program

When you get the error relating to the .exe just ignore it and continue with the removal process as I think the installation maybe corrupted.

Thanks

Wizzy,

Thank you for the reply. I installed Revo Uninstaller as you suggested. I was able to locate the Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.4.0 program on Revo Uninstaller and it appears to have worked. One exception though is the icon for the program is still showing in the system tray.
As for the Elaborate Bytes and SlySoft programs, Revo Uninstaller did not show them. Not sure why. Both those programs are still listed in my Start All Program menu, but neither are listed in my Add/Remove Programs list. Any further ideas to remove these?

[wizzy2k5]

Hello

If they are not listed in add/remove programs or Revo Uninstaller then in reality they should not exist but do the following.

Goto the system tray and right click and close them.

Click start and goto run
In the run box type msconfig and hit enter
Goto the startup tab and remove the two entries if they show up

Remove from All Programs menu
Remove from Program Files (C:\Program Files)

Click start and goto run
In the run box type regedit and press enter
Goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE (now locate them 2 entries and delete the keys (keys are the ones on the left hand side which look like folders)
Goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE (locate them 2 entries and delete the keys)

Regards

[Webslinger64]

Hello

If they are not listed in add/remove programs or Revo Uninstaller then in reality they should not exist but do the following.

Goto the system tray and right click and close them.

Click start and goto run
In the run box type msconfig and hit enter
Goto the startup tab and remove the two entries if they show up

Remove from All Programs menu
Remove from Program Files (C:\Program Files)

Click start and goto run
In the run box type regedit and press enter
Goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE (now locate them 2 entries and delete the keys (keys are the ones on the left hand side which look like folders)
Goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE (locate them 2 entries and delete the keys)

Regards

Followed all your instructions and it appears that both Elaborate Bytes and SlySoft have been removed. Icons in system tray are disabled and deleted appropriate keys in the registry.
One thing has not been corrected though. Apparently, one of those programs created a virtual CD-ROM drive that shows up under "My Computer". I only have two CD-ROM drives installed (F: and G:), but there is now an I: designated as a DVD Drive. Any ideas how I can remove that?

Thanks!

[wizzy2k5]

Hello

This could just be a driver it has installed so please do the following

• Click start and goto run
• In the run box type diskmgmt.msc and hit enter
• Scroll down to the virtual drive
• Right click this and goto properties
• Click the hardware tab
• Click the properties tab
• Click the driver tab and click on uninstall
• Reboot your computer

This should remove that.

[Webslinger64]

Hello

This could just be a driver it has installed so please do the following

• Click start and goto run
• In the run box type diskmgmt.msc and hit enter
• Scroll down to the virtual drive
• Right click this and goto properties
• Click the hardware tab
• Click the properties tab
• Click the driver tab and click on uninstall
• Reboot your computer

This should remove that.

Have tried to uninstall the virtual drive (I:) twice now. Each time I rebooted it showed up again under "My Computer". I uninstalled the drive once via your instructions, then again by right clicking the drive under "My Computer", selecting properties and uninstalling that way. The reboot brings it back for some reason.

[wizzy2k5]

Hello

I will try this another way for removal. As per the above with the msconfig post do that then do the following

• Click start and goto run
• In the run box type devmgmt.msc and hit enter
• Expand DVD/CD-Rom column and find the virtual drive, right click this and select uninstall

Another solution which may work is to re-install the software without installing the virtual drive however before doing this option please make a new restore point.

Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - System Restore

If you find you cannot remove the software again using its own uninstaller please use the steps above to remove it

Regards

[Webslinger64]

Hello

I will try this another way for removal. As per the above with the msconfig post do that then do the following

• Click start and goto run
• In the run box type devmgmt.msc and hit enter
• Expand DVD/CD-Rom column and find the virtual drive, right click this and select uninstall

Another solution which may work is to re-install the software without installing the virtual drive however before doing this option please make a new restore point.

Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - System Restore

If you find you cannot remove the software again using its own uninstaller please use the steps above to remove it

Regards

I ended up having to re-install the software without installing the virtual drive and was then able to uninstall the program from there. Went through Start Up folder, Device Manager and Registry to make sure everything was clear. Looks like that did the trick.
Thank you for your assistance. It was greatly appreciated.