In an article in ComputerWorld, dated April 25, a utility called SafeMSI is identified as being very helpful to those who are trying, with little to no success to remove some of the adware, trialware, and ‘make-money-for-the-vendor-ware’ which gets delivered on some machines.

Apparently the newest trick of the less than scrupulous PC vendor is to install software from the above categories, which is not supplied with a standard uninstall routine. The garbageware manufacturers meanwhile, are quick to write features which seem like rootkits, in regard to being removed. They block the uninstall routines from being accessed in safe mode. This is apparently affecting XP users as well, because the routines work on that operating system, too. (One more shining example of how little really changes in Vista.)

SafeMSI is capable of rendering these hidden uninstall routines visible, allowing the user to remove the programs without the usual error messages encountered when removing files, without the attending cleanup of the registry.

The garbageware has gotten quite a bit of press but the utility was not put into the public consciousness until recently it appears.

ComputerWorld original article here.

SafeMSI download located here.

Tags: computerworld, crapware, malware, adware, trialware, computer vendors, rootkit, vista, xp, windows 2003