Remove driver and leftovers from Apowersoft screencast recorder

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I was looking for a recording program to make videos for youtube that recorded a screen session with audio and mouse-click highlighing. As part of that search, I installed one called Apowersoft.
It did not work out <<understatement.

I uninstalled it a few weeks ago, but have discovered lots of folders and files left behind (including a driver still there) AND M A N Y registry entries that contain the string 'Apowersoft.'

The files and folders are easy to delete, but I am concerned about deleting the registry items. For example, if the 'Apowersoft' string appears in one line in the right panel, how do you know
if just that one 'element' should be deleted
or if everything on the right should go
or right side AND the left side entry?

Are there any tools I should be aware of to facilitate this process?
Windows 8.1

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I use Nir Sofer’s RegScanner to do a search for either the name or the ‘modified date’ of the keys (if I know when the software was installed).

I prefer RegScanner to regedit because I can see all the results at once instead of continually having to hit F3.

Make sure you run it as Administrator. You can export the found Registry values into a .reg file and post it here for us to have a look at (and which can also be used in RegEdit).

(PS – It work in Windows 8 but I couldn’t see any mention of 8.1

Hope this helps…

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…
Make sure you run [Nirsoft Rgscanner] as Administrator. You can export the found Registry values into a .reg file and post it here for us to have a look at (and which can also be used in RegEdit).

(PS – It work in Windows 8 but I couldn’t see any mention of 8.1

Works in Win 8.1.

I tried to post the .regfile of found items, but it is not a valid filetype.

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Are there any tools I should be aware of to facilitate this process?
Windows 8.1

Revo has never left me down!
http://www.revouninstaller.com/

Another:
http://www.iobit.com/advanceduninstaller.php

Rich

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Revo has never left me down!
http://www.revouninstaller.com/
Another:
http://www.iobit.com/advanceduninstaller.php

Can’t use those.
See “I uninstalled it a few weeks ago, …”
Those will only work for currently installed programs.

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Can’t use those.
See “I uninstalled it a few weeks ago, …”
Those will only work for currently installed programs.

Revo may still get rid of remnants with “Forced Uninstall”:

39974-Revo-Forced-Uninstall

Rich

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movershakr – If you rename the file extension from .reg to .txt you should be fine to post.

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Atch is the registry export using Nirsoft regscanner, finding “apowersoft” , selecting all, and exporting–renamed to txt.

Aside–I am subscribed to this thread per the selection at the bottom of the input screen, but never get email.

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I created a new Win 7 x64 VM (I don’t use or have access to Windows 8/8.1) and installed then uninstalled Apowersoft screencast recorder so I could better understand what you are seeing. A scan for Apowersoft using RegScanner showed 105 registry entries left (2 of which were for changes to the Windows Firewall)… remarkably different to just the 8 shown in the text file you attached.

It also showed me that the Apowersoft virtual audio device driver (Apowersoft_AudioDevice.sys) wasn’t removed either from the registry (where you can’t see the filepath in the reg file ‘cos it’s in hex format) or from the C:WindowsSystem32drivers folder. Have you checked your own C:WindowsSystem32drivers folder to see if the Apowersoft_AudioDevice.sys file is still present?

I had monitored the installation with InCtrl5 and this showed that a RegScan for Apowersoft isn’t sufficient. You also need to scan for Bytescout and multiple CLSIDs as well where Apowersoft isn’t mentioned.

I can also see from the 5th entry in your attached file that the “WDM Audio driver mapper” is set to Apowersoft’s virtual audio device driver. Are you having any problems with sound?

Taking all this into account, I don’t believe that removal of the 8 registry entries (one of which shows you have an Apowersoft service installed and – it looks like – set to Manual) is the best way forward.

I think a System Restore to a date prior to the installation of Apowersoft seems the best/safest bet (especially if you are having problems with sound).

If that’s not possible then rmonroe36’s suggestion of using Revo Uninstaller is a good one, even if you have to use Revo Uninstaller to monitor a re-installation of Apowersoft screencast recorder before using Revo Uninstaller to uninstall it again. The reason for this is that it will catch the CLSID entries in the registry as well as cached install files that don’t include Apowersoft in the name. (Also, it’s tedious searching through the filesystem manually looking for remnants, especially if buried within hidden AppData/ProgramData folders.)

Please let us know what you decide.

Hope this helps…

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I apologize for not responding–did not get email alerts…

a. Can’t do the system restore approach; it was too far back, so would mess up other things.

b. To my mind, Apowersoft is one evil piece of software.

c. Registry has only two ‘Bytescout’ entries, keys, with a no-data default value.

d. I looked in Revo, but do not see how to make it ‘monitor’ a new installation. I think reinstalling with monitor on and the uninstalling again might be the way to get the stuff gone. How?

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Movrshakr,

The monitor installation feature is only in the Pro (paid) version of Revo. HTH :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Movrshakr, The monitor installation feature is only in the Pro (paid) version of Revo. HTH :cheers:

Yeah, I just figured that out after serious digging. The Revo pages REALLY steer you into the Pro version–took some clicking finally to see the comparison. The price for one installation is sensible–for 3 computers, begins to get above my “home software’ price. I may just get it for this one machine to solve this however.

Still not getting email post notifications, and I THINK I have them turned on–the interface is confusing…can check beside ‘instant’ but see nowhere to tell it to SAVE that setting

AND, I am set for “Instantly, using email” in the general settings, but they don’t show up.

EDIT–notifications fixed
my bad
email address was bad; now fixed

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Movrshakr,

Check this deal out. I’ve bought a lot of utility software from this site (I get a daily email) and they have been reliable. I’ve also found that it while checking out if you up the number of copies often the price per copy goes down. As I remember I got a great deal on Revo Pro this way I bought 4 copies. HTH :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Too late…already bought it from within existing old Revo, but it offered a good deal <20 for one computer.

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OK, so bought the Revo Pro.
Reinstalled Apowersoft using Revo to monitor
Uninstalled Apowersoft using Revo
Deleted everything Revo offered.

See atch file for search of registry for “apowersoft”..

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Sor Mov but I got lost here. So is this already resolved?

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movrshakr – Sorry, I had no idea you had replied.

Your attached TXT file shows that – amongst other entries – your Comodo Firewall still has many rules mentioning Apowersoft, but (IMHO, bizarrely) these are related to Prefetch files.

I can also see that an Apowersoft_AudioDevice is still registered in CurrentControlSet (and ControlSet001). Are you experiencing any issues with sound?

How clean do you want to go? If you want to be 100% rid of all Apowersoft files and registry entries then you are going to have to clean out the Apowersoft Prefetch files (although they’re harmless), re-configure the Comodo Firewall rules and/or manually edit the registry (if you are comfortable with this… and after taking suitable precautions about backing up keys before deleting them).

Let us know…

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Well, I kind of got away from this…
atch is the as of today registry list items containing “Apowersoft”–and that is AFTER having reinstalled it with Revo running, then uninstalling with Revo.

Sorry–had to zip it; was too large for upload as txt.

No issues with sound; how do I ‘see’ what driver is being used for sound?

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No issues with sound; how do I ‘see’ what driver is being used for sound?

When I wrote:

Apowersoft_AudioDevice is still registered in CurrentControlSet (and ControlSet001)

I was referring to the WDM Audio driver mapper (or Windows Driver Model Audio driver mapper), a virtual audio device, not your actual audio device. If you’re not having any issues with sound then you can ignore this.

I don’t have any experience with Comodo Firewall but within its interface there must be a way to remove the ‘rules’ related to Apowersoft. Again, you can ignore them if you like… ‘cos they’re related to an application that you’ve uninstalled.

You could – if you wanted to – navigate to the C:WindowsPrefetch folder and delete any .pf files related to Apowersoft… but it’s not going to hurt if you don’t.

Similarly, you could – if you wanted to – clean the registry manually or use something like Ccleaner’s Registry Cleanup tool… but, again, it’s not going to hurt if you don’t. (And editing the registry either manually or with a tool always involves a certain amount of risk… hence the usual advice to create a backup beforehand.)

Your very first post gave the impression you wanted to get rid of every single file, folder and registry entry related to Apowersoft. Sure, you could do it with time and patience… but all PC’s/laptops accumulate crud over time until such time that it’s usually quicker to re-install from scratch or from backup.

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The prefetch files have been deleted.

I scoured Comodo rules and removed every one related to Apowersoft I could find; there were only a few. That’s why I was so surprised to still see those entries in the registry for Comodo.

The registry is about the only place left with Apowersoft stuff in it. Registry cleaners usually only remove entries that point to a file that no longer exists. Most of my leftover junk in there is not of that nature.

I think I will run a cleaner, then do the registry search again.

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movrshakr – Ccleaner’s Registry tool is the only registry cleaner I would use, after making a backup (e.g. a Restore point).

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I have that but used Glary Utilities this time, it has a backup function built in. I also made a manual backup of entire things.

After running the cleaner, There still is LOTS of stuff remaining. As I said, the cleaners mostly only clean pointers to files that no longer exist. If it is an entry just storing data that the program puts there, but does not point to a file, they don’t clean it.

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I personally would call it a day… but if you’re really set on cleaning the remaining registry entries of Apowersoft crud then the only option left that I can think of is manual editing.

I say ‘manual’ but it’s easy to add an element of ‘automation’ to it by converting a registry ‘import’ file into a registry delete file.

Do you know how to do this?

If so, I advise you to break a new Regscanner export file into several different .reg files, each one dealing with a separate issue. For example, one .reg file for any remaining Comodo Firewall entries relating to Apowersoft, another .reg file for any remaining Apowersoft_AudioDevice issues in CurrentControlSet and ControlSet001, etc. then import them into the registry one at a time, re-booting in between each import. (You’ll need to run regedit as Administrator.)

If you don’t know how to do this then let me know.

Hope this helps…

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OK I will think on that, and I do know how to create the delete entries reg file–Nirsoft Regscanner will do it.

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