Uninstalling All the Way

I just have some general questions about the things programs leave behind. I know that many programs leave entries in your file system or in your registry after they are uninstalled, this being most noticeable in the case of trial versions that last for a limited time. Also, I know that a program like Total Uninstall can keep track of these lingering components and get rid of them. But here's my question: is there any way to find these registry entries or files after the fact (say, after not using Total Uninstall or its ilk)? Is there anything to prevent programs adding such entries post-installations? Also, for at least one program I've been looking at the entries aren't stored in the same place on consecutive installations; does anybody know how this works and how the program goes about locating its own previous data?

This is mainly just out of curiosity--I'd really like to better understand how this works. At the same time, I did get to wondering about programs recording things I can't locate on my own computer (in one case I tried locating the relevant registry keys with a registry scanner, but so far to no avail) and I'm not sure I entirely like the idea.

 

look up ccleaner

 

REGEDIT if you can deduce accurate search criteria, have some technical ability balanced with common sense, and good backups.

 

Use Revo Uninstaller. If you use the advanced mode it will show you the registry keys and trace files from the program you want to uninstall.

 

i don't mind paying for software for this purpose...my two choices to keep things tidied up are...Your Unstaller...and Regestry Mechanic to scan and find dead keys in the regestry

 

+1 for Revo Uninstaller, it is a real good program.

 

Another vote for Revo Uninstaller

 

Thank you for all of the software suggestions, I'll try those forthwith.

As for JohnDoe's comment:

Yes, I spent a good deal of time trying that using Regedit (with full backups), the real-time registry monitor software (to show what the software was accessing), and the old Total Uninstal logs (to see what keys the software had added on other machines and installations). It was all to no avail though, aside from my realization that the program was varying the location and contents of its registry keys.

 

Well, I tried most of the above mentioned programs: both CCleaner and Revo Uninstaller are nice tools, but neither of them removed whatever is left from this particular program. (All the same, they're good things to have on hand)

Any more suggestions?