These days almost all the installation packages come with an extra software that you did not ask for. Such unwanted software can be anything from a browser toolbar to a desktop utility. It is not unusual for people to have tons of such unwanted software to be installed on their computers. If you want to get rid of such undesired applications then you can use FreeFixer. FreeFixer can scan your system for potentially unwanted programs (PUP) and gives you an option to remove them.
FreeFixer is a general purpose removal tool which will help you to delete potentially unwanted programs (which may include adware, spyware, trojans, viruses and worms). FreeFixer works by scanning a large number of locations on your computer where unwanted software has a known record of appearing, hiding or leaving traces. The scan locations include the programs that run on your computer, the programs that starts when you reboot your computer, your browser’s plug-ins, your home page setting, Windows registry etc.
You can downnload FreeFixer from their website. The download is around 2 megabytes and is a setup installer. After the installation, you can start it from its Start Menu shorcut. On the main window, you can click on the Start Scan link to start the scan.
It would start to scan various areas of your system like TCP/IP settings, IE settings, Registry startup, processes, application modules, services, drivers, Explorer.exe modules and more. After a few minutes of scanning your system, it shows the results. To see more information about any item, click more info shown next to it. There is a checkbox in front of all the items. You can select the checkbox for an item that you want to fix or remove. Then click on the Fix link at the top of the window.
After a confirmation dialog to delete/repair the selected items, they are either removed or repaired. You are also shown the results of the fixing/repairing. In addition to the scanning and removal of unwanted programs, FreeFixer also includes a File Nuker tool which can delete a stubbon or in-use file at reboot. FreeFixer can also start Windows System File Checker utility to fix corrupted files on your system.
FreeFixer is a useful tool aimed at advanced users. FreeFixer does not know which program/setting is wanted and which is unwanted, so it presents the scan result and its up to you to decide if some file should be removed and if some settings should restored to their default value. If you are not careful, then you can end up deleting a legitimate file from your Windows system resulting in abnormal behavior. However, you can alwyas use the more information feature to guide you in making the decision to remove a file or setting.
You can download FreeFixer from http://www.freefixer.com/download.html.