Removing trial version..

anyone know of a program to remove the trial registry on a windows computer, so that i can re install some software with a new key (valid).. i had an old key, and it wasnt valid, so they gave me a trial of 30 days.. now i bought the key.. and i cant input it when installing... any help?

honestly you are asking a very grey question.

whatever the software is, the new key should have taken it over, if not, call their tech support and they should walk you through.

yeah... im just looking for a registry cleaner of some sort.. to completely erase the trial version..

What you need is a third party "uninstaller". Not sure whcih one though.

What about the native Restore?

I'm sure there's something out there that can help, however as jjasghar pointed out it's a shady area.

The reason that a trial version puts a registry key in place is so you can't just keep reinstalling the trial over and over without ever buying it, obviously. If there was a standardized, easy way of removing them, I'd think it would be illegal in some way.

Plus, different programs are likely to store their relevant keys in different ways in the registry. For some programs, you can just open the registry editor, do a search for the program name, and delete all the keys you find - other programs are smarter and store their keys in locations/with names that aren't so obvious and easy to locate.

Assuming the program you are referring to is of the not-so-simple-to-clean variety, perhaps if you called up the software manufacturer and proved that you had purchased a key, they might be able to tell you what keys to delete or change, or offer some other form of solution.

aekdbbop said:

yeah... im just looking for a registry cleaner of some sort.. to completely erase the trial version..

Click to expand...

FDisk works pretty well

I actually format & reinstall the OS and all my applications about once every 4 months. I have an image of a new install, so it only takes me about 5 minutes to do so. I keep all my data on a separate drive, so there is not much to backup before I blast the drive. It keeps things like the registry uncluttered.

Uninstall programs are placebos. They make you feel better, but the crap is still there.

EdWort said:

Uninstall programs are placebos. They make you feel better, but the crap is still there.

Click to expand...

I mostly agree with this assesment, but there are a few out there that will clean up the registry. Try "your uninstaller", I used it a while back and it seemed to clean up pretty well. For the most part I too wipe out my disk every few months, then just load an image of all my usual software.

What I think happened here was a f'd up uninstall of the trial version. That happens sometimes casue for soem reaosn some software companies can't seem to get that whole uninstall thing figured out. Pain in the Ass for sure.

Worlds biggest virus, MS WINDOWS, doesn't help either.

Some trial programs are tricky. They don't just insert a registry key with a date attached. Some of them create a few small files randomly scattered around your computer that, if found, will prevent you from using the trial version after it's reinstalled.

If it was a program that used a msi installer then try THIS

If the trial program appears in the list when you run this program then it was installed using an msi installer and can be removed with this program.