Can Not Remove Adobe Reader X – How to Uninstall Adobe Reader X Completely Without Hassle

January 10, 2012

Adobe Reader X is the latest version of Adobe Reader, but no revolutionary changes & update can be found on this new version. As usual, Adobe Reader X allows you to read and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file, however this updated Adobe Reader X was complained by many users as it frequently fail to open large size PDF file, and it eat up to much memory while it is running that cause computer slow or even freeze. If Adobe Reader X does not meet your requirement and you want an alternative, you may need to remove it from your computer first.

How to remove Adobe Reader X

Solution1: remove Adobe Reader X from Windows Control Penal

(For Windows XP/2000)

Click Start Menu on the button left of your screen.
Select control Penal, click Add/Remove program.
Locate Adobe Reader X in the program list, click Remove button.

Click Yes if you are prompted to confirm the action.
Follow the wizard to finish the removal.
Restart your computer.

(For Windows 7/Vista)

Click Start Menu, select control Penal,
Click “Uninstall a program” link.
Locate and select Adobe Reader X in the program list, click “Uninstall” option .
Click Yes if you are prompted to confirm the action.
Follow the wizard to finish the removal.
Restart your computer.

Note: Please make sure you have end all the process related to Adobe Reader X before the removal, otherwise error message will likely crop up when during the uninstallation. You can press Alt+Ctrl+Delete to open Windows task manager, click on the Process tab and look for any process related to Adobe Reader X, select it and click end process button.

Solution2: remove Adobe Reader X manually.

If you can not locate Adobe Reader X in the add/Remove, you can try removing this program manually by deleting its folders and registry files.
Folders need to be deleted

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe
C:\ProgramData\Adobe
C:\Users\All Users\Adobe
C:\Users\XXXX\AppData\Local\Adobe
C:\Users\XXXX\AppData\LocalLow\Adobe
C:\Users\XXXX\AppData\Roaming\Adobe

Registry files need to be deleted

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe
and more (please refer to the below image)

install Adobe Reader X automatically with Max Uninstaller

If you ever feel troublesome or encounter problems with the Adobe Reader X removal, you can try using Max Uninstaller to help you finish the task. Max Uninstaller is a powerful software uninstall tool that assures to you a complete removal of any unwanted programs and all the related leftovers. see the below instructions:

Step1: Click here to free download Max Uninstaller, and then install it in your computer.
Step2: Launch Max Uninstaller, select Adobe Reader X the right hand list. Press “Run Analysis”

Step3: Max Uninstaller will review uninstall program files and associated registry entries. Click Complete Uninstall to start the program uninstall process. Click Yes to start uninstalling Adobe Reader X uninstall.

Step4: Wait for the standard Adobe Reader X uninstall completed. Click “Scan Leftovers”, and Max Uninstaller will conduct a full scan on your computer for a while.

Step5: When it finish scanning, click “Delete Leftovers” and “Yes” button to thoroughly remove Adobe Reader X and its leftovers.

Step6: Max Uninstaller has now fully uninstalled Adobe Reader X related files and extensions. Click OK to finish.

Uninstall Adobe Reader X with Max Uninstaller Video demonstration

Which removing way is the best effective and easiest to handle? You can depend your specific computer situation and do a comparison among these three uninstall ways. And I think you will find that either you try to get rid of Adobe Reader X from the Windows uninstall utility or the program attached uninstall process, you will have to encounter some problems and are also required to do some manual removing job on your computer.

The removing process often takes a long time
When follow the instruction to perform the removal step by step, people will need to spend a long time on waiting the removing process. And as for those “big” programs, the removing job will often freeze in the process.
Although restart the computer system again, associated registry entries still can be found.
Logically speaking, after uninstalling the program and restarting the computer system, the program should be completely removed from the computer, but in most of time, its associated registry entries still can be found on the computer system.
Result in unsuccessful removal
Even though you correctly follow the uninstall instruction, the program will also fails to be removed the computer with other reasons.

More info

Tags: Uninstall Adobe Reader X