Detailed Guide to Uninstall ESET Smart Security 2016 – How to Fully Remove ESET

ESET Smart Security is an internet security suite developed by ESET to provide users with comprehensive antivirus protection, anti-phishing and additional security feature set. With a personal firewall, anti-spam module to filter suspicious or unwanted files, it can block phishing attempts and guard against malware such as viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware and rootkits. This software also performs well in the aspects of virus detection ratio, scanning speed and resources usage. However, when it comes to the uninstallation of ESET Smart Security, things may become a little tough to handle. Problems you may encounter in uninstalling ESET Smart Security:

• Cannot shut down ESET Smart Security especially its background processes?
• Fail to uninstall ESET Smart Security through Ad/Remove Programs applet?
• ESET Uninstallation process is interrupted and stopped by unknown error?
• Wonder how to wipe off ESET Smart Security leftovers around system?……

Users may uninstall ESET Smart Security out of his personal preference. So if you think ESET Smart Security does not meet your needs or work as expected, how can you get rid of it without causing any trouble? You may do a Google search and then come to this place. Well, in this tutorial we will show you the proper ways of uninstalling any unwanted program. You can try the conventional means to cast off ESET Smart Security, or click here to have a fast and effective uninstall.

Conventional Steps to Uninstall ESET Smart Security

First of all you can implement the conventional means to uninstall ESET Smart Security. Start from Step 1 to learn how to uninstall problematic program and what to do if you run into any issues.

Step 1. Exit ESET Background Processes

Before uninstalling any software, you are supposed to shut down the program and end all associated background processes to guarantee a successful uninstallation.

• Right click the taskbar and select Task Manager option.

• Select associated application and processes in the Processes tab.
• Click on End Task to terminated them one by one.

Tips: If you cannot exit ESET Smart Security in Task Manager, rebooting Windows into Safe Mode may help. As a diagnostic mode of operating system, it is widely used to fix potential issues and to remove stubborn programs.

How to enter into Safe Mode:

• Access the Run dialogue by pressing the Windows + R keys together.
• Type “msconfig” in the Open: field and click OK to open System Configuration.
• Click the Boot tab in the pop-up window and tick the “Safe boot” check box.
• Click on OK and then Restart in the pop-up dialog box to take effect.

Step 2: Uninstall ESET Smart Security

• Right click on Start menu and then Programs and Features in the list.

• Highlight ESET Smart Security with one single click and click on Change.

• Besides, Windows 10 user can click on Start > All apps, locate ESET in the list, right click on ESET Smart Security and choose Uninstall option to begin uninstallation.

• Click on Next in ESET Smart Security setup window to start the process.

• Click on Remove > Next > Remove in the following pop-up windows.

• Click on Finish to exit the wizard and reboot computer to take effect.

More Steps Needed To Take After A Normal Uninstall

As is mentioned before, stray files and registry entries will be left behind during the normal uninstallation process. Over time those useless files pile up and gun up your computer. To avoid those upset issues, you need to go on with two necessary steps:

Step 3: Delete Entries in Registry

• (Right) click on the Start icon and then select the Run option.

• Type “regedit” in the box and press Enter key to activate Registry Editor.

• Click Find on the Edit menu in the Registry Editor.
• Type the keyword(s) of ESET Smart Security in the search box.

• Click on Find Next (and then hit F3 key) to locate and delete associated keys/values.
  

Warning: as the Windows registry is a database that stores crucial system information, any improper modification there may result in system malfunction or even crash. Before deleting invalid keys/values, you had better make a backup copy of the registry. If you wanna avoid any unnecessary risks during this process, you can employ our recommended uninstaller to save your trouble and guarantee a safe removal.

Step 4: Delete Files/Folders in Disk

• Click on Start > Control Panel > Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
• Tick Show hidden files and folders and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (recommended) in the Advanced settings.
• Click Apply and then OK in pop-up dialog boxes to save the changes.

• Double click This PC on the desktop to open up File Explorer.

• Type ESET Smart Security in the Search Bar and wait for a few seconds.

• Go through and delete associated items in the search results.

Feel complicated to follow all these manual steps? Wanna uninstall ESET Smart Security without taking any risk? Don’t fret. There is another way to effectively get rid of ESET Smart Security. Read on to get ESET Smart Security removed once for all.

Can I Remove ESET Smart Security Effortlessly? Sure!

For most antivirus software, manual removal method seems to be less efficient and more time-consuming. If you are looking for a powerful and handy removal tool, Max Uninstaller is undoubtedly a good choice. With a highly engineered uninstall engine, it is capable of locating hidden toolbars, removing stubborn programs and deleting leftovers around the whole system. And the whole process may last even less than one minute. Now let’s see how it works to uninstall ESET Smart Security.

1. Select Target Program.

– Launch Max Uninstaller after shutting down ESET Smart Security totally.
– Select ESET Smart Security in the list and then click Run Analysis to proceed.

2. Scan for Program Components.

– After the scanning is done, click Complete Uninstall to activate default uninstaller.
– Click Yes in pop-up window and follow the prompts to complete uninstallation.

– Click Scan Leftovers to start searching ESET Smart Security leftovers.

3. Perform Complete Uninstall.

– Keep every checkbox ticked and then click on Delete Leftover to start removal.
– Click Yes in the dialogue box and then all program leftovers will be removed.

This post lists two approaches to uninstall ESET Smart Security. You can choose either of them to get rid of ESET Smart Security from your PC. Hope this guide helps you resolve your uninstall issues. If you still have any difficulty in uninstalling any unwanted program, feel free to contact us, or leave your comments here.

For the removal guides of previous ESET products, see:

Uninstall ESET Smart Security 5 – Completely Uninstall ESET Smart Security

ESET NOD32 Antivirus Uninstall Instruction, How to Remove the Whole Package of ESET NOD32 Antivirus