Not for me as I'm happy with Sandboxie but some may be interested.

Giveaway

Not for me either. I trust Returnil now, not sure I could trust that program given the extremely variable quality of their previous giveaways (don't think I've kept a single one of the freebies I've tried from the GAOTD site)

Nice find that Humpty.

Don't use Sandboxie, but still a big fan of Returnil and PowerShadow. Will definitely be giving this a whirl.

I'll let you guys know how I get on, and how I find it in comparison to the other two.

We got PS, Sandboxie, and Returnil on our sides so those pretty much covers more than this one!

IMHO, give it a wide birth.

Really invasive program. No option to not run at startup. Stopped this manually, but it still runs services when booting up, stopped these manually, but there was still something I missed, as it had a hold of IE7 shortcut icon even after uninstalling. You'll know what I mean if you're daft enough to try it.

Could only delete the remaining files in Program Files folder by doing it in safe mode. B******s would not go, but they're gone now.

Cleared all registry entries except one. Well, it's a few within one.



Any advice chaps, apart from "told you so".

Have been doing a little looking around and read about someone who had a similar problem to you.

He found that hklm/software/bufferzone/virtual had a null key in system.

Not my field this but I am sure Andavari would be able to sort it for you perhaps using the tool mentioned here

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysintern...regdelnull.mspx


Worth a look anyway.

That little app looks as if it was written for just this type of problem. I'll download it, but I'll wait until Andavari has a looksee as to which is the best next step.

I've managed to get rid of most stuff by using safe mode and manually editing the registry, including changing permissions for this programs entries, and Andavari has taken me a couple of steps further than I knew how to go, but the b*****d is superglued in there.

Thanks for your help Hazel, including the time you obviously spent looking around.

I've never used that Windows Sysinternals tool before, however it may help. Just make a System Restore point beforehand to play it safe.

Since this thing won't go away even after changing registry permissions I would suggest asking Trustware the publisher.
* Support Contact Info
* Trustware Official Forums
* Castlecops Bufferzone Forum (unofficial) - edit: removed dead link that forum area doesn't exist

Edit: Even their forums have a post about it not really uninstalling. Such as this post. It looks to be rather buggy.

Similar here, that's where I got the null key post from

http://www.trustware.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=191

Thanks again for your help guys, I'll check all these out, not just for Bufferzone, but for any similar happenings in the future.

Hi Dennis. Very sorry you are having trouble.

Generous of you to post this quickly, will save many members trouble, certainly will me. Thank you.

I just ran regdelnull, it found several null keys. Offered me the choice of "delete y/n " for each one it found, one at a time.

I think I know what they are but. . .presently running every scanner in the known universe, to be sure.

Bufferzone has left the building:

This is for information guys, and I'm cutting a long story short(er) here.

Bufferzone is obviously a very complex program, insofar that it installs a lot of stuff, and not just in the registry. It installs its own processes running from startup, as well as the virtual "protection zone".

Because of that, it also comes with a pretty complex "uninstall" feature.

Like a lot of people here and elsewhere, I've been relying too much on third party installation "tracking" applications as the best way to go.

On this occasion, that was the BIG mistake.

The only thing that removes this cleanly is it's own installer. And although I didn't like Bufferzones seemingly invasive install, or it's functionality, compared to Returnil or Powershadow, I must give credit and say that if the application is uninstalled correctly, then there are no problems removing it cleanly.

The entire saga was caused by tracking it, and then trying to remove it, with ZSoft.

And that's not a failing of ZSoft in particular, IMO, any third party tracking app would have screwed this up.

After trying every method under the sun to remove this, the final option was to install it again, and try using its own installer to remove it. After going through the install and restart, it turned out to be a simple operation to "unload" Bufferzone with the sys tray icon, and select "uninstall".

On doing that, this window popped up:



Not your average uninstall feature.

After checking the 3 options, the installer did it's thing, and prompted a restart.

I then did a thourgh search, and found only a couple of minor things in the registry which deleted easily.

So, what I've learned from this, and this is my choice, you guys make your own minds up, is to use a third party "tracker" as a second option uninstaller, after first trying a programs own installer first.

What's annoying in all this, is the fact that I never usually install anything I'm trying out, if the install needs a reboot, as this negates Returnils "restart, everythings gone" magic. But on this occasion I was tempted to stray from that, and I got my a**e well and truly bitten.

That's the short(er) version.

Anyway, thanks to Hazel, Andavari, and AndyManchesta for their input, although I have actually figured some of this stuff out myself.

That's why I always use the programs own uninstaller then run Total Uninstall to pick up any leftovers.

That's what I've did since the get go with it too. It's surprising the makers of the installation watchers don't actually recommend that procedure as the best way to use them for a proper uninstall.

This thread is a good lesson for those using installation watching software and thinking they will always work flawlessly at removing some software, especially security software that's resident, etc.

Sorry you had heaps of strife Dennis and glad you got it sorted.

My very last line of defense for any and all software probs are ghost images.

Actually the maker of Zsoft does recommend to use the programs own uninstaller than use Zsoft to clean up. I specifically asked that question back in March on the Zsoft forum. Here is the thread.

http://forum.zsoft.dk/index.php/topic,108.0.html

I take your point Anthony, but I can't remember if you posted your findings.

If you did, then my apologies for not remembering, but if you'll forgive me, you didn't get a definitive answer on that forum.



Mate, I beg to differ.

The person who responded to my question and you quoted is the author of Zsoft Uninstaller. He uses the installed programs own uninstaller than follows up with Zsoft Uninstaller even though he says it shouldn't be necessary to do so. I take that as the recommended way to properly uninstall and it's how I have been doing it.