Antivirus is such a tricky program that it is not so easy to remove it if necessary. The need for uninstallation is very rare, but if necessary, many users may encounter problems. Incorrect removal leads to undesirable consequences, up to reinstalling Windows.
ESET NOD32 Antivirus
Each anti-virus software is protected from third-party interference, including from unexpected removal. Therefore, before you remove NOD32, you need to read the detailed instructions.
The fact is that it is impossible to remove ESET NOD32 through the control panel, since it has its own protection against such actions. Even if you can throw the program files into the trash, such an uninstallation can lead to sad consequences. There are two working ways to remove antivirus. And they both require strict adherence to instructions.
Uninstall NOD32 using a special utility
The developer company of this antivirus helps users in finding a way to remove ESET NOD32 from the computer. A specially developed utility ESET Smart Security, which is available on the official website of NOD32. It is located in the "Removing Products" section. You do not need to install it, since it works as a working shortcut.
An important condition for this application to work is to start the operating system in safe mode. To start Windows in this mode, you must press F8 on the first boot screen and select "Safe Mode".
After the OS has started in this mode, you can run the ESET Uninstaller utility and proceed to remove the antivirus from the PC.
Understand how to remove NOD32 using this utility? not at all difficult. The only thing to keep in mind is that it is English-speaking, so before you start, you should switch to the English-language layout.
Step-by-step instructions for removing NOD32 using ESET Uninstaller
After starting the utility, the user will be asked to confirm the removal of the antivirus. In the working window, the message: Are you really (the question is about consent to uninstall), press Y or N (in the first case, the deletion is confirmed, and in the second it is canceled).
After pressing the Y key, the utility starts scanning the operating system in search of the installed antivirus distribution. The program itself tells the user how to remove NOD32 completely, without additional commands and procedures. At the end of the scan, press the number 1.
In the next phase, you must once again confirm the removal of ESET NOD32 by pressing the Y key. When the removal is complete, a window will pop up in the center of the screen with the message Uninstall finished successfull.
Important! When the utility removes antivirus software, you should not run third-party programs or perform any actions on the computer. This can lead to a system failure.
After completing all operations, the computer must be restarted for the changes to take effect, so there is nothing complicated about how to remove NOD32 using the utility. By the way, a small side effect of the removal may be resetting the network interface. So network drivers may need to reinstall and reconfigure options.
Using a standard software uninstaller
There is another way to remove NOD32 from your computer. It is somewhat simpler, although it requires the participation of third-party software. So, first you need to go to the root folder of ESET NOD32 and run the Uninstall file, you can open the Start menu, find the ESET folder there and click the "Delete" button.
The uninstaller window opens, in which you need to click "Next" to the end. After the operation is completed, a notification will be displayed that the program has been deleted.
However, there is a slight nuance. System and registry files and entries may not be deleted this way, so you need to use additional software like CCleaner. Using this utility, the registry will be cleaned from the remnants of the antivirus, and after rebooting the computer will be completely cleaned from ESET NOD32.