(Guide/Review) A look at Nirsoft's InstalledAppView program

[Karlston]

A look at Nirsoft's InstalledAppView program

InstalledAppView is a new Nirsoft's application to look up information about installed applications on Windows systems. The portable program provides information and may be used to remove installed applications as well.

 

The program was first revealed as part of Nirsoft's Pre-Release Tools section but it has been released as a stable version now.

 

As is the case with all Nirsoft applications, all it takes to use the program is to download its archive, extract it, and run the application. The program is offered as a 32-bit and 64-bit version with separate downloads, and is only compatible with Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system.

 

Why only Windows 10? Because it focuses solely on Windows 10 applications installed through the Store, by side-loading, or by the operating system itself. If you want the same experience for desktop programs, try Nirsoft's UninstallView instead.

 

 

The program lists the installed applications -- system and user-installed programs included -- in the interface on start. The information that is provided is quite extensive, it includes: the application name and version, Registry name and last modification date, installation folder, uninstall commands, user who installed the app, and more.

 

Selecting any app displays additional details in XML format in the lower pane. You can sort the data with a click on any column header, e.g. by installation date or user. Data may be exported to various formats.

 

While the information itself may already be useful to some users, the program's capabilities to uninstall applications will make it attractive to a larger audience.

 

Right-click on any application to select standard or quiet uninstallations. A prompt is displayed in a PowerShell window if you select standard uninstallation.

 

 

Note that you may select multiple applications at once to uninstall them all from a single prompt.

 

Quiet uninstallations work similarly but display a prompt right after selection and stay quiet after confirming the operation.

 

Many of the internal applications are removed using PowerShell. Note that it is recommended to create a backup of the system before using the tool to remove applications as there is no restore functionality.

Closing Words

Windows 10 administrators may use Nirsoft's InstalledAppView to remove system or user-installed Windows 10 applications from the system. While that is also possible without using the program, by running commands directly from a PowerShell prompt, Nirsoft's application makes the process more comfortable as it supports multiple removals in one operation and does not require users to look up or memorize uninstallation commands.

 

Landing Page: https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/installed_app_view.html

 

Source: A look at Nirsoft's InstalledAppView program (gHacks - Martin Brinkmann)