Uninstall Manager Review

NorthGlide was founded in 2002 with the objective to serve the community of PDA users. However, unlike other software companies, NorthGlide specialized itself on system utilities and PDA maintenance applications. For the common user this kind of programs might not be so useful or spectacular, but a power user will give the true value.

So, what is Uninstall Manager?

Well, if you are a power user or just a curious PDA user, you might install every piece of software that is out there, shareware, freeware, sometimes not-so-compatible-software or files, etc, and most of them are deleted after a try. Well, unfortunately, even if the user install only one PRC file, most probably is that the program create data files or preferences/user details references, eating up memory. The Delete function at PalmOS is effective for the PRC and PDB files, but misses all the others with preferences or other data. In the future, all that files may cause instability and loss of space on ram. So, what’s the solution?

The solution is use Uninstall Manager to delete and test all the new programs that you wish to try or use in your PDA. UM delete not only the main files, but also all the others hidden or preferences files. It that was not enough, UM research the SD card and RAM for related files and asks if the user wish to delete them. At this point, the user is advised to be careful because those files might be necessary to other programs installed on the device. One other advantage of UM is the Sandbox Mode, so you can try that application that you just installed to see if it is 100% compatible. If is not, just restore to the original state and the tested program is full deleted and no leftovers are left on ram.

Here is one example: I installed the new version of DateBK6 to test UM. I know that DateBK6 uses some extra files and icon files so it’s a good program to test the efficiency of UM.

This is my Tungsten E2 memory BEFORE install DateBK6:

This is after install DateBk6:

After I install the program, the Sandbox Mode started and asked me if I want to test the new program in a safe mode or in normal mode. This is a great feature!

Let’s see how effective is UM: I first uninstalled DateBK6 and related files (the listed ones) with the PalmOS “Delete” function. It remained 7.4MB free memory.

I installed again DateBK6 with the same files and let’s test it now with UM:

After deleted with UM, I have now 7.6MB free!! 200kb gain!

Conclusion:

Uninstall Manager is really effective removing all files and application leftovers on our PDA. However, due its specificity, this program is recommended for power users only because of the advanced functions that may risk the PDA’s behaviour if they are not used wisely (for example, delete related files which might be necessary for another installed application).

Pros: Very effective; Useful; Sandbox mode
Cons: May cause instability if not used wisely; Caused soft-reset on my E2 after install – NVFS related?

Link: NorthGlide