ZoneAlarm Antivirus + Firewall Pro NextGen does not uninstall cleanly

After uninstalling ZoneAlarm Antivirus + Firewall Pro NextGen (version 4.2.712.19773), the ZoneAlarm updater service remains installed with no official way to uninstall it.  This can be seen when looking at services, the following two services remain installed:

ZoneAlarm Update Service (zus)
ZoneAlarm Update Service (zusm)

There is also a Checkpoint folder with over 400MB of stuff left behind in C:\Program Files (x86) and loads of registry entries too.

ZoneAlarm support told me to download and run a CLEAN.exe file for which they game me a link, but it appeared to be for the older pre-NextGen ZoneAlarm and didn't make any difference.  In the end they had me follow a specific manual procedure involving installing Revo Uninstaller Pro to finally get rid of the leftovers.  And it appears to require the Pro version, the free version of Revo can't do it.  So presumably if your trial expires you have to pay for Revo Uninstaller Pro to uninstall ZoneAlarm properly!

It really shouldn't have to be this complicated to uninstall software.  Settings / Apps / Uninstall in Windows should remove everything associated with the application you are uninstalling and not leave significant components of it behind.

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  • Official comment

    Hello Anthony,

     

    We understand the importance of ensuring a seamless uninstallation process for our users, and we appreciate your feedback regarding the leftover components and registry entries after uninstalling NextGen.

     

    Please rest assured that your concerns have been duly noted, and we are committed to continuously improving our uninstallation process to provide a smoother experience for our users.

     

    I'm pleased to inform you that our development team is actively working on a NextGen cleanup tool that will assist in removing the residual files and registry entries left behind after uninstallation.

     

    While we do not have a specific release date for this tool at the moment, we are prioritizing its development to address the concerns raised by users like yourself.

     

    We apologize for any inconvenience caused, and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to enhance our uninstallation process.

     

    Should you need immediate help, please chat with us live at https://support.zonealarm.com

     

    Best regards,

     

    Jasen T.

    ZoneAlarm Support Representative

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