How do I get rid of uTorrent as an administrator?

Problems in a computer system sometimes appear where it would seem they could not exist, and often people who are far from programming fall into a stupor when something like this happens to them. Fortunately, there are many ways to fix almost any system problem. Insufficient rights to delete is an error that we will talk about this time.

Figure 1. Detailed instructions when a message appears about insufficient deletion rights

Insufficient rights to remove utorrent, Sims and other programs

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Quite often, users encounter a problem when, when trying to uninstall a certain program, an error occurs - the system reports that the user is not granted the appropriate rights and suggests contacting the system administrator (Figure 2).

This situation can easily confuse a person, especially if he is working on his personal computer, and there is no system administrator nearby. Let's figure out what's the matter here and how to act in this case.

Figure 2. Window message about the problem of uninstalling the uTorrent application

Bypass the insufficient rights error using safe mode

The first thing you should try when you don’t have enough rights to uninstall is to try to uninstall the program through the operating system’s safe mode. To enable it, you need to restart your computer and press the F8 key until the Windows splash screen appears (Figure 3).

Next, just go to the control panel, and then try to uninstall the necessary program as you would do it normally. If this method does not suit you, move on.

Figure 3. Selecting Safe Mode when loading Windows

How to remove uTorrent from your computer

In total, you can use two main methods to remove any programs on Windows:

Each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages. Below we will look at each of them in more detail.

Option 1: Built-in system tools

If you decide to use this option, you will not have to download or install anything additional on your computer. Some users “scold” the built-in Windows program removal tools, because they believe that it does not completely remove the program, leaving entries about it in the registry and some files on the hard drive. Unfortunately, this is true - some information about the program will remain. However, if you delete it in order to reinstall it later, then there is nothing critical about it.

Before starting the uninstallation procedure, you need to shut down the uTorrent program. Additionally, it is recommended to delete all downloaded and/or distributed elements that are located in the main program window:

Right-click on the desired element and select “Delete” from the context menu.

How to fix insufficient rights to delete - change the UAC value

One of the simplest options to resolve difficulties is to change the UAC value. To do this, find the User Account Control settings in Control Panel. After you have successfully completed this, click on the button to change its settings.

A slider will appear in front of you and you will be asked to drag it to one of four points. Of these, you need the one that has the minimum UAC value. Then, having saved these settings, go to “programs and features” and uninstall the program. If this does not work, and the system still reports that you do not have enough rights to delete, you will have to move on to a more complex option.

Uninstallation

There are two ways to completely remove uTorrent from your computer. Let's look at their implementation step by step.

Method number 1: standard removal

This option for sending a torrent client to the trash bin does not require the use of any additional programs and is easy to implement. However, it does not exclude the possibility that some elements of the uTorrent application will still remain in the system.

1. Right-click on the program icon in the tray. In the list of options, click “Exit”.

2. Go to Start. Click Control Panel.

3. Set the display mode to “Categories”. Open the “Uninstall a program” subsection.

4. Click on uTorrent in the list. Click the “Delete” command (inscription above the list).

5. In the uninstaller window, check the “Delete my settings” box and click the “Delete” button.

Method number 2: uninstallation by utility

You will need to install a special cleaner program. But the effort is worth it. Because it removes all software remnants of the software that are not removed during standard uninstallation.

The removal procedure using the Revo Uninstaller utility consists of the following steps:

Note. If you do not have the opportunity to use this program, use an analogue. For example, Uninstall Tool, IObit Uninstaller, Soft Organizer, etc.

1. Launch the utility.

2. On the “All Programs” tab, highlight the torrent client icon. Click "Delete".

3. Follow the instructions in the built-in uninstaller window (enable the “Delete my settings” option, click “Delete”).

4. Go to the utility panel. Select the “Advanced” residue scanning mode and click “Search”.

5. In the new window, click “Delete” to remove the remaining program keys from the registry.

Follow similar steps to delete files and folders.

Using special uninstallers

There are special software that allow you to quickly and without unnecessary nerves remove various applications from your computer. All you need to do is run the uninstaller program and select the application to remove. Some of the most widely used programs of this type are “Uninstall Tool” and “Revo Uninstaller”.

Figure 4. Revo Uninstaller application window

Insufficient rights to delete: checking your computer for viruses

It is possible that the root of your problem all this time lay in malicious software present in your operating system.

What to do in this case? Obviously, the virus will have to get rid of.

The only effective way available to the common man is to install an antivirus and, with its help, simply remove the virus. In practice it is often as simple as in words, so there should be no difficulty. We recommend using Avast antivirus for these actions (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Avast antivirus main screen

Hidden Administrator Accounts

There is a possibility that the administrator account on your PC has been hidden. In this case, you need to activate it. To do this, you first need to open the command line by holding down the key combination “Windows + R” and enter cmd.exe in the window that appears.

Note : After this manipulation, a line will appear in front of you in which you need to enter the following command: net user administrator / active: yes (Figure 6).

Most likely, after this notification about insufficient rights to delete it will disappear and then everything will work correctly.

Figure 6. Command line with the required command

Method 1

Close uTorrent and make sure that the program is not left hanging in the Windows tray. If the client icon hangs there, right-click on it (RMB) and select the “Exit” command.

Then open File Explorer and enter the path in the address bar:

%AppData%/utorrent

And press Enter. The folder with the installed program will open. Find the uTorrent.exe file, right-click on it and open properties.

Go to the "Security" tab and click the "Advanced" button.

In the window that opens, click on the “Change” link to change the current owner of the file to yourself.

In the next window, click on the “Advanced” button so as not to enter your account name manually, but select it from the list.

Then search for users on your computer - just click on the button of the same name without changing any settings (see screenshot).

In the search results, select your account (usually it is at the very top of the list) and click OK.

In the next two windows also click "OK".

Then in the “Security” window, click the “Change” button (now let’s change the rights to the file).

In the Groups or Users window, select each account in turn and check the Allow Full Control boxes for them in the window below.

If the cells are highlighted (not allowed to be changed), skip that account and move on to the next one.

Finally, click OK in all remaining open windows (to save your changes), then open the Windows Add/Remove Programs tool and try uninstalling uTorrent again.
Tip: An alternative way to find the folder where uTorrent is installed is to right-click on the program shortcut and select the “File Location” command.

Insufficient rights to delete: set the necessary rights

As a next method, in the Start menu, enter appwiz.cpl in the search bar, and then, by right-clicking your mouse, display a more detailed display of the location of the program to be removed so that you can see the folder in which it is located (Figure 7).

Then, go to this folder, and in the security properties we grant full access to all existing users, after which we restart the system and try to remove the program again.

Figure 7. Setting permissions using the appwiz.cpl command

Removing utorrentie.exe

Many users, after installing some builds of uTorrent versions 3.4.2, 3.3.2, 3.4.1, observe a very unpleasant situation. Namely: after starting the client, several, and sometimes more, utorrentie.exe processes are activated, significantly consuming the computer’s RAM.

Note. The process can also be launched in BitTorrent, WebHelper, Minecraft programs.

What kind of object is this? Utorrentie.exe is not important for Windows OS and the torrent client itself (and without it it will work correctly). Presumably this is an executable file of an advertising module.

There are two ways to deactivate this unwanted process.

Method number 1: restricting access

1. Go to the file directory: Drive C → Users → → AppData → Roaming → uTorrent → updates → version number (for example, 3.4.8…)

2. Right-click on the utorrentie. From the system menu, select Properties.

3. In the properties panel, go to the “Security” tab. Click on the “Change” button.

4. Create restrictions for all existing accounts:

• in the “Groups…” block, select the user;
• in the “Permissions...” block, check the boxes in the “Deny” column to disable all operations (Full access, Change, Read and execute, Read, Write, etc.);
• Click “Apply”, then “OK”.

5. Restart your computer. Open Task Manager. If you did everything correctly, there will be no “harmful” process in the list of objects.