Gator claims that it’s easy to remove their applications:
“All GAIN supported applications are easily removable via the application’s uninstaller and or the Windows Add/Remove Programs Control Panel. A few minutes after all GAIN applications have been uninstalled, the GAIN software is designed to self uninstall.”
–Gator support response
However, there can be several challenges to cleaning Gator and GAIN off your system. Remember, you will be removing one or more applications from your system. If you have important information that is only usable inside those applications, you must get that information out before removing the application. The most common issue is with Gator eWallet, but fortunately you can import your eWallet information into RoboForm.
The Official Way
To remove Gator and GAIN applications the way that Gator would like, you could follow their instructions. However, the instructions are somewhat vague about the exact steps required, particularly if you have multiple GAIN applications installed. We have used the procedure below with relatively good success.
- Click Start | Programs | GAIN | About GAIN, then click the What is GAIN? tab.
- Click the link near the middle of the dialog that says, “Click here for the GAIN supported products and services on your computer.”
- Write down the names of the applications listed in the dialog box that appears. (The Gator/GAIN applications you may see are Gator eWallet, DateManager, PrecisionTime, and WeatherScope, but there may be other programs such as DivX Pro.) Close all the GAIN dialog boxes.
- If you have Gator eWallet and are using it to save passwords and other form information, install RoboForm and import your eWallet data into RoboForm before you uninstall eWallet.
- Click Start | Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs. In the list, find each application name you wrote down above and remove it. This can be confusing because the names don’t perfectly match. For example, on one system the GAIN dialog listed “DivX Software” but Add/Remove showed “DivX Pro Codec Adware”.
Once all the Gator and GAIN applications have been removed, Gator claims that its background advertising applications will stop running shortly afterward. We have found that this is not always the case. Sometimes, rebooting the system seems to clear Gator out of memory, but other times it does not and you will need to try other methods to remove it. You will also need to try an alternate plan if you don’t see a GAIN entry on your Start menu or if you aren’t able to match up the applications listed in the GAIN dialog with the ones listed in your Add/Remove Programs list.
When That Fails
If the official method does not work, or parts of Gator’s software are still running, you may need to use more extreme methods. Even when you follow the instructions and they work, Gator sometimes leaves behind some files or registry settings that you may prefer to clean out. Instructions for manual cleanup for some versions of Gator are available at Doxdesk but they involve editing the registry and deleting files manually.
A good option for automatic Gator cleanup is our partners, Pest Patrol. (By purchasing this product you’re helping us to find and fight unwanted software.) You can also ask for help in our forums.
