Sometimes uninstalling programs is not as straight forward as going to the 'Add/Remove Programs' or using the uninstall link provided with the program.  Skype is a great application, but for certain reasons you may want to completely get rid of it from your computer.  This article is going to focus on removing Skype from a Windows 7 based PC, but the steps should be very similar for Vista or XP.  Note: You may be able to follow the steps in this guide to completely remove other applications.  Some steps my differ but the general process should be similar.

Note: You may want to export your contacts from Skype and place this file somewhere safe before performing any of the steps below.

Step 1)  The first task is to search your PC for any files and folders named Skype. Goto Start and navigate to Computer, then double click your primary hard disk which is usually C:/ You will then want to perform a search of the entire C drive as in the screen shot below for the word Skype, select all files and folders that show up, and delete as many of these files (minus your contacts file if you want to keep these) as you can before proceeding.

Step 2) Go to the following link, download, and install the Free Edition of Revo Uninstaller

Step 3) Launch Revo Uninstaller.  You should get a window similar to the screen shot below:

Step 4) Select Skype 4.x from the menu and click on the Uninstall icon from the toolbar at the top of the application.

Step 5) Select an uninstall mode.  Moderate uninstall is appropriate for this task.

Step 6) Revo Uninstaller will create a restore point, perform a scan of your computer for files and folders that were missed in the manual delete, and analyze the registry of your computer at this point in time.  You will then be asked if you want to uninstall the product.  Click Yes to confirm that you want to completely remove Skype from your computer.

Step 7) Revo Uninstaller will scan for any additional traces of the application on your computer.  Click Next to proceed.

Step 8) At this step, it is very likely that numerous registry entries still exist from the Skype installation.  You will be shown a screen similar to the following screen shot.  Click Select All then click Delete to remove all of the leftover Skype registry entries.  Click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the selected entries and click Next to proceed.

Step 9)  Click Finish to complete the uninstall process.  At this step, you can exit out of Revo Uninstaller.  

Congratulations! You have just completely removed Skype from your computer.  At this point in time, if you want to reinstall Skype you may proceed.