How to Uninstall Adobe CS3

Adobe CS3 (the term ‘CS’ is an acronym for Creative Suite) is a software package that contains web development, graphic design, and video editing applications from Adobe Systems.

If you have no use for Adobe CS3 or plan to upgrade it then you can easily remove your version of Adobe CS3 using the software uninstaller.

How to uninstall Adobe CS3

Adobe recommends that you uninstall its products, including Adobe CS3 using the uninstaller via the Add or Remove Programs utility.

To do this on a Windows XP computer, perform the following steps:

  1. Click Start, click Settings, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.
  2. In the Add or Remove Programs window select Adobe Creative Suite 3, and then click the Change/Remove button.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall Adobe CS3.

To remove Adobe CS3 on Windows 7/Vista, perform the following steps:

  1. Click the Start button, type add or remove programs in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
  2. In the Currently installed programs list, locate and select Adobe CS3, and then click Uninstall/Change.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall Adobe CS3.

Adobe CS3 uninstallation problems

Problem 1 – I’m unable to uninstall Adobe CS3 using Add or Remove Programs – what should I do?

This may happen when one or more Adobe CS3 files are damaged or when the program was only partially installed on your system.

In case you are unable to completely uninstall Adobe CS3 using Add or Remove Programs or Adobe CS3 does not appear in the list of currently installed programs then you may use a reliable professional uninstaller tool, such as Perfect Uninstaller, to forcefully remove the software.

Problem 2 – I manually deleted Adobe CS3 application folders then removed the application using the uninstaller. But, now I’m unable to reinstall Adobe CS3 suite – what should I do?

This is a known problem, which occurs when correct uninstallation procedures are not followed. According to Adobe, manually deleting the CS3 application folder before running the uninstaller may cause problems when you try to reinstall the Adobe CS3 suite.

To fix this issue, run the Adobe CS5 Cleaner Tool for Windows.

  1. Download Adobe CS5 Cleaner Tool 
  2. Unzip WinCS5Cleanupscript.zip, and then double-click the WinCS5Cleanupscript folder.
  3. Double-click CS5InstallerDatabaseUtility.exe.
  4. Follow the on-screen prompts.
  5. Choose your language (type e for English).
  6. Type y to accept the End User License Agreement.
  7. Select the version of Adobe Creative Suite you wish to clean up.
  8. Type y to confirm your selection, and then press Enter.
  9. When the script completes, press the Enter key to exit.
  10. Restart Windows.

If these methods fail, you can always use the Perfect Uninstaller tool to force uninstall the application.