BearShare is a popular peer-to-peer sharing application that allows users to download music, video, and other files over a network.
BearShare is not considered a malicious or harmful program, but you may unknowingly download infected file(s) through BearShare or other peer-to-peer software.
In case you don’t need BearShare or consider it to be a threat to your system’s security, then you can easily uninstall it using the steps discussed in this article.
In this article, we will discuss how to completely uninstall BearShare in Windows.
How to uninstall BearShare
To completely remove BearShare, you need to complete the following tasks:
Task 1 – Terminate BearShare Processes
Press Ctrl+Shft+Esc to access the Windows Task Manager. Click the Processes tab. Locate and terminate the following processes:
- bearshare.exe
- bsproinstall.exe
- bsinstallit.exe
- bearsh~1.exe
Task 2 – Uninstall BearShare via Add or Remove Programs
- Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Programs and Features.
- Locate and select BearShare in the Currently installed programs list.
- Click the Uninstall button.
- Click Yes, if the User Account Control dialog box appears.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete uninstallation.
- Restart your computer.
After uninstalling BearShare, perform the steps listed in Task 3 and Task 4 to delete BearShare registry entries and files.
In case BearShare does not appear in the list of Currently installed programs list, then manually unregister its DLL and then perform the steps listed in Task 3 and 4.
To unregister BearShare DLLs, perform the following steps:
- Click Start, type run in the Start Search box, and press Enter.
- In the Run dialog box, type regsvr32 /u bearshare.dll and press Enter.
- Click OK when a confirmation message appears.
- Open the Run dialog box again, type regsvr32 / bsidle.dll and press Enter.
- Click OK when a confirmation message appears.
Task 3 – Remove all the BearShare registry entries
You can do this either manually or by using a registry cleaner tool. The latter approach is easy and will remove all the left-over BearShare entries in a matter of a couple of minutes. You may use RegGenie, which is a top-rated registry maintenance software to delete all the BearShare entries. Download and install RegGenie. Next, run a complete registry scan. RegGenie will automatically remove all the BearShare entries.
If you want to remove BearShare registry entries manually, then we recommend that you back up the registry before editing it. Next, open Registry Editor (by running the regedit command) and delete the following entries.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\clsid\{905d0df2-3a0a-4d94-853c-54a12a745905}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\clsid\{9f95f736-0f62-4214-a4b4-caa6738d4c07}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\gnufile
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\typelib\{905d0df2-3a0a-4d94-853c-54a12a745905}
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\appevents\eventlabels\bearsharechatnotifymsg
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\appevents\schemes\apps\bearshare
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\bearshare
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\bearshare\installdir
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\clsid\{558ec983-bedb-9168-b2de-31dbf0ee543e}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\ed2k
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\ed2k\defaulticon
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\ed2k\shell\open\command
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\ed2k\shell\open\ddeexec
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\ed2k\url protocol
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnu
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnu\defaulticon
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnu\shell\open\command
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnu\url protocol
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnufile\browserflags
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnufile\editflags
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnufile\shell\open\command
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnutella
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnutella\defaulticon
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnutella\shell\open\command
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnutella\shell\open\ddeexec
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\classes\gnutella\url protocol
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\licenses\{056b3cf0d9ab991e1}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\licenses\{i56b3cf0d9ab991e1}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\magnet\handlers\bearshare
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\magnet\handlers\bearshare\ddeapplication
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\magnet\handlers\bearshare\ddetopic
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\magnet\handlers\bearshare\defaulticon
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\magnet\handlers\bearshare\description
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\magnet\handlers\bearshare\shellexecute
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\magnet\handlers\bearshare\type\urn:bitprint
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\magnet\handlers\bearshare\type\urn:sha1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\active setup\installed components\{5f95e1af-2620-4f15-bdf9-7fdce4607e17}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\active setup\installed components\{5f95e1af-2620-4f15-bdf9-7fdce4607e17}\componentid
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\active setup\installed components\{5f95e1af-2620-4f15-bdf9-7fdce4607e17}\isinstalled
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\active setup\installed components\{5f95e1af-2620-4f15-bdf9-7fdce4607e17}\locale
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\active setup\installed components\{5f95e1af-2620-4f15-bdf9-7fdce4607e17}\version
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run\bearshare
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\bearshare
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\bearshare\displayicon
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\bearshare\displayname
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\bearshare\displayversion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\bearshare\helplink
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\bearshare\publisher
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\bearshare\uninstallstring
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\bearshare\urlinfoabout
HKEY_USERS\.default\appevents\eventlabels\bearsharechatnotifymsg
HKEY_USERS\.default\appevents\schemes\apps\bearshare
Task 4 – Delete the BearShare folder
Finally, delete the BearShare folder, if still present. Open Windows explorer, navigate to C:\Program Files and delete any folder by the name BearShare.