Need help uninstalling Photoshop Elements 10

[redjet6]

I am a Win 10 user and want to upgrade to  Photoshop Elements 2020 and decided to uninstall Photoshop Elements 10 first. PE 10 will not uninstall. Here is what I have done in an attempt to solve the problem:

1. Uninstall with Obit Uninstaller. Obit does not list PE 10 as one of my installed programs.

2. Downloaded Revo Uninstaller. Revo also does not list PE 10 as an installed program.

3. Went to Windows settings and opened Add/Remove programs. PE 10 is listed here but the Uninstall button is grayed out and does nothing when I press it.

4. Went to the root directory of PE 10. Found out why the uninstallers were not "seeing" PE 10 on my system. There is no uninstaller.exe anywhere in the directory.

5. Decided to reinstall PE 10 in the hopes it would add the missing uninstaller.exe. Unfortunately, the program would not install because PE 10 is already installed. Said I had to uninstall PE 10 before reinstalling.

6. Time to manually uninstall. Found a website that tells you how to do it step by step including removing all registry entries of which there are a gazillion. Cannot delete the root directory. Say I need "Permission from the System" to delete this file, whatever that means.

At this point, I feel that the Computer Gods are just taunting me to see how far I could go before taking a sledgehammer to my system. What's my next step? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Greg_S.]

Take a look at this article for some additional tips.  If that doesn't help, try using the Adobe CC Cleaner tool.  This tool works with Elements but is a little confusing.  In the first dialog that appears you will probably see no mention of Elements.  Choose 1.  All and a second dialog should show up with your version of Elements in a list.

[redjet6]

     Thanks for the info Greg. I tried the Adobe Cleaner tool first. I followed your instructions and choose "All" and there it was, Photoshop Elements 10. I selected it and let the cleaner do its thing. It uninstalled a bunch of stuff and at the end, it said: "Uninstalled successfully". However, when I went back to the root directory the PE 10 folder and all its contents was still there and it still would not delete. I need "Permission from the SYSTEM to make changes to this file".

     From the article you suggested, I discovered I needed to change the ownership of the PE 10 file to delete it. Currently, it was telling me I need permission from the "SYSTEM" to make changes to the file but my account name is "John". I carefully followed the instructions and changed ownership of the file from "SYSTEM" to "John". I then made sure I had "Full Control" of the file. Now when I attempt to delete the PE 10 folder it says: "You need permission from John to make changes to this folder". Hmmm, how do I get permission from me? It's a conundrum.

[Walter_H]

The Adobe CC Cleaner tool that Greg mentioned solved a stubborn uninstall for me. Give it a try!