Warning: Before attempting to manually uninstall your ESET security product, first attempt to use the ESET Start Menu uninstaller provided with ESET Smart Security 4.0 or ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4.0. Click here for illustrated instructions.

Do not attempt to uninstall your ESET security product using the Windows Add or Remove Programs utility from the Control Panel.

After Uninstall Failure

If you ran the ESET Start Menu uninstaller and you continue to have problems, are unable to reinstall your ESET security product or if your ESET security product remains active after uninstallation and restart, then the uninstallation has failed. Deleting files from version 4.0 products requires booting in Safe Mode and using the ESET Uninstaller tool. Follow the instructions below to download and use the ESET Uninstaller tool to manually remove your ESET security product. The techniques below apply to both version 4.0 and version 3.0 of your ESET security product, NOD32 v2, and EMSX (ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server).

Warning: Using the ESET Uninstaller may reset your Windows network settings. Proceed with caution.

1. Download the ESET Uninstaller application (500 KB) and save it to your Desktop. Click the button below to begin your download.
   
     
    
2. Restart your computer and start in Safe Mode. During startup, repeatedly press the F8 key until the advanced options are displayed. Select Safe Mode and press ENTER.
    
3. Once you have started in Safe Mode, double-click the ESETUninstaller icon on your Desktop to begin the uninstallation process.
   

   

   
   NOTE: If you attempt to run the ESET Uninstaller in normal mode, it will fail and create an "ERROR!" message text file on your Desktop.

   
   
   Advanced user commands: If you wish to see a full list of available commands in the ESET Uninstaller, type ESETUninstaller.exe /help. If you are removing ESET security products from bootable media, you will be prompted as to whether you wish to remove the ESET files from each available partition separately. The /mode=offline parameter specifies the uninstallation mode for CD and USB drives and the /mode=online parameter specifies hard disks. Very rarely, you may need to use this parameter to force the ESET security product file deletions if the ESET Uninstaller does not detect your bootable media automatically. In case you want to remove all present AV installations without being prompted, run the uninstaller with the /force parameter.
    
4. At the first command prompt, read the warning and type y to confirm.

Fig. 1-1
 

5. At the second command prompt the Uninstaller scans the system for ESET installations and presents you with the results in a numbered list. Select the ESET installation you want to remove from the list by entering its number and pressing ENTER. Typically, the Uninstaller will find only one installation of an ESET security product, which will be listed as number 1.

Fig. 1-2

6. At the third command prompt, ensure that you are uninstalling the correct ESET security product from the correct operating system and type y to confirm.

Fig. 1-3

7. The ESET Uninstaller will run for under a minute and then prompt you to press any key to exit the ESET Uninstaller. After you do, restart your computer in normal mode.
   
   
   Important: The uninstaller writes a log of all its processes to the ~ESETUninstaller.log file (located in the same folder as the ESETUnistaller.exe file) for future reference.
   
   
   
   Click the links below for instructions to download and reinstall your ESET security product:
   
   Installing ESET Smart Security (4.0)
   
   Installing ESET NOD32 Antivirus (4.0)

What's new in version 4.0.14 ?

- NOD32 v2 support
- NOD32 v2 for Exchange support (XMON)
- Windows NT4.0 server support (v2) - no Safe Mode, running uninstaller.exe must be followed by a system restart for the changes to apply
- ESET Uninstaller can be run from network share
- ESET Mail Security v4 support (MS Exchange 2003/2007)
- Windows 7 & ESET NOD32 Antivirus - NIC do not need to be reinstalled
- automatic detection of ESET product(s) installed (running ESETUninstaller.exe without a /product switch)
- use this switch to uninstall a specific product version: /product=nodv34 (ESS, EAV versions 3.x and 4.x; EMSX) or /product=nodv2 (version 2.7)
- replacing the /product switch with the /force switch uninstalls all installed products
 
 

Related:

How to start Windows in Safe Mode

How do I uninstall or re-install ESET Smart Security/ESET NOD32 Antivirus? (4.0)

 How do I check my ESET security product installation package or other ESET tool for a digital signature?