Removing Electrum and Exodus Wallets on my Computer?

[jerry0]

I use nano ledger s now to store my btc and bitcoin cash.  I have other wallets that i use because they are not compatible with nano ledger s, so that is my only option.  Like waves and beancash.  I also had wallets that i used previously such as electrum, electrum litecoin and electron cash- i used this to claim my bitcoin cash.  I even have exodus wallet that i downloaded a while back.  With exodus, i downloaded it to see how it was like.  But then i read tons of security issues with it.  I believe i tested it out on my computer then uninstalled it.



As of now, i have no use for exodus.  I however do notice it in my download folder... as it says exodus windows 64.  But its not in my uninstall or change a program.  That means at the moment, i dont have exodus installed right?  Now if i want to completely remove exodus, i just go to my downloads folder, highlight exodus icon, delete it.  Then delete it from recycle bin?  I want to remove it permanently from my laptop.  But as of  now its not there anymore right?  Leaving the exodus windows x64 setup in the download folder does no harm?  Or best to delete it since no plans to use it ever



Also does anyone here use electron cash wallet for bitcoin cash and still use it?  I know there are ppl that say they downloaded the wallet to claim their bitcoincash, then immediately delete the wallet.  I always kept it in my computer even though there is no purpose of the wallet of me as i keep my bitcoin cash in nano ledger.  I do see it in the uninstall or change program.  So i have to uninstall it by going there and clicking it and uninstall right?  Then delete the electron cash setup that is shown in my downloads?



I also have no purpose of electrum ltc and electrum anymore.  I own no more litecoin and do not have any btc in my electrum anymore.  So i do the same... go to uninstall or change a program, and remove each one right?  Then go to my downloads and remove the electrum setup programs from downloads?  I have tons of electrum setup in my downloads like version 2.7, 2.7.8, 3.3.4 setups there.  So first delete electrum from uninstall a program, then delete every single one right?



The thing is im hesistant of opening electrum anymore because of all those issues a while back.  But right now i have no more btc in electrum.  So to make it safe, might as well remove everything electrum from it?  I did thought... hey might as well just leave electrum on my desktop because if i ever want to use it again, i can by clicking it.  But by then, there is already a new updated version of it right so i have to download new version anyway?  So you suggest me to delete all electrum setup folders now as well to be safe?  Again, i use nano ledger for btc so right now there is no purpose of me using electrum.

[jerry0]

I took a look at the electrum wallets i have installed in uninstall or change a program.


Electron Cash 4.0.0


Electrum 3.3.4


Electrum-LTC 2.8.3.5



I haven't opened electrum-ltc in a long time.  I read that if electrum site and electrum-ltc, do not open any wallet where the version is below 3.3.3 right?  So i should just remove the electrum-LTC now as if i try to open it now, good chance i would get that update message to play it safe?  Thus if i want to download electrum-ltc... download it again from the site?


But what about electron cash and electrum?  But i have no purpose of using electron cash anymore.

[harizen]

What you see in the Download folder is the executable file (.exe). Since you already uninstall the program, all of its components are gone*.

To make this short...

...if you are really worried that much and really want to get rid of any components left of any previously installed apps on your machine then have a fresh Operating System re-install (reformat).

The next time you plan on installing Electrum again, always used the latest version and only download it on the main source that can be found here: https://electrum.org/#download . Learn also to verify GPG signatures as part of additional security.

Always check the site header for any warnings etc. just to be safe. We don't know if there will be new warnings the time you plan to used Electrum again.

[jerry0]

Hi only program i removed was exodus.  I just deleted exodus exe file now from my downloads to recycle bin and deleted it.


But what about electrum, electrum-ltc and electron cash?  I still have all these programs installed as it shows all of them in add/remove programs.

[harizen]

But what about electrum, electrum-ltc and electron cash?  I still have all these programs installed as it shows all of them in add/remove programs.

Since you haven't uninstalled it yet then you will really see those program as installed, obviously.

You mentioned that you have no purposes on using any Electrum program anymore then just uninstall it like what you did in Exodus.

And refer to my previous reply to remove your worries of leftovers by these programs and what to do the next time you consider using Electrum again.

[bob123]

I don't really get what your issue is.

If you don't need the software anymore, remove it.
If you might need, decide for yourself whether to keep or remove it.

Do you want to accomplish anything specific (e.g. remove all traces that the software ever was on your computer) ?
Because if the answer is no, it doesn't really matter. What is the concrete issue/question ?

[NeuroticFish]

The thing is im hesistant of opening electrum anymore because of all those issues a while back.  But right now i have no more btc in electrum.

If you didn't download Electrum from a fake server, you should not worry. The problems were not that much Electrum's problems.
Also you should know that the money is on the blockchain, not in Electrum. Electrum only had your private keys (actually only the seed for them, I think).
Thinking correctly could make you avoid future problems or fears.

And back to your problem: if the traces are your concern, you may want to also clean the wallet and data files, which are probably in your appdata folder. (But I'd advise a backup of the wallet files or seeds for the case of forks or other surprises).

On Windows:

Show hidden files
Go to \Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\Electrum\wallets (or %APPDATA%\Electrum\wallets)

[bob123]

Do you want to accomplish anything specific (e.g. remove all traces that the software ever was on your computer) ?
Because if the answer is no, it doesn't really matter. What is the concrete issue/question ?

But if the answer yes, then you either must :
1. Perform full-format on your storage drive & re-install your Windows OS
2. Use 3rd party uninstaller software (such as Revo Uninstaller), which could remove all leftover files & registry.

To fully remove all possible leftovers (and indicators that this software ever existed on this computer) more than just formatting is necessary.
You'd first need to delete any information regarding this particular piece of software (files, registry entries, system logs, ..) and then fill the part of the hard drive where this information was stored.

On a SSD, that's more than just a trivial task. Even on a HDD that's quite a lot of work.

And i honestly don't think OP has a reason for explicitly doing this. At least not if having BTC wallets installed isn't illegal in his country plus the government wants to seize his computer. 


As far as i understand the OP, it is more a question whether to uninstall or to keep the software ?

[Pmalek]

I think OP doesn't fully trust the software he wants to fully wipe off his computer, especially the wallets of those forks. He might be thinking there are security risks or potential malware in them somewhere.

@OP
Since you have already used these apps there is no need to do anything more than just uninstall them and remove any leftovers from the original folders.
If you have been infected somehow, which I doubt you are if you used genuine apps, you wont get rid of those infections just by removing traces of the installed wallets. A reinstall of the OS is the safest option.

And a tip! Since you mention you delete files and then go to the Recycle Bin to delete them from there you can try holding the SHIFT key while you are deleting them. That way the files will get deleted from your system without being places in the Recycle Bin first. But be careful with that since you wont be able to get the files back if you deleted the wrong ones.

[buwaytress]

If you're truly worried that these old files could one day find their way into a capable hacker's hands, then why not just identify all your remaining assets, and sweep them ALL into a new wallet, and then you only store that?

Then it won't matter anymore if someone manages to restore any old wallets, they'll all be empty. Of course, there will be that sweep tx that will let them know the new wallets.

I would actually recommend you do this anyway if you've been using these wallets since before electrum 2.7, chances are your wallet's . Your chance to upgrade to Segwit or even native Segwit =)

[Pmalek]

If you're truly worried that these old files could one day find their way into a capable hacker's hands, then why not just identify all your remaining assets, and sweep them ALL into a new wallet, and then you only store that?

The OP is actually using Ledger Nano S. He has moved his assets there and is now asking what to do with the software wallets left on his system.
OP isn't saying what exactly is bothering him and why he is so worried about deleting all traces of his old wallets since they are already empty.