Problem While using WinRAR in Windows Vista

I have a desktop computer which is running on Windows Vista Home Basic. I was using WinRAR to open my zipped files,but from few days whenever i try to open Winrar it closes itself and gives an error as "Winrar.exe has stopped working, Click ok to continue" When i click ok it again gives the error as " There was problem while running the program, Windows will notify if there are any solutions." As i am not able to use WinRAR, i tried to uninstall it but windows does not allow me to uninstall the program also the setup cannot fix the problem. If there is any solution please let me know.

The solution to your problem is very simple. Try installing some other application which you can use to extract the zip files. The Winrar application you are using has got corrupted and hence it is being closed by the Windows forcibly. There are many other applications which can be used instead of Winrar which are Winzip, 7zip etc. All these software's are available online and are free.

You are not able to remove Winrar because it must be the default application to handle Zip files. After installation of some other applications which handle's zip files, make that application as the default application. Now windows will allow you to uninstall Winrar. If you want you can reinstall Winrar again and use it if it works properly.

Are you logged in an Administrator account? If not then you would not be able to uninstall the software. Only admin account has full privileges to install and uninstall applications in Windows Vista. You can log in to admin account or ask the administrator to give you privileges to install/uninstall the applications on the computer. Once you get that access then there will be no issue in uninstalling the Software.

Winrar embeds itself with the system dynamic link libraries (dll's), hence it is not allowing you to uninstall Winrar. You will first need to free these dll's from Winrar and then try to uninstall them. You can do this by using a 3rd party applications like Unlocker, which unlocks the system dll's which are linked with Winrar or if you can open Winrar then go to options and remove the check mark against the "Show in right click menu" options. Once you do this, try to uninstall Winrar. It will work.

Virus infection can also be the reason for such behavior of the application. Scan the system with an updated antivirus and spyware , check for infected files. Repair or quarantine the files which are found infected. After the scan, see if the application runs properly, if not then try to uninstall it. If you dont have an updated antivirus or spyware you can perform an online scan using Kaspersky or Mcaffee free online scan. Also try to restore the system to a point where the application was running properly.