Uninstalling Google Chrome can really mess with your computer

Uninstalling Google Chrome can really mess with your computer

We had someone at work unwittingly install the Google Chrome browser. They noticed afterwards, and then uninstalled it. All of sudden, links in emails bombed with an error message: “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.”

Well, there's a kick in the pants!

After searching around for a few minutes, it appears that Microsoft offers a fix for this exact problem.

I have never used Microsoft's "Fix it for me" tool before. I'm not a trusting soul when it comes to my computers (or those entrusted to me) so I usually will make the required changes myself. I thought I would give it a shot this time, and it worked like a charm.

What happens is that the Google Chrome install changes entries in your registry having to do with how your computer opens certain files or protocols. Upon uninstall, however, Chrome doesn't put things back the way they were. Bad developers!!! So you either have to fix the entries that it messed up, OR you have to reinstall Chrome, so that Chrome can handle all of those things it changed instead of Internet Explorer/whatever other programs.