How to Remove a Stuck Rescue Applet?

Normally, once the session for which the Applet was downloaded ends, the Applet cleans up the temporary files it created in the local AppData folder, it closes, and will not try to run again. However, if a technician ends a GoTo Rescue session while disconnected from their customer (either during the process of a reboot or because of connectivity problems), it is possible that the applet may not remove itself properly. In this case, the customer may experience that the Rescue Applet launches upon every system startup. When closing the Applet window it immediately re-launches. Below you can find instructions on how to remove the stuck Applet depending on OS.

Note: This article speaks primarily to Rescue technicians so they understand how the problem manifests on their customers' computer and what the solution is. However, customers (end-users) with advanced operating system management skills may try to solve the issue for themselves based on the below step-by-step instructions.

Remove a stuck Applet from a Windows computer

Launch the Windows Run dialog.
Run services.msc.
Look for a service referencing GoTo Rescue.
Right click the service, and select Properties.
Open a Windows Command Prompt with Admin privileges.
Copy the service name after you click on the properties of the service.
Enter: sc delete followed by a space, then paste the service name by right clicking in the Command Prompt window.
Result: DeleteService SUCCESS is displayed.
Reboot the computer to complete the removal process.
Once the computer reboots, you can OPTIONALLY delete the temporary files installed by the applet.
1. Navigate to C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local and delete the GoTo Rescue Applet folder.
  
  Note:
  The AppData folder is hidden by default. Check Folder options > View, and select Show hidden files.

Remove a stuck Applet from a Mac

Open a Finder window.
To open the Go to the folder window, hold Command+Shift+G.
Type the following path: /private/var/tmp.
Result: A new Finder window opens.
In the new Finder window, delete all GoTo Rescue-xxx folders.

Note: If you are unable to delete a folder using the steps above, try following the steps below.
1. Click the search icon in the top right corner to open Spotlight.
2. Type Activity Monitor.
  
  Note: Activity Monitor is the Mac version of the Task Manager.
3. From the Activity Monitor, you can kill a process by selecting it and clicking the X button in the menu bar.
4. Double click a process to open its properties.
5. Click the Open Files tab to see where any additional files may be located.

Article last updated: 9 March, 2023