I spent two hours last year trying to get a fresh Armoury Crate install working on my Z790-E. Clean reinstall, I thought. Uninstall the old one, download the new installer, done. Except it kept failing at the exact same point. Services refusing to start. Device list empty. Same broken behavior as the version I’d just removed.
The problem wasn’t the installer. It was the leftover mess the uninstaller had quietly ignored. After digging through the ROG Forum and a very helpful thread by a user who goes by Jimbo, I found out just how much Armoury Crate leaves behind when you “uninstall” it. Folders with active services still running. Registry keys pointing to files that no longer existed. A UWP package sitting in AppData that Windows didn’t even know was there. It wasn’t a clean slate at all. It was the same broken installation with the surface files removed.
This guide covers everything. I’m going to give you three methods in order of thoroughness, tell you exactly what the official tool misses, show you the specific files and services to clean manually, and walk you through the nuclear option when nothing else works. By the end you’ll have a genuinely clean system with no ASUS software fingerprints unless you put them there yourself.
Why Standard Uninstall Never Works Properly
Before we get into the methods, it’s worth understanding what Armoury Crate actually installs on your system, because it’s a lot more than most people expect. When you install AC, you’re not just getting one app. You’re getting a stack of components that spread themselves across different parts of Windows.
Here’s what a full Armoury Crate installation puts on your system:
- Multiple Windows Services: ASUS System Control Interface v3, ArmouryCrateControlInterface, AsusCertService, asComSvc (the AXSP communication service), AsusFanControlService, LightingService (Aura), and ROG Live Service. These run in the background constantly and some start before Windows finishes booting.
- Kernel drivers: AsIO2.sys and AsIO3.sys (low-level hardware access drivers), IOMap64.sys. These sit in your system directory and load at boot.
- Multiple Program Files locations: Folders spread across both Program Files and Program Files (x86), plus a BongioviMB folder that most people don’t even recognize as ASUS software.
- AppData across multiple locations: Local, Roaming, and ProgramData all get written to.
- A UWP app package: ASUSAmbientHAL64 lives in your AppData\Local\Packages directory as a separate Universal Windows Platform app that needs to be removed separately.
- Registry entries: Scattered across both HKCU and HKLM with entries for every installed component.
- Scheduled tasks: Tasks that can trigger reinstallation or service restarts automatically.
- BIOS-level reinstall trigger: A BIOS setting that can cause Windows to silently pull AC from the Microsoft Store after a clean wipe.
When you uninstall through Windows Add and Remove Programs, you remove the main AC application. But the services keep running. The drivers stay in place. The folders sit untouched. The registry entries point to nothing. And the BIOS trigger means AC might reinstall itself the next time Windows updates. That’s why “reinstalling” a broken AC on top of an existing failed install almost never works. You’re installing on top of a broken foundation.
Before You Start: Back Up Your Lighting Profiles
If Armoury Crate opens at all before you remove it, back up your lighting profiles first. Once you’ve done a clean removal, every custom profile is gone.
Inside Armoury Crate, look for the profile management options and export whatever you’ve built. If the app doesn’t open far enough to get to profiles, you can find profile files buried in C:\ProgramData\ASUS\ROG Live Service\ and C:\ProgramData\ASUS\AURA before you delete those folders. Copy those somewhere safe if the profiles matter to you.
Also note your Aura Sync effect names and any custom fan curves you’ve set up. Those settings live in the same folders. They won’t survive the removal.
Method 1: Official ASUS Uninstall Tool (Start Here)
This is the right first step for almost everyone. ASUS provides an official dedicated uninstall tool that’s specifically designed for Armoury Crate, and it handles most of the critical components that Windows uninstall misses. Don’t start with the nuclear GitHub tool. Start here, see how far it gets you, and escalate if needed.
Step 1: Stop All ASUS Services First
Running the uninstall tool while services are active sometimes causes it to fail silently or leave files locked. Before running anything, open an elevated Command Prompt (right-click the Start button, click Terminal (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin)) and run these commands one at a time:
sc stop ArmouryCrateControlInterface
sc stop LightingService
sc stop ROGLiveService
sc stop AsusCertService
sc stop asComSvc
sc stop AsusFanControlServiceSome of these might return “service not found” or “service is not running” and that’s fine. Just move through the list.
Step 2: Download the Official Tool
Go to the ASUS support page for your specific motherboard or laptop model. Under the Driver and Utility tab, scroll down and look for “Armoury Crate Uninstall Tool.” It’s usually listed near the bottom of the available downloads. Download it, extract the zip, and run Armoury Crate Uninstall Tool.exe as administrator (right-click, Run as administrator).
The tool runs through its process automatically. It’ll take two to five minutes depending on how much is installed. Let it finish completely before doing anything else.
Step 3: Restart Your PC
This is not optional. Some components can’t be fully removed while Windows is running because they’re loaded into memory. The restart completes the removal of those locked files. Skip the restart and your next manual cleanup steps will find files you can’t delete because they’re still in use.
Restart fully. Not hibernate, not sleep. A full power-down-and-back-up restart.
Step 4: Remove the UWP App Package
The official tool doesn’t handle the UWP component reliably. Open PowerShell as administrator and run:
Get-AppxPackage *ASUS* | Remove-AppxPackageThis catches the ASUSAmbientHAL64 package and any other ASUS Store apps registered in your user profile. If it returns nothing, that’s fine, it just means they were already gone or the tool caught them.
What the Official Tool Still Leaves Behind
Here’s the part that took me a while to figure out, and it’s why some people run the official tool and still have a broken reinstall. A ROG Forum thread from late 2024 documented exactly what Armoury Crate Uninstaller version 2.2.5.0 misses, and it’s a substantial list.
After running the official tool and restarting, these are typically still present on your system:
Folders in Program Files:
C:\Program Files\ASUS\ACOnePackageTemp(full of temp installer files)C:\Program Files\BongioviMB(installed by MBLedSDK, most people don’t recognize this as ASUS software)C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\AsusCertService(with the service executable still sitting there)C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\AXSP(the communication service folder)C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\AsusFanControlService(with multiple version subfolders like 2.03.20, 2.03.35, 2.03.37 all sitting there)
Folders in AppData and ProgramData:
C:\ProgramData\ASUS(the entire folder with all child folders and log files)C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\ASUSC:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\asus_framework(contains a Local State file)C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\AcSdkInsLog(installation log files)C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Packages\ASUSAmbientHAL64_gsg7p0crx7n6a(the UWP package folder, may persist even after the PowerShell removal above)
Services still registered in Windows:
- AsusCertService (Asus Certificate Service)
- asComSvc (ASUS Com Service)
- AsusFanControlService
These services may still show up in services.msc even though the main AC application is gone. They won’t do much harm sitting there, but they clutter your services list and can occasionally cause weird startup behavior.
Method 2: Manual Cleanup After the Official Tool
After the official tool and the restart, here’s how to clean up everything it missed. Do this in order.
Step 1: Delete the Leftover Services
Open an elevated Command Prompt and delete the orphaned services with:
sc delete AsusCertService
sc delete asComSvc
sc delete AsusFanControlServiceEach should return “SUCCESS” or “The specified service does not exist” (meaning it was already removed). If you get “Access is denied,” make absolutely sure your Command Prompt is running as administrator.
Step 2: Delete the Leftover Folders
Open File Explorer and navigate to each of these paths. Delete each folder and everything inside it. If you get a “folder is in use” error, it means a service is still running. Go back and check services.msc (Win + R, services.msc) and look for any ASUS entries still showing as Running. Stop them, then try deleting again.
Folders to delete:
C:\Program Files\ASUS\(the whole ASUS folder if it’s now empty or only contains AC remnants)C:\Program Files\BongioviMB\C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\C:\ProgramData\ASUS\C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\ASUS\C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\asus_framework\C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\AcSdkInsLog\
(Replace YourUsername with your actual Windows username. You can type %LOCALAPPDATA% and %APPDATA% in the File Explorer address bar as shortcuts.)
Don’t delete the entire Program Files\ASUS folder if you have other ASUS software installed, like AI Suite or ASUS Update. Only delete the AC-specific subfolders. If you’re doing a full ASUS software removal then the whole folder can go, but be sure about what else might be in there first.
Step 3: Clean Up the Registry
This is the part most guides skip. Registry leftovers won’t cause obvious problems but they can confuse fresh installers and cause “already installed” detection errors.
Open Registry Editor: press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter. Before doing anything else, back up the registry: File menu, Export, save to your desktop as “registry_backup_before_ASUS_cleanup.”
Now navigate to and delete these keys if they exist:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ASUSHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ASUSHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ASUS
Then use Ctrl + F to search for “ArmouryCrate” (one word, no space). Delete any keys that come up and contain only AC references. Be careful here. If a key also contains entries for other non-ASUS software, don’t delete the whole key, just the ASUS-specific entries within it.
I’m going to be honest with you: registry cleanup is the riskiest part of this process. If you’re not comfortable with regedit, skip this step. The service and folder cleanup above handles 90% of the practical issues. Registry leftovers are mostly cosmetic unless you’re having trouble with fresh installers detecting a “previous installation.”
Step 4: Check for Scheduled Tasks
AC installs scheduled tasks that can trigger automatic reinstallation or service restarts. To check and remove them, open Task Scheduler (search for it in the Start menu), and look under Task Scheduler Library for any tasks named with ASUS, Armoury Crate, or ROG in the name. Right-click and delete any you find.
You can also do this from an elevated Command Prompt:
schtasks /query /fo LIST | findstr /i "asus"This lists any scheduled tasks with “asus” in their properties. Note the task names and delete them with:
schtasks /delete /tn "TASKNAME" /fStep 5: Disable the BIOS Reinstall Trigger
This is the step that almost nobody mentions, and it’s the reason some people successfully remove AC only to find it trying to reinstall itself after the next Windows update or BIOS update.
Restart your PC, enter BIOS setup (usually Del or F2 during POST, check your board’s manual), and find the Armoury Crate setting. It’s typically under the Advanced tab or a Tools section depending on your board generation. Set it to Disabled.
What this does: when enabled, this BIOS setting signals to Windows that the system wants Armoury Crate, and Windows silently fetches it from the Microsoft Store in the background. Disabling it stops that completely. Your board will function identically without this enabled. It’s purely a software convenience setting, not required for any hardware function.
Method 3: The Nuclear Option (ASUS Software Clean-Up Tool)
If you’ve run the official tool, done the manual cleanup, and things are still broken or you want an absolutely pristine system with zero ASUS software traces, there’s a community-maintained tool on GitHub that goes deeper than anything ASUS provides officially.
The tool is at github.com/allenk/ASUS-Software-Clean-Up-Tool. It removes kernel drivers (AsIO2.sys, AsIO3.sys, IOMap64.sys), deep registry entries, scheduled tasks, system DLLs, and everything the official tool and manual cleanup miss. It creates backups before each deletion, which is good, but you should still have a full system backup before running it because it’s making low-level system modifications.
The recommended workflow from the tool’s documentation:
- Run the official ASUS Armoury Crate Uninstall Tool first (Method 1 above)
- Uninstall any other ASUS software you have through Windows Add and Remove Programs (AI Suite, ASUS Update, etc.)
- Restart
- Then run the allenk Clean-Up Tool
- Restart again after it completes
One important warning for laptop users specifically: an earlier version of this tool could remove acsevirtualbus.inf and acsehidremap.inf, which are input device drivers on ASUS laptops. Removing them could cause complete loss of keyboard and touchpad input. The current version has been updated to skip these by default, but before running it on any ASUS laptop, double-check the release notes on GitHub to confirm this is still the case. Desktop users don’t have this concern.
After the Clean-Up Tool finishes:
- Restart the PC twice (the tool itself says once, but I’ve found twice more reliable for fully clearing the driver load list)
- Verify in Device Manager that all your hardware is still recognized properly
- If you removed AC to fix a problem and want to reinstall clean, now is the time to do it
How to Verify Everything Is Actually Gone
After whichever method you used, here’s how to confirm you’ve got a clean system:
Services check: Open services.msc and search for any service with ASUS in the name. If you find entries that aren’t related to software you intentionally kept (like AI Suite), they’re leftover AC components. Use sc delete servicename to remove them.
Folder check: Quickly browse to C:\Program Files\ASUS\, C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\, and C:\ProgramData\ASUS\. If those folders are empty or gone, you’re clean in the main locations.
Task Manager startup check: Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to the Startup tab, and look for any ASUS entries. If there are none, AC isn’t loading at boot.
Process check: In Task Manager, go to the Details tab and look for LightingService.exe, ArmourySwAgent.exe, or AsusCertService.exe. If none of those appear after a fresh restart, the services are properly gone.
Reinstalling Armoury Crate After a Clean Removal
If you removed AC to fix a broken installation and want to put it back, the timing matters. Don’t reinstall immediately after running the clean-up tool. Give Windows a full restart cycle to clear the driver cache and service registry. Then:
- Download a fresh installer directly from ASUS’s official support page for your specific board or laptop model. Don’t use any cached installer you had before.
- Temporarily disable your antivirus during installation. Some security tools interfere with ASUS’s kernel driver installations.
- Run the installer as administrator.
- When prompted to install components, accept all of them. Skipping components during install is a common source of partial installations that then fail to work properly.
- Let it complete and restart when prompted. Don’t cut the installer short even if it seems to hang. AC’s installer is known to look frozen while it’s installing the kernel drivers in the background.
After reinstalling, check services.msc to confirm all the core ASUS services are present and set to Automatic. If any are missing, the installer failed partway through. In that case, run the uninstall tool again, restart, and reinstall once more.
What to Use Instead of Armoury Crate
A lot of people remove Armoury Crate because it’s broken and they’re done fighting with it, not because they want to reinstall it later. If that’s you, here are the genuinely good alternatives depending on your use case.
G-Helper (For ASUS Laptop Users)
If you’re on any ASUS laptop (Zephyrus, Strix, TUF, Flow, Scar, ROG Ally), G-Helper is the alternative I’d point you to first. It’s a single executable file, 5MB, installs nothing in your system, runs no background services, and handles all the features you actually need from Armoury Crate: performance modes, fan curves, battery charge limit, GPU switching between iGPU and dGPU, and ARGB lighting control. I switched a friend’s Zephyrus G15 to it last year and he hasn’t touched AC since.
The GitHub repository is at seerge/g-helper and it’s actively maintained. Compare that 5MB executable to Armoury Crate’s roughly 4GB installation footprint and the value is obvious immediately.
OpenRGB (For Desktop RGB Control)
If the reason you had Armoury Crate was primarily for RGB control on a desktop build, OpenRGB is the free open-source replacement. It talks directly to hardware over USB and SMBus, supports devices from ASUS, Corsair, Gigabyte, MSI, Razer, and many others, and runs without any persistent background services. It takes a bit of initial setup to get all devices detected, but once it’s configured it’s rock solid.
Keeping Only What You Need
If you want ASUS board features like fan control and system monitoring but specifically want to dump the Aura lighting stack, it’s technically possible to run just the ASUS System Control Interface component and skip the Aura/LightingService components. This isn’t officially supported and the lines between components are blurry enough that this approach often breaks things, but it’s worth knowing it’s conceptually possible for people who want minimal ASUS software without going full nuclear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does uninstalling Armoury Crate affect my motherboard or PC performance?
No, not in any negative way for most users. Your board’s hardware functions, fan headers, and USB all work independently of whether AC is installed. What you lose is software control over RGB lighting, fan curve customization through the ASUS interface, and any AI performance features the app provided. All the physical hardware keeps working fine. Many people find their PC actually runs slightly faster at boot without the AC service stack loading.
Why does Armoury Crate keep reinstalling itself after I remove it?
Almost always the BIOS trigger. There’s a setting in your BIOS (usually under Advanced) called “Armoury Crate” that when enabled tells Windows to silently pull it from the Microsoft Store. Enter BIOS, find that setting, and disable it. That’s the fix. A secondary cause is a scheduled task left behind by a previous install. Check Task Scheduler for ASUS-named tasks and delete them.
Is it safe to delete the ASUS folders manually?
Yes, after you’ve stopped and removed the associated services. The danger in deleting files before stopping services is that locked files can’t be fully removed and leave broken references behind. Follow the order in this guide: stop services first, then delete folders, then clean registry. Don’t start with registry if you’re not confident in regedit.
What is AsusCertService and can I remove it?
AsusCertService (ASUS Certificate Service) handles certificate verification for ASUS software installations. It’s not required for any hardware to function. If you’re removing Armoury Crate completely, you can safely delete it with sc delete AsusCertService in an elevated Command Prompt after stopping it with sc stop AsusCertService. Thousands of ROG Forum users have removed it with no side effects.
Will removing Armoury Crate break my RGB lighting permanently?
No. LEDs themselves are just hardware. They’ll default to whatever static color or pattern is stored in their onboard memory (usually rainbow cycle) without software controlling them. You can then use OpenRGB, SignalRGB, or any other RGB controller to take control of them. Your hardware isn’t damaged by removing the software that controls it.
Can I use Revo Uninstaller or IObit instead of the official ASUS tool?
They’ll catch most of the same leftovers that the official tool misses, but they work by scanning what’s left after uninstall rather than having specific knowledge of what AC installs. The official ASUS tool is aware of every component AC deploys, including the kernel drivers and the less obvious service registrations. I’d use the official tool first, then use Revo or IObit as a second pass to catch anything missed, rather than using them as the primary removal method.
After clean removal, my PC won’t detect my ASUS hardware (keyboard, USB hub). What happened?
This is the known laptop risk with the allenk Clean-Up Tool. If it removed acsevirtualbus.inf or acsehidremap.inf, those are input device remapping drivers that some ASUS laptop hardware depends on. Check the tool’s GitHub page for instructions on restoring those specific drivers. On desktop systems this shouldn’t happen since those drivers are laptop-specific.