It is by developers — it’s invoked automatically by the build system.
If a standard uninstallation fails, Vipre provides a specific "Removal Tool" on their support website. This tool is designed to wipe all remnants of the software, including vs-preclean-vs.exe . Final Verdict vs-preclean-vs.exe
Visual Studio is a massive piece of software. Over time, or during installation errors, residual files, cache data, and registry keys can clog up the system. A "Preclean" tool is designed to wipe the slate clean. It is by developers — it’s invoked automatically
(Exact switches differ by implementation; check the tool’s local help: run vs-preclean-vs.exe /? or --help.) or during installation errors
While you cannot entirely disable it without breaking the build system, you can minimize its impact: