It depends on the kind of malware.
There are a some relatively innocuous ad-ware programs that you can uninstall in the normal manner, but that is the minority. Most malware you will not be able to uninstall with the regular procedure, and even if you could uninstall it, they usually come packaged with viruses and trojans that can reinstall the software automatically.
If you want to pull the little scumware b*tch out by the roots, this is where you start.