joost
March 21, 2001, 09:12 am
I found this on Windows2000 Magazine's (http://www.win2000mag.com) web site, but I thought it was worthy of sharing, I know that I have had problems with removing programs at times.
Add/Remove Programs Fuzzy Logic:
How often have you used the Add/Remove Programs utility to remove a program, only to discover that the uninstall routine can't find a crucial file? Uninstall routines get confused when we place applications in nondefault directories, when we install them on a hard disk that isn't the boot drive, and in numerous other cases. Even when Add/Remove Programs runs, it almost always prompts you to remove components "that are no longer needed," as if we knew which of 75 files should stay or go. The most aggravating message—one we've been reading since the dawn of Windows—is the wrap-up message that states "not all components have been removed." Even when Add/Remove Programs finishes successfully, these messages leave us wondering about the efficacy of the removal process. On the reverse side of the coin, errors in an uninstall routine can leave application data in the registry key that tracks installed software, so in some cases, Win2K and Windows NT indicate software is installed when, in fact, the files have been removed.
My first reaction to this chicken-and-egg problem is to manually remove the application files, delete related icons, and carve out application-specific registry entries. The manual method is a patience tester, and when I finish, I never have 100 percent confidence that I've successfully excised every component. Instead, I have visions of a registry full of floating detritus unconnected to the real world.
The manual removal process has two potentially dangerous side effects. When you manually remove registry entries that refer to a specific application—especially registered components that appear in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_CLASSES—you might permanently corrupt other installed applications from the same vendor that share the component. And if you don't pay attention, you can accidentally delete the wrong key, with potentially disastrous consequences.
Add/Remove Programs Antidote:
Last week, I purchased a firewall product after running the vendor's trial version for the 30-day evaluation period. When I started to install the retail version, the setup routine instructed me to first remove the evaluation copy. However, when I fired up Add/Remove Programs to uninstall the trial version, the process failed. While digging through the vendor's instructions about how to manually remove its software, I found a reference to the Windows Installer CleanUp utility.
The Windows Installer CleanUp utility has been around for several years. Microsoft categorizes the clean-up utility as an Office 2000 tool, but the utility can also help you remove third-party software when the standard uninstall doesn't work. Windows Installer CleanUp lets you select a specific Windows installer program to activate and removes the registry items associated with that program. Windows Installer CleanUp has two versions: Msicuu.exe (http://download.microsoft.com/download/office2000pro/util20/1/NT4/EN-US/msicuu.exe) for Win2K and NT and Msicu.exe (http://download.microsoft.com/download/office2000pro/util22/1/W9X/EN-US/msicu.exe) for Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) and Windows 9x. Double-click the executable to install the 360KB utility. After installing Windows Installer CleanUp, you'll see its entry near the bottom of the programs list under the Start menu. The tool also registers itself in the Add/Remove Programs list.
When you start Windows Installer CleanUp, the utility displays a list of programs it recognizes and offers you the following four options:
Select All—selects all programs in the list
Clear All—unselects all programs in the list
Remove—removes Windows Installer registry settings associated with the selected program(s)
Exit—exits Windows Installer CleanUp
Luckily, Windows Installer CleanUp recognized the trial version of the software I wanted to uninstall and successfully removed all traces of it. I then installed the retail version of the product with no problems. The next time you meet an ornery uninstall routine, I suggest you try Windows Installer CleanUp before you dive into the manual removal process. You can read Microsoft's documentation for this tool in article "Q238413 (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q238/4/13.asp) FYI, Microsoft includes the following disclaimer with the Windows Installer CleanUp tool: "This utility is provided 'as is' to help resolve installation problems for programs that use the Windows Installer. The use of this utility may make it necessary to reinstall other programs, and caution is advised."
------------------
Windows has crashed.
I am the Blue Screen Of Death!
No one hears your screams!
Moderator of Useful Links (http://www.helpfromtechs.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number=13&SUBMIT=Go)
Add/Remove Programs Fuzzy Logic:
How often have you used the Add/Remove Programs utility to remove a program, only to discover that the uninstall routine can't find a crucial file? Uninstall routines get confused when we place applications in nondefault directories, when we install them on a hard disk that isn't the boot drive, and in numerous other cases. Even when Add/Remove Programs runs, it almost always prompts you to remove components "that are no longer needed," as if we knew which of 75 files should stay or go. The most aggravating message—one we've been reading since the dawn of Windows—is the wrap-up message that states "not all components have been removed." Even when Add/Remove Programs finishes successfully, these messages leave us wondering about the efficacy of the removal process. On the reverse side of the coin, errors in an uninstall routine can leave application data in the registry key that tracks installed software, so in some cases, Win2K and Windows NT indicate software is installed when, in fact, the files have been removed.
My first reaction to this chicken-and-egg problem is to manually remove the application files, delete related icons, and carve out application-specific registry entries. The manual method is a patience tester, and when I finish, I never have 100 percent confidence that I've successfully excised every component. Instead, I have visions of a registry full of floating detritus unconnected to the real world.
The manual removal process has two potentially dangerous side effects. When you manually remove registry entries that refer to a specific application—especially registered components that appear in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_CLASSES—you might permanently corrupt other installed applications from the same vendor that share the component. And if you don't pay attention, you can accidentally delete the wrong key, with potentially disastrous consequences.
Add/Remove Programs Antidote:
Last week, I purchased a firewall product after running the vendor's trial version for the 30-day evaluation period. When I started to install the retail version, the setup routine instructed me to first remove the evaluation copy. However, when I fired up Add/Remove Programs to uninstall the trial version, the process failed. While digging through the vendor's instructions about how to manually remove its software, I found a reference to the Windows Installer CleanUp utility.
The Windows Installer CleanUp utility has been around for several years. Microsoft categorizes the clean-up utility as an Office 2000 tool, but the utility can also help you remove third-party software when the standard uninstall doesn't work. Windows Installer CleanUp lets you select a specific Windows installer program to activate and removes the registry items associated with that program. Windows Installer CleanUp has two versions: Msicuu.exe (http://download.microsoft.com/download/office2000pro/util20/1/NT4/EN-US/msicuu.exe) for Win2K and NT and Msicu.exe (http://download.microsoft.com/download/office2000pro/util22/1/W9X/EN-US/msicu.exe) for Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) and Windows 9x. Double-click the executable to install the 360KB utility. After installing Windows Installer CleanUp, you'll see its entry near the bottom of the programs list under the Start menu. The tool also registers itself in the Add/Remove Programs list.
When you start Windows Installer CleanUp, the utility displays a list of programs it recognizes and offers you the following four options:
Select All—selects all programs in the list
Clear All—unselects all programs in the list
Remove—removes Windows Installer registry settings associated with the selected program(s)
Exit—exits Windows Installer CleanUp
Luckily, Windows Installer CleanUp recognized the trial version of the software I wanted to uninstall and successfully removed all traces of it. I then installed the retail version of the product with no problems. The next time you meet an ornery uninstall routine, I suggest you try Windows Installer CleanUp before you dive into the manual removal process. You can read Microsoft's documentation for this tool in article "Q238413 (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q238/4/13.asp) FYI, Microsoft includes the following disclaimer with the Windows Installer CleanUp tool: "This utility is provided 'as is' to help resolve installation problems for programs that use the Windows Installer. The use of this utility may make it necessary to reinstall other programs, and caution is advised."
------------------
Windows has crashed.
I am the Blue Screen Of Death!
No one hears your screams!
Moderator of Useful Links (http://www.helpfromtechs.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number=13&SUBMIT=Go)