Un‐Install+gone+wrong

Un‐Install gone wrong

This tip is definitely not for the faint‐hearted...

When an un‐installation goes wrong.

How do you find out, how to rid your system of all the files, that have been left behind.

An Error Message during the deletion process or an uninstaller that doesn’t work correctly can be more than infuriating.

It may be that the application you installed didn’t come with its own removal feature.

You can often be left in a state of limbo, with files on your hard disk related to a program that doesn’t work any more.

An un‐installation can fail for any number of reasons.

It could be that the software vendor hasn’t thoroughly tested the un‐installation aspect of their program.

Alternatively, it could be that a file required by the uninstaller, and related to the program has long since been deleted from your PC.

If you’re in the situation where program removal has failed you can try a few things before entering into a manual deletion of files.

First, attempt the un‐installation again, however this time in Safe Mode.

The reason for initial failure could’ve been that a file was locked or in use, which would have prevented you/the computer, from completing the process.

By booting up into Safe Mode you’ll have unhindered access to files.

If however, this doesn’t work, you can try installing the application again from scratch.

Sometimes, at the beginning of a program installation, you’ll have the option to remove any related files that are currently on your system.

This is usually displayed on the installation first page.

Alternatively, the disc may offer you an alternative for a repair or reinstall, after which you can attempt the un‐installation process again.

If you share your PC with other users it’s important that you pay close attention to what’s being added, and removed from your system.

It can sometimes be the case that the Add or Remove Programs feature fails because the item in question no longer resides on your hard disk.

All traces of it have been uninstalled apart from the program name in the Add or Remove Programs list.

If you find yourself in this situation, you’ll need to use the Registry Editor to delete this rogue entry, and prevent confusion again in the future.

Here once again I stress using my Registry procedure before making changes

Scroll to :‐

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Uninstall.

Each sub key that you see, represents an application that’s installed on your system.

The sub keys are labelled with unique identification numbers.

This means that you won’t be able to see what they relate to at a glance.

You will have to go through them one at a time, and the String value called:‐

DisplayName will divulge the name of the application it relates to.

Once you’ve identified the sub key for the program you want to remove, Right‐click it and select Delete.

Then when you return to Add or Remove Programs you should see that the stubborn application has finally been removed.


 * Manual removal**

Sometimes when a program un‐installation fails, you’re left with no choice but to remove the file remnants yourself.

If you ignore this task and take no action it can lead to problems in the future.

You may experience Error Messages at Startup, or during normal use.

Your first task will be to remove the folder related to the application in:‐


 * C:\Program Files.**

In most cases this would have been left behind anyway, even if the un‐installation process had worked correctly. Locate the folder related to your program, right‐click it and select Delete.

If you have problems finding it, then try looking under the name of the software vendor instead. ( This is a very frequent trick by the program vendor )

Of course there will be other files left over as well.

Use My Computer to browse to :‐

C:\Documents and Settings \ All Users \ Start Menu \ Programs and delete any folders and shortcuts that are listed. If your PC is shared then you may have to perform the same check for each user at C:\Documents and Settings \ UserID \ Start Menu \ Programs.

There’s a chance that your application may have been part of the Startup process so go to:‐

C:\Documents and Settings \ All Users \ Start Menu \ Programs \ Startup and delete any entries.

Again, if there are other users on your system you’ll need to try:‐ C:\Documents and Settings \ UserID% \ Start Menu \ Programs \ Startup and delete relevant entries as well.

There will also be system files left behind by a partially installed application, in particular DLL files.

These can be difficult to identify manually, as they’re often obscurely named.

Take a look at the step by step guide for an application that helps you locate and safely delete such files.

When an application is installed, it’ll also record information in the Registry.

Even if an uninstaller doesn’t fail during the removal process you’re still likely to have keys and values present for applications that have long since been deleted from your system.

You can begin by using the Registry Editor to locate :‐

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE.

The sub keys you see will be related to the software vendor, and then there will be further sub keys, one for each of the applications you’ve installed.

Right‐click the application sub key, or indeed the vendor sub key, and select Delete to remove any reference.

The Startup tab of the System Configuration Utility may also contain a reference to the program you want to remove.

While clearing the checkbox from alongside an item will prevent it from being called upon when Windows XP boots, you’ll need to delve into the Registry to clear the instruction itself.

There are two locations where Startup information is stored:‐

.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \Run‐

Then scroll to :‐

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Shared Tools \ MSConfig \startupreg.

There will be a sub key for your program and you should right‐click it and select Delete. If you’re not too enamoured at the thought of making changes to the Registry.

I will outline a specialist utility that will identify redundant entries that you’ll be able to delete safely lower down the page.


 * Hidden applications**

Having browsed the applications listed in Add or Remove Programs you’ll have noticed that the likes of Windows Messenger and Games are not listed.

While they are present if you click on Add/Remove Windows Components,

If you uncheck the boxes next to these items it will only serve to remove shortcut links from the desktop, and Start menu rather than uninstall the programs completely.

There is a full un‐installation facility available for these applications, but it’s deliberately hidden from view in Add or Remove Programs.

The official line is that it prevents the inexperienced user from removing them by mistake.

However, the answer is more likely to be a way of ensuring you stay faithful to Microsoft products.

If you’d rather have these applications made visible so you can make an informed choice then this is comparatively easy

You’ll need to make a slight change to one of your system files.

Use My Computer to locate the file:‐

C:\Windows \ inf \ sysoc.inf

Double‐click to open it and you’ll see a long list of items.

Alongside some of them will be the word ‘Hide’.

It’s this that’s preventing the related application from being seen.

You can make the hidden items visible in Add or Remove Programs by deleting the word ‘Hide’ next to a particular item and save the changes you make to the sysoc.inf file. Just remove the Hide You will be asked Do you really want to say Yes.

If the Windows Installer has been used to install an application onto your system and the removal process subsequently fails, getting rid of the files left behind is not as difficult as you might think.

At your disposal is a tool provided by Microsoft called the :‐

Windows Installer Clean Up Utility.

It’s just one of the Windows Support Tools that you’ll find on your original Windows XP installation CD.

To use this toll see My Tip Utilities Additional ones on the XP CD

They’ll be installed at:‐

C:\Program Files\Support Tools

To launch the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility

Double‐click msicuu.exe.

Alternatively, if you don’t have your Windows XP CD to hand or you were not provided with one, you can download a standalone version of the utility by going here.

Support Tools

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Using the utility is straightforward

Select the application that wasn’t uninstalled correctly then click on Remove.

A prompt will then appear advising you that the particular item will be removed from your PC.

Click OK to continue and all that program’s files and Registry entries will be removed from your system, together with its listing in Add or Remove Programs.

If you wish you can hold down Ctrl and select multiple items for removal.

It’s important to note that after the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility has been run to remove a partial un‐installation, you won’t then be able to add or remove any components, or attempt a repair of that same program.

If you wish to use this program again it will be necessary to reinstall it again from scratch.

When an un‐installation goes wrong...

It needn’t be the end of the world, or even the end of your PC.

Open My Computer to browse the contents of :‐

C:\Program Files

You will see directories of applications long since removed.

Even when an uninstaller works first time, files are often left behind.

Identify those you don’t need and manually Delete them.

A partial un‐installation will leave shortcuts on the All Programs menu and the desktop.

To clear the menu, right‐click on an item and select Delete.

Do the same technique on the desktop, or use the Desktop Cleanup Wizard to remove old items.

Startup references to old programs can lead to error messages when you boot your PC.

Make sure there are no shortcuts in the Startup folder or on the All Programs menu.

You can also remove entries from the System Configuration Utility.

When you delete files manually, you may find some are locked or in use.

Open Windows Task Manager, and stop any related processes that are running.

Or, boot into Safe Mode and attempt deletion again.

You can use the Find tool to identify more Registry entries related to your program.

Open the Registry Editor and highlight My Computer.

Click Edit ‐> Find, enter the applications name and click Find Next.

Press F3 to continue searching.

There are some Registry tools such as the excellent JV16 that you can set to carry on searching for all entries without having to Press F3

The Search tool can also be used to locate other files related to the program that may be on your system.

Use a ʹwildcardʹ search to help you identify certain files.

For example, to find files called acme type acme.*

The Asterisk / star (*) after the dot is the wildcard, and allows most file extensions to be included in the search.