Add/Remove

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POKO

Tried to remove an app on my win98 box but it found a corrupt uninstall
file - what do I do now?
POKO
 
POKO said:
Tried to remove an app on my win98 box but it found a corrupt uninstall
file - what do I do now?
POKO
Click to expand...

I hope someone here will be able to help you with your problem. The best I
can do is to suggest a program that says it can make a backup of the
add/remove, and then restore it when there is a problem.
http://www.aurelitec.com/software/uability/index.htm Ofcourse this won't be
of any immediate help to you with your current problem. (I read about this
in PC Utilities Magazine. I have never used it myself.)

Good Luck
 
Tried to remove an app on my win98 box but it found a corrupt uninstall
file - what do I do now?
POKO
Click to expand...

Reinstall the program over itself if you can, and hope that the uninstaller
is repaired in the process.
 
POKO wrote in said:
Tried to remove an app on my win98 box but it found a corrupt uninstall
file - what do I do now?
Click to expand...

Here is what I would do:

1) Try reinstall the application on top of the current install. Then
try a uninstall again.

2) If that does not help (or anyway) I would delte the program
directory, delte the shortcuts in the startup menu, then run a
regcleaner.
<http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/PL2003SYSTEMUTILITIES.htm#RegistryCleaner>

The cleaner should find most - hopefully all - registry entries
belonging to the application - and offer to remove them since the
application can no longer be found on your HD. In some cases you might
have to empty the recycle bin after deleting the app and before you
run the regcleaner, since some such programs (I know for sure Norton
Windoctor) might first try to restore the files from recycle bin - and
only offer to delte the registry entries if restore from recycle bin
not possible.

All the best
Bjorn Simonsen
 
POKO said:
Tried to remove an app on my win98 box but it found a corrupt uninstall
file - what do I do now?
Click to expand...

What is corrupt?

You could approach this matter by examining the uninstall string. Once
you attain the uninstall string, you can see if the path to the files
it points to are valid. It will point to an exe (eg uninstall.exe),
often to a log file, sometimes text but usually binary, and occasionally
to a supporting DLL.

Below is an example of an atypically complex uninstall string.

C:\windows\IsUninst.exe -f"D:\APPS\xpdf\adobe\v4\zip\cfilesdir\Acrobat
4.0\98\Uninst.isu" -c"D:\APPS\xpdf\adobe\v4\zip\cfilesdir\Acrobat
4.0\98\Uninst.dll"

Here I'd check that all those file paths are valid. Next, if its the exe or
the dll that is missing or corrupt, that's not so much a problem, as they're
non-unique and replaceable.

But if it's the log file -- in this case the binary log of this install, its
filename is "uninst.isu" -- that's more a problem. It'd be nice if you had
it backed up.

Or are none of the files corrupt, and it's the installation string in the
registry that is corrupt?

The ADD/REMOVE thing from Control Panel, it's just sort of a frontend thingy
that reads from this key in the registry:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

There are a good number of standalone utilities to better access that key,
ones that let you edit, copy, delete, or add uninstall strings. As well, a
number of the registry cleaning type suites and similar often contain a
module to give good access\manipulation of this key. I don't want to take
time to try to come to an opinion of recommending any particular one over
another (tho' perhaps someone else might). But at random, I'd say grab
for instance JoneSoft UnInstall Cleaner.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~jaesenj/software/software.html

With that prog, it's via its "modify" button on the toolbar you'd use
to gain clipboard access to the uninstall string of your problem entry.
From there, you can see if there is corruption in the string itself (it
should be straight text, no weird characters), as well as what files it
points to.

Whatever prog you get to access this key in the registry (even a reg editor,
but the specialized progs for this can be more convenient), I believe it
will be worth your time, in a general/long-term sense. Give you more
familiarity and thus control over that reg key, instead of being
restricted to the deliberately blinding/hiding ADD/Remove windows thing.
 
Tried to remove an app on my win98 box but it found a corrupt uninstall
file - what do I do now?
POKO
Click to expand...
This has been posted here recently. I personally have not tried it
though.

[q]for those who were asking since I didn't put it on my web page,
crowbar rips files out of your add/remove program list, only recommended
for those programs who refuse to remove their name from the list. Once
again the address is www.efn.org/~gunneric/crowbar.htm feel freeeee to
add this freeware to your tool collection. I will put this description on
the web page sometime in the future.
 
POKO said:
Tried to remove an app on my win98 box but it found a corrupt
uninstall file - what do I do now?
Click to expand...

In addition to all the other good info offered, I'd recommend regcleaner
or jv16 as the tool to clean up the registry after an "unorthodox"
uninstall... even a successful "normal" uninstall. It has the ability to
group registry errors by software application, thus making it easier to
see what's appropriate to delete.

If you go the reinstall route, it might be of value to monitor the
reinstall with InCntrl or similar, to get as much info on what the
install does in the first place.
 
Tried to remove an app on my win98 box but it found a
corrupt uninstall file - what do I do now?
Click to expand...

If the second install doesn't work (the safest option) ...

If you have the luxury of a second PC, here's an option. Use a
Registry Snapshop utility, and take a snapshot before/after
install, to get all the changes. You may get a good uninstall
program that could be analyzed or transplanted to the original
PC. Or use the snapshot data to *carefully* manually undo the
registry changes, then a registry cleaner (EasyCleaner) to
clean up all the files.

(I once had this happen with an internet content filter, with
a failed uninstall that somehow hosed the password. Couldn't
install, or uninstall. Yuk. The "install on a second PC" as
described above did the trick.)
 
POKO said:
Tried to remove an app on my win98 box but it found a corrupt uninstall
file - what do I do now?
POKO
Click to expand...

Try "Total Uninstall" - xlnt utility that tracks the complete
installation. Very stable on my system (win98se) & easy to use. Just
be sure to enable the few necessary settings.

Use it to reinstall you corrupted program. Then use it to uninstall
it.

http://www.geocities.com/ggmartau/projects/projects.html
http://www.simtel.net/pub/dl/61416.shtml

Also, for future installations & testing out software, I wouldn't be
without "Test-Run by BB" & "FileMap by BB." Both can be found at

http://dogkennels.gq.nu/testrun/

BTW, have you checked for an Install.log?

Good Luck

blue
 
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