Classic problem uninstalling TweakUI

[Fred Ma]

I have googled-groups this problem. It seems to be a common problem.
I have TweakUI 1.33 installed on Windows 2000 Pro, SP4 (Inspiron 8000
laptop). When I uninstall, there is a message saying it seems to be
already uninstalled, and asked me whether I want to remove the entry
from the Add/Remove_Programs menu. Sometimes I say yes, other times I
say no (I have tried reinstalling and uninstalling many times). All
attempts are unsuccessful. After attempting to uninstall, there are
no TweakUI entries in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
However, windows explorer still behaves as if TweakUI was present i.e.
window focus/activation still follows the mouse pointer. Note that at
no time does the TweakUI show up in the task manager (before or after
an install or an attempted uninstall). This is even after a reboot.

In my "best" attempted uninstall so far, I reinstalled TweakUI, used
SpyBot's "System Startup" tool to prevent its launching at system
startup, rebooted the computer, and then used Add/Remove_Program to
remove TweakUI. The result was the same, including the error message
saying that it was already uninstalled. Note that SpyBot's "System
Startup" tool seems more appropriate than msonfig because (rumour has
it that) msconfig wasn't really meant for Win2K. In fact, TweakUI
doesn't even show up in msconfig, but it does show up in SpyBot's
System Startup.

I have also tried removing TweakUI from a _desktop_, also running Win2K
Pro SP4. When I tried to do this as nonadministrator, I got the same
message (it was already uninstalled). When I tried it as
administrator, it did not give the message about TweakUI already being
uninstalled, so I thought it worked. However, the window focus still
follows the mouse pointer after rebooting. The lack of an error
message seems to get me a bit closer to a successful uninstall; since
this is related to the use of an administrator account, I suspect that
the uninstall problem is due at least in part to permissions set on
registry subtrees. On the laptop, however, I was already logged in as
administrator when I got the error message.

Some usenet postings suggested editing the program removal entry to
modify the behaviour of uninstall. I tried to explore the possibility
of doing this by pressing the Change/Remove button in the
Add/Remove_Program menu. I was hoping that it would let me change
something, or at least prompt for confirmation before removing. It
didn't; it immediately tried to remove the program, with the various
degrees of apparent "success" that I've described so far.

Thank you for any suggestions.

Fred

 

[Rick]

TweakUI is simply a front-end to REGEDIT. Uninstalling TweakUI
will not magically restore your registry settings back to what they were
before it was installed. That's why it appears as though the program is
still installed, but in fact it's not.

You have three choices:

1. Reinstall Windows. This will set all registry settings back to default.

2. Reinstall TweakUI, set everything the way you want it, then uninstall
TweakUI.

3. Manually go through the registry and set each setting the way you
want it.

Rick

 

[Steven]

Do a Google search for ToolBarCop.exe and you will be able
to easily remove it from your IE.

Steven

 

[Fred Ma]

TweakUI is simply a front-end to REGEDIT. Uninstalling TweakUI
will not magically restore your registry settings back to what they were
before it was installed. That's why it appears as though the program is
still installed, but in fact it's not.

I did think of this as a possibility, but it just seemed to be quite a stretch
that Windows could have the window activation/focus follow the mouse pointer.
I thought it was a resident process that was doing that.

You have three choices:

1. Reinstall Windows. This will set all registry settings back to default.

I'm not experienced enough to do this.

2. Reinstall TweakUI, set everything the way you want it, then uninstall
TweakUI.

I've tried this. I guess it worked. The fact that the windows focus still
followed the mouse must be due to the registry changes. It is remarkable that
Windows has this capability, since the only time it seems available is with the
use of TweakUI.

3. Manually go through the registry and set each setting the way you
want it.

I guess that won't be necessary, if TweakUI is really gone.

Thanks for the information.

Fred

 

[Fred Ma]

Do a Google search for ToolBarCop.exe and you will be able
to easily remove it from your IE.

Steven

I think there may be some confusion about what TweakUI is.
According to Rick, it is a convenient (and probably safe)
front end to modify the registry and bring about convenience
features for the Windows user interface (Windows explorer,
among others).

Fred

 

[Rick]

I did think of this as a possibility, but it just seemed to be quite a stretch
that Windows could have the window activation/focus follow the mouse pointer.
I thought it was a resident process that was doing that.

In REGEDIT, look here for this option:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse

Set "ActiveWindow Tracking" to 0 to disable it.

Rick

 

[Rick]

In REGEDIT, look here for this option:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse

Set "ActiveWindow Tracking" to 0 to disable it.

Just meant to add, be sure to reboot after making this change.

Rick

 

[Fred Ma]

Just meant to add, be sure to reboot after making this change.

Actually, I was more concerned about making sure that there was no process
running in the background while installing drivers for HP's printer/scanner/
copier model 750. It took many days of contortions to get it installed, and
I was wondering if there was some process that was present, not showing up
in the taskbar, and interfering with the install/deinstall. It turns out
that Win2K's security must be irreversibly crippled to allow a proper
deinstall an reinstall. There are remaining incompatibilities, apparently
with NTFS, according to HP.

Fred

 

[George Hester]

The best way to make sure there are no running processes in the background is to go into Safe Mode.

 

[George Hester]

TweakUI is not safe and I suggest you get rid of it. Lots of people here say it is just dandy. Not me. It is also NOT supported by Microsoft which means they officially don't like it either.

 

[Gary Smith]

TweakUI is not safe and I suggest you get rid of it. Lots of people

here say it is just dandy. Not me. It is also NOT supported by Microsoft
which means they officially don't like it either.

Nonsense. TweakUI is much less dangerous than many other utilities --
Regedit, for example. Any tool can be dangerous in the hands of the
uninformed, and as with any other tool, users of TweakUI need to exercise
some care and make an effort to understand what they're doing.

Despite the disclaimers, Microsoft promotes and recommends TweakUI and has
provided support numerous times in the past. Lack of offficial support is
essentially meaningless in any case.

 

[Fred Ma]

The best way to make sure there are no running processes in the background is to go into Safe Mode.

Agreed. For the problem of installing the HP scanner/printer drivers, however,
it was very clear that we were to follow the procedure *exactly* (and experience
has shown that deviating even slightly can mess up the install/deinstall). The
instructions didn not say to boot up in safe mode. There are various services
which might be expected by the install/deinstall, which might not be availalbe
in safe mode. Even following the prodedur exactly doesn't guarantee correct install/deinstall.

Fred

 

[Fred Ma]

here say it is just dandy. Not me. It is also NOT supported by Microsoft
which means they officially don't like it either.

Nonsense. TweakUI is much less dangerous than many other utilities --
Regedit, for example. Any tool can be dangerous in the hands of the
uninformed, and as with any other tool, users of TweakUI need to exercise
some care and make an effort to understand what they're doing.

Despite the disclaimers, Microsoft promotes and recommends TweakUI and has
provided support numerous times in the past. Lack of offficial support is
essentially meaningless in any case.

I've used TweakUI for years, never had a problem with it. The added
functionality is badly needed in Windows. The uninstall problem I
originally posted about is more due to my lack of knowledge of TweakUI,
which has more to do with the lack of (decent) documentation on it.
As far as I know, it has never done anything bad.

That's on Win2K. Now, on WinME, that's a different story. That system
was so unstable that even using it is like wrestling on a combination of
hot coals and broken glass.

Fred

 

[George Hester]

"Not supported" means if they find out you have it installed that will usually bring to a screeching halt any further movement in the case (whatever that may be) until it is uninstalled.

If that has changed pardon me, I am unaware of their change in policy.

There are at least seven issues that result from having TweakUI installed in Windows 2000. If you are unaware of them then fine.

Like I said, "many people feel it is just dandy." I don't. There is no reason to call what I say "Nonsense." The issues are there and they are not "nonsense."

 

[Gary Smith]

There are at least seven issues that result from having TweakUI

installed in Windows 2000. If you are unaware of them then fine.

You've psoted them before, and I checked them out. All are approriately
classed as "pilot error" If Microsoft didn't provide de facto support for
TweakUI, it wouldn't be mentioned in Knowledge Base articles.

Like I said, "many people feel it is just dandy." I don't. There is no

reason to call what I say "Nonsense." The issues are there and they are
not "nonsense."

To call the tool dangerous because it can do damage if misused is indeed
nonsense. By that standard, Regedit is far more dangerous, and regedt32
more dangerous than that. Most dangerous of all is probable the Delete
dunction of Windows Explorer. More systems have been damaged by
injudicious use of that function than by all of the registry management
tools put together.

 

[George Hester]

"To call the tool dangerous because it can do damage if misused is indeed nonsense. " - I don't agree with that statement. If I misuse a hammer it is still dangerous and that is not nonsense. They are not all "pilot error." But you think it is dandy let's leave it at that, OK?

 

[Rick]

"To call the tool dangerous because it can do damage if misused is indeed nonsense. " - I don't agree with that statement. If I

misuse a hammer it is > still dangerous and that is not nonsense. They are not all "pilot error." But you think it is dandy let's
leave it at that, OK?

You're missing the point, George. A hammer itself is not
dangerous unless it's in the hands of someone who doesn't
know how or when to use it. The combination of a given
tool _and_ an ignorant user is what's dangerous.

TweakUI is simply a front-end for Regedit. It doesn't do
anything that can't be done manually in Regedit. Not a thing.
Unlike Regedit however, TweakUI is safe, as there's zero
chance of causing registry corruption with it (by accidentally
deleting a key, or modifying the wrong key, etc).

Rick