uninstall without msi file

  • Thread starter Thread starter Edwin
  • Start date Start date
E

Edwin

How can I uninstall software if I no longer have the
orginal install files that contain the msi file required
by add/remove programs? If I use add/remove from the
control panel, it requests the original files, which I no
longer have.
thanks'
Edwin
 
Beware: Dangerous hack on the way.

1) Get Orca (install from Orca.msi in the Windows Installer section of the
Platform SDK).
2) Identify the cached msi file (in \Windows\installer) for the product in
question. A mouse hover will tell you. They're all typically <hex string>.msi.
3) Open that msi file with Orca, look at the InstallExecuteSequence for the
ResolveSource action. You might be seeing this problem because there is a
Condition in that entry that is evaluati8ng to True during an uninstall. Put 0
in that Condition value and close and save the msi file.

If ResolveSource is the issue, the uninstall should now work.

The other possible way is to download MsiZap from MS support, and use it very
carefully to uninstall that product - it will remove all trace of the Windows
Installer entries for that product, but not the files anmd registry entries.
 
1) use msizap (part of the msi sdk)
2) delete the 'orphants' (e.g. files in program files, shortcuts, reg, ...)
 
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