Question

Uninstall software from the command line

Asked by: detox1978

One of our web servers is acting weird and not letting us view the control panel to add/remove software.


Question: Is it possible to uninstall software that is in the control panel "Add remove programs" via the command line?


Thanks

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Asked On
2006-10-04 at 08:55:04ID22012705
Tags

command

,

line

,

uninstall

,

from

,

software

Topic

Windows 2000 Operating System

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Comments
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Answers

 

by: jkrPosted on 2006-10-04 at 09:55:14ID: 17660860

>>Is it possible to uninstall software that is in the control panel "Add remove programs" via the command line?

Yes. All you need to do is open regedit.exe, navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\<ApplicationName_or_ID>

and copy the value of 'UninstallString' - that is what the control panel applet executes when you want to uninstall an application. Then, paste the copied unistall command into the command line window and execute it.

 

by: RubenvdLindenPosted on 2006-10-04 at 09:55:29ID: 17660863

Not always, but most programs can be uninstalled via the command line.

Open regedit.exe and open the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
Beneath this key are all the entries that can be uninstalled (some of them have a guid instead of a recognizable name, but you can probably find out the correct entry by using the Find command in the Edit menu).
Open the key of the entry you want to uninstall. You will see an entry called UninstallString. Copy the value of this entry to the command line and run it.

Your program should uninstall now.

Hope this helps.

 

by: kshaysPosted on 2006-10-04 at 11:23:29ID: 17661573

Along with the other experts suggestions this would be an example of what you would type in a batch file or at the dos prompt.

msiexec.exe /X{BBAAACFA-B012-4367-ADDA-4DDCDFD48F96}

This uninstalls norton ghost on my machine.

 

by: Ryan_RPosted on 2006-10-04 at 21:30:02ID: 17665805

goto the Run box (WinKey + R) and type in:

appwiz.cpl

this will show the Add/Remove Programs dialog box

 

by: Ryan_RPosted on 2006-10-04 at 21:34:05ID: 17665813

if you can't get into that screen then you could install another Uninstall Manager  -there are others besides the Windows one (ie Ashampoo Uninstall something)  - or just google for Unintsall Program

If you install a program like Spybot SD, I think it has a section that tells you all of the Programs installed for the purpose of remove the item from the list (not the actual program)

ie>  say you went to C:\Program Files\Program\ and deleted its contents - now you can't remove the item from Add Remove Programs - that's what you use this for

More importantly Spybot gives you the cmd path on how to unintsall the app if it is there

something like C:\Windows\Unwise.exe -whole lotta parameters -etc


Hope this helps - ask for clarification if needed

Ryan R

 

by: detox1978Posted on 2006-10-05 at 03:34:07ID: 17667161

thanks for all the info...

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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