zakaria111
asked on
unistalling different softwares on windows2000
Hi! there,
I always come across this problem , when I want to remove a software on my PC. I get a message saying the file required to unistall the application is not available. I would like to know is there a microsoft unistall software that can help me unistall corrupted applications on my PC and where can I find ths software.
Thanks,
Zak
I always come across this problem , when I want to remove a software on my PC. I get a message saying the file required to unistall the application is not available. I would like to know is there a microsoft unistall software that can help me unistall corrupted applications on my PC and where can I find ths software.
Thanks,
Zak
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
You can try to go to http://www.download.com and download various uninstaller programs. Unfortunately, since there are tens of thousands of software out there, it's not really realistic to expect Microsoft to provide an uninstaller that would take care of all your uninstaller problems.
I used to use a program called addremove (there is a prank software with the same name now, so don't download that one), that takes care of my failed installation problems. I think Add/Remove Platinum 2004 might do the trick as well.
If you are worried about the registry problem, what I usually do is to use add/Remove to remove the programs and, hopefully, the registry associated with the program. Once I've done that, i'll reinstall the corrupted software again and then have Windows Add/Remove program uninstall it again. This way, hopefully the Windows uninstaller will pick up all the missing pieces that your 3rd party uninstaller might have left out.
good luck
I used to use a program called addremove (there is a prank software with the same name now, so don't download that one), that takes care of my failed installation problems. I think Add/Remove Platinum 2004 might do the trick as well.
If you are worried about the registry problem, what I usually do is to use add/Remove to remove the programs and, hopefully, the registry associated with the program. Once I've done that, i'll reinstall the corrupted software again and then have Windows Add/Remove program uninstall it again. This way, hopefully the Windows uninstaller will pick up all the missing pieces that your 3rd party uninstaller might have left out.
good luck
You could try reinstalling the software to replace the files and then uninstalling it again witth Add/Remove programs. Unless of course these are spyware/adware entries that are lying around after you used removal tools.
The problem is that the uninstall file that that Add/Remove Programs is looking for (ie Uninst.isu or something similar) is no longer available, usually due to it being deleted somehow. What I normally do in this situation is make a judgement call.
====================
Is this program something that probably does not throw parts of itself all over my hard drive? For example, games, and a lot of small utilities just install themselves neatly in whatever folder you assign them, and so all you have to do is delete the folder, and then remove the reference to the program from the Add/Remove Programs list.
Things like Office, Norton, and others, stick stuff in the Common Files folder, System, System32, and Ghu knows where! So if you use the above method on those, you will get a lot of orphan files.
Another thing to consider is registry entries. After you have deleted the files and folders, REGCLEAN or another registry maintenance program may take care of any extraneous registry entries, or you can use REGEDIT (if you are comfortable) to search for a clean most of the references yourself.
EITHER WAY, *ALWAYS* BACKUP THE REGISTRY BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES!!!
The easiest method, if you can find the install files for the old version, is to reinstall the old version, then immediatly uninstall it, so that it you can install the new version.
====================
Hope this helps!
ChrisPy
====================
Is this program something that probably does not throw parts of itself all over my hard drive? For example, games, and a lot of small utilities just install themselves neatly in whatever folder you assign them, and so all you have to do is delete the folder, and then remove the reference to the program from the Add/Remove Programs list.
Things like Office, Norton, and others, stick stuff in the Common Files folder, System, System32, and Ghu knows where! So if you use the above method on those, you will get a lot of orphan files.
Another thing to consider is registry entries. After you have deleted the files and folders, REGCLEAN or another registry maintenance program may take care of any extraneous registry entries, or you can use REGEDIT (if you are comfortable) to search for a clean most of the references yourself.
EITHER WAY, *ALWAYS* BACKUP THE REGISTRY BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES!!!
The easiest method, if you can find the install files for the old version, is to reinstall the old version, then immediatly uninstall it, so that it you can install the new version.
====================
Hope this helps!
ChrisPy
It usually happens if you install your programs without using control panel
I have the same problem sometimes. It normallt been removed by windows. So the disk space has been released, so if I was you just defrag and thats it, its off your HDD.
Is your problem resolved, zakaria111?
ChrisPy
ChrisPy
http://www.registry-cleaner.net/