Removing items from Remove Programs list

[Jim Wood]

I changed printers (HP 950 all-in-one to HP 6310 all-in-one), first
attempting to uninstall all the software for the old (950) printer. HP's
uninstall utility didn't work, and the Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs
listing did not have a Remove button. I tried to reinstall the old software
to restore the uninstall functionality, but both the CD and a downloaded
newer version would not install because they 'found' a current version
already installed.

So I IM'd with an HP guy who told me how to manually remove the software,
including changes to the Registry. All this seems to have gotten rid of the
software, but the listing under Add or Remove Programs is still there,
showing 153MB of software that was removed manually with success. Is there a
way to get that entry off the list?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I changed printers (HP 950 all-in-one to HP 6310 all-in-one), first
attempting to uninstall all the software for the old (950) printer. HP's
uninstall utility didn't work, and the Control Panel / Add or Remove
Programs
listing did not have a Remove button. I tried to reinstall the old
software
to restore the uninstall functionality, but both the CD and a downloaded
newer version would not install because they 'found' a current version
already installed.

So I IM'd with an HP guy who told me how to manually remove the software,
including changes to the Registry. All this seems to have gotten rid of
the
software, but the listing under Add or Remove Programs is still there,
showing 153MB of software that was removed manually with success. Is
there a
way to get that entry off the list?

HP appear to have a little problem when it comes to removing
their all-in-one software . . . You can remove this entry from
here: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

 

[Jim Wood]

Well, Pegasus, I went there and, sure enough, found an entry that referenced
that old printer. So I simply deleted the entire folder and its subfolders,
but the entry is still there in the Add or Remove Programs list, even after
rebooting. Where else might this entry be located? By the way, I also have
the situation with this list where there is a really long blank white space
(and some strange black bars) in the middle of the list. I have tried the
recommended fixes to get rid of this (somethig about negative values in the
DisplayIcon line) to no avail. At least everything runs okay.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have seen this sort of thing once or twice before. It appears
to happen when one of the registry entries in the area I gave
you is corrupted. I would do this:
- Create a System Restore Point
- Launch regedit.exe.
- Export the key I gave you.
- Selectively delete values from the suspect area until the problem is
fixed.
- Import the exported key.
- Delete just the corrupted value.

 

[O.J. Newman]

Hello:

You might try a utility that will remove orphan entries in the Add/Remove
Program list. Examples of such utilities are:

Revo Uninstaller at: http://www.revouninstaller.com/ or

CCleaner at: http://www.ccleaner.com/ .

There are several other freeware utilities that perform similar functions,
but you can start off by trying these 2.
Remember to select the "Remove Entry" button rather than the "Uninstall"
button.

HTH,
O.J.