ADD/REMOVE Programs

[John Gregory]

I had a paid stock data program on my machine that I allowed to lapse. A few
months later, I took advantage of an introduction offer. The whole packets
was sent to me again so I uninstalled the program with WindowsXP Home
Edition's Add/Remove feature. A notice appeared telling me all the files
couldn't be removed and I should do so manually. No other instructions on
how to do that. So... I cut and pasted the list and printed it out. After
examining the folders, I decided to leave them; I figured the new one was
simply going to overwrite them. To my surprise, when the new program got
installed and I looked at the registration data, my old stuff appeared.
Apparently everything DIDN'T get overwritten.
Q1) Should I have simply deleted those folders and everything in them?
Q2) Should I uninstall the new and delete the whole director before
reinstalling? I'm a little afraid to do this 'cause I have the impression
the original program put something somewhere in some hidden folder - and the
new one too now - and if I delete the entire directory (after using
Add/Remove PRogs) I'll screw something up. I though Add/REmove was supposed
to know how to find and remove all remnants of a program?

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

I had a paid stock data program on my machine that I allowed to
lapse. A few months later, I took advantage of an introduction offer.
The whole packets was sent to me again so I uninstalled the program
with WindowsXP Home Edition's Add/Remove feature. A notice appeared
telling me all the files couldn't be removed and I should do so
manually. No other instructions on how to do that. So... I cut and
pasted the list and printed it out. After examining the folders, I
decided to leave them; I figured the new one was simply going to
overwrite them. To my surprise, when the new program got installed
and I looked at the registration data, my old stuff appeared.
Apparently everything DIDN'T get overwritten. Q1) Should I have simply
deleted those folders and everything in
them? Q2) Should I uninstall the new and delete the whole director
before reinstalling? I'm a little afraid to do this 'cause I have the
impression the original program put something somewhere in some
hidden folder - and the new one too now - and if I delete the entire
directory (after using Add/Remove PRogs) I'll screw something up. I
though Add/REmove was supposed to know how to find and remove all
remnants of a program?

Add or Remove Programs is simply a container where a Windows Installer
compliant program places pointers to it's uninstall files. Some programs
uninstall routines will intentionally leave user specific data and other
remnants of a program. If this data is important to you, you can move it to
another location until the program is reinstalled, but any remaining program
specific files should be deleted.

 

[John Gregory]

I removed the folders, rebooted, started the new program, and still found
the old information. I searched for all files again and found a number in
"Documents & Settings/.../Temporary Internet Files." Delete these too? (I
believe I was once told all files in the temporary folder could be deleted
without significant harm outside of possibly being forced to reenter data to
enter selected websites. Correct?

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

I removed the folders, rebooted, started the new program, and still
found the old information. I searched for all files again and found a
number in "Documents & Settings/.../Temporary Internet Files." Delete
these too? (I believe I was once told all files in the temporary
folder could be deleted without significant harm outside of possibly
being forced to reenter data to enter selected websites. Correct?

The Temporary Internet Files is where all of the components that make up web
pages you visit are placed. These should be cleared on a regular basis. This
can be done from within Internet Explorer at Tools/Internet Options/General
Tab/Delete Files Button.

You can also delete all of the files in other temp folders like C:\Documents
and Settings\<user name>\Temp.

It sounds like this software does not have a very good uninstall routine or
that it intentionally retains that old information in some obscure location,
for whatever reason?

Does the new installation of that program run OK, with the old information
present?

 

[John Gregory]

Does the new installation of that program run OK, with the old information
present?<<

I don't know. I was afraid to try after seeing the old registration info
remained after the uninstall. My other machine runs Symantec SystemWorks
with - I believe - has an uninstall routine. I remember reading about it a
number of years ago and I think it said it was designed to remove all
fragments that the Windows Add/Remove program fails to. Unfortunately, this
machine (the one involved with the data programs) runs McAfee VirusScan and
Firewall. Nothing involving uninstall... to my knowledge.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

I don't know. I was afraid to try after seeing the old registration
info remained after the uninstall. My other machine runs Symantec
SystemWorks with - I believe - has an uninstall routine. I remember
reading about it a number of years ago and I think it said it was
designed to remove all fragments that the Windows Add/Remove program
fails to. Unfortunately, this machine (the one involved with the data
programs) runs McAfee VirusScan and Firewall. Nothing involving
uninstall... to my knowledge.

You mention the registration information, is this software a time limited
demo version? If so, it likely has a built-in capability that prevents a
user from performing consecutive installs and defeating the time limit for
the demo. This is usually in the form of a registry entry that remains on
the system after the demo version is uninstalled. If you had the paid
version, then you may not be able to install a demo version.