Uninstall not allowed in Vista

[Guest]

I need help and have searched and have not found a thread that provided a
sufficient answer. I am using a 4 month old laptop running a preloaded,
fully updated Vista Home Premium OS. I am the only one who uses the computer
and by necessity (and choice), I am the Administrator.

My problem is this - I have installed multiple programs, CA antivirus, trial
versions of MS Office 2007 and Adobe CS3 and others (all Vista compatible)
and cannot uninstall these programs. In fact, the uninstall method via the
control panel>programs>programs and features (uninstall) does not allow me
uninstall these, yet does allow me to uninstall some other programs. In
other words, the programs populate the list, but do not give me the option of
changing or uninstalling *certain* programs. Why???

In regards to the CA antivirus, I went to manually delete it's folders and
was able to delete some folders, but was restricted from deleting others with
the message saying I do not have permission. Now, I cannot install the
Antivirus of my choice because it first requires the removal of CA and the
current files are incomplete. The same goes for MS Office 2007 (I want a
less comprehensive package and need to delete the trial software first). I
could reinstall the CA to fix the removed folders, but why am I forced keep
what I don't want. Why am I not fully in control of my own computer??? I am
worried that the solution may require registry changes and I do not feel
comfortable messing that up. I have done nothing but download the programs
in question.

Any solutions or suggestions? Thanks.

 

[amhey1]

I need help and have searched and have not found a thread that provided a
sufficient answer. I am using a 4 month old laptop running a preloaded,
fully updated Vista Home Premium OS. I am the only one who uses the computer
and by necessity (and choice), I am the Administrator.

My problem is this - I have installed multiple programs, CA antivirus, trial
versions of MS Office 2007 and Adobe CS3 and others (all Vista compatible)
and cannot uninstall these programs. In fact, the uninstall method via the
control panel>programs>programs and features (uninstall) does not allow me
uninstall these, yet does allow me to uninstall some other programs. In
other words, the programs populate the list, but do not give me the option of
changing or uninstalling *certain* programs. Why???

In regards to the CA antivirus, I went to manually delete it's folders and
was able to delete some folders, but was restricted from deleting others with
the message saying I do not have permission. Now, I cannot install the
Antivirus of my choice because it first requires the removal of CA and the
current files are incomplete. The same goes for MS Office 2007 (I want a
less comprehensive package and need to delete the trial software first). I
could reinstall the CA to fix the removed folders, but why am I forced keep
what I don't want. Why am I not fully in control of my own computer??? I am
worried that the solution may require registry changes and I do not feel
comfortable messing that up. I have done nothing but download the programs
in question.

Any solutions or suggestions? Thanks.

You can go into the Start menu and in the box at the bottom type
Regedit. Then you can search for your software - probably under Local
Machine or somewhere and delete the registry entries.

Then you can go to the same box and type cmd - at the top of the
window it will show cmd.exe - right click it and say run as
administrator - you will then have a DOS shell - then you can do a
whole bunch of dos navigation - cd .. gets you up a directory, dir /p
lists files, etc. with a pause, cd DIRECTORY NAME gets you down to a
lower level folder, X: gets you to drive X and then del FILENAME or
*.dll for all dlls will remove then you can go cd .. and del the
directory. Sounds primitive but it probably works...

 

[John Barnes]

Have you tried logging on as administrator in safe mode and uninstalling
from there?

 

[Guest]

I have and it does not work. Interestingly enough, I bought the same MS 2007
Office Suite that I was using on a trial basis and those items populate the
list and are able to be uninstalled, but the other CA Antivirus and Adobe CS3
trial do not allow me to. I just don't understand why as the only user of my
personal computer with the title of Administrator, I need "Permission" to
delete software I downloaded.

In regards to amhey1, I don't feel comfortable making "loose" registry edits
and saying 'oops' later. I am generally opposed to such measures, but if I
have to, I want specific direction that is a result of knowing exactly what
to do and why. I appreciate your trying to help, however.

 

[John Barnes]

Are you sure you are the administrator (in safe mode) and not just in the
administrator group?

 

[Guest]

The only Account I use on my computer is the Administrator account and it's
password protected. I have to sign-in every time I start the computer as
Administrator and I also have to provide the same password in safe mode.
What am I missing? Is there some other Admin account?

 

[John Barnes]

http://www.computerworld.com/action...ewArticleBasic&articleId=9015738&pageNumber=2

 

[Guest]

This is strange. I did what was recommended and created a *new* Admin
account. In doing so I assigned the Admin account as the actual Admin and
converted my normal account to regular status. However, I think my normal
account had been the full blown Admin.

When I went to uninstall or manually delete files as the new Admin, I
received the same message that I needed permission. Same in Safe Mode. I
don't understand this.

 

[Guest]

I very much appreciate JB's suggestions, but no one has an answer yet. Can
you help?

Thanks,