Uninstalling/reinstalling programs to fix them

  • Thread starter Thread starter Richard Fangnail
  • Start date Start date
R

Richard Fangnail

A lot of times, you are told to uninstall and reinstall a program if
it's acting up. Examples are Firefox, Flash etc.

Does this help because some of the program's support files might be
damaged due to malware/faulty disks? Is that the main reason?
 
Hello,

When you uninstall and reinstall, you are replacing any files and
configuration changes (such as registry entries) that may have been deleted
or corrupted. So it can fix many issues. Some reinstallations don't change
the configuration files (e.g. FileZilla) so as to keep the user's
configuration intact but they still replace the core files.

If you suspect that you have faulty discs, it is doubtful that you can even
install the program in the first place from the disc as most installers
verify the installation files before beginning installation. In this case,
you should get a replacement CD or download the software from the
manufacturer's site.

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http://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/
Singapore Computer Home Remote On-Site Repair Service
 
A lot of times, you are told to uninstall and reinstall a program if
it's acting up. Examples are Firefox, Flash etc.

Does this help because some of the program's support files might be
damaged due to malware/faulty disks? Is that the main reason?
Click to expand...

The main reason is the operating system. It is rare that a program
becomes corrupt under Unix/Linux, much better security and memory
management. With Windows you have to take more precautions.
 
A lot of times, you are told to uninstall and reinstall a program if
it's acting up.  Examples are Firefox, Flash etc.

Does this help because some of the program's support files might be
damaged due to malware/faulty disks?  Is that the main reason?
Click to expand...

If a program was working and then does not work, uninstalling and
reinstalling may fix it temporarily, but you still have the problem of
what caused it to stop working in the first place that remains.

I have never had to reinstall Firefox or Flash (your example) on any
computer to fix a problem - there is always some other problem that
needs to be fixed or the user does not understand how to use the
application properly. This is frequently perceived as an application
problem when in fact it is a user problem.

It is possible that malware or a user can screw up so many options in
an application that they can't be undone effectively so sometimes the
best option is to reinstall to get a fresh copy, but it would be the
user that caused the problem, not the application.

The person that tells you to uninstall, reinstall to fix a problem may
mean that they have no idea what the problem is or how to fix it and
needs to learn some better troubleshooting and fault isolation
skills. It does buys time, appears to work for a while (what a hero)
until the real problem comes back again later.

Since you did not define what "acting up" means (28,300,000 Google
hits for "acting up" and 325,000 hits for "Firefox acting up") it is
impossible to speculate on your particular issue.
 
If a program was working and then does not work, uninstalling and
reinstalling may fix it temporarily, but you still have the problem of
what caused it to stop working in the first place that remains.

I have never had to reinstall Firefox or Flash (your example) on any
computer to fix a problem - there is always some other problem that
needs to be fixed or the user does not understand how to use the
application properly.  This is frequently perceived as an application
problem when in fact it is a user problem.

It is possible that malware or a user can screw up so many options in
an application that they can't be undone effectively so sometimes the
best option is to reinstall to get a fresh copy, but it would be the
user that caused the problem, not the application.

The person that tells you to uninstall, reinstall to fix a problem may
mean that they have no idea what the problem is or how to fix it and
needs to learn some better troubleshooting and fault isolation
skills.  It does buys time, appears to work for a while (what a hero)
until the real problem comes back again later.

Since you did not define what "acting up" means (28,300,000 Google
hits for "acting up" and 325,000 hits for "Firefox acting up") it is
impossible to speculate on your particular issue.
Click to expand...

My problem was that Firefox was crashing and most of the crash reports
mentioned a Flash DLL.
After much googling, I saw many suggestions of uninstalling/
reinstalling Flash and/or Firefox.
Of course they said to make sure you have the latest versions of both.
Perhaps I can look directly at the registry to see if something is
wrong with Flash, but I wouldn't know what to look for.
 
My problem was that Firefox was crashing and most of the crash reports
mentioned a Flash DLL.
After much googling, I saw many suggestions of uninstalling/
reinstalling Flash and/or Firefox.
Of course they said to make sure you have the latest versions of both.
Perhaps I can look directly at the registry to see if something is
wrong with Flash, but I wouldn't know what to look for.
Click to expand...

You can check/verify/update if necessary your Flash player here:

http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

and here:

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/

The current version for XP is 10,0,22,87

If you continue to have poor results, you could uninstall and
reinstall the Flash Add-on.
 
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