In Windows, you’re supposed to be able to uninstall applications with ease, right? Well, not exactly. While the venerable uninstallation utility built into Windows works most of the time in getting programs off of your computer, uninstallations rarely succeed in removing every trace of an application. And sometimes an uninstallation can fail in mid-stream, leaving you with no obvious way to remove the program. How can you deal with such dilemmas? Read on for some answers.
Q: I was installing a big office suite onto my new computer, and for some reason the installation failed. Now I’m left with a partial installation and no way to uninstall the files that were copied to my PC. How can I remove these files?
A: This problem is much more common than it should be, and by default Windows comes with no way to remove a partial installation. The good news is that Microsoft makes available for free a Windows Installer CleanUp Utility (support.microsoft.com/kb/290301) that may help. The CleanUp Utility will not actually remove any application files — including those from botched installations. But it will remove any installation files that were copied to your computer. Removing installation files will often allow you to re-start the program’s installer and proceed forward with a successful installation. Once the program is installed successfully, you should be able to use the standard Add/Remove option in the Control Panel to uninstall the program, if that’s what you wish to do.
Since problems with installations are fairly common — and seem to occur always when we have the least amount of time to deal with them — it makes sense to create a restore point in Windows before installing any application. That way, if the installation should fail, you could simply restore your computer using System Restore to the point it was at before the installation occurred. That’s the cleanest way to remove a failed installation.
Q: I recently upgraded from Adobe PhotoShop CS3 to CS4. Prior to attempting to install CS4, I tried to uninstall CS3, but the removal failed. Now I’m left with a crippled CS3 installation, and I’m unable to completely remove the product or re-install it. Can you help?
A: Stories like yours are, unfortunately, not uncommon around the Internet. Adobe has no doubt heard about frustrations like yours, and the company has released two downloadable products that may offer some help.
The Adobe CS3Clean Script (www.adobe.com/support/contact/cs3clean.html) will scour your system for any CS3 products and offer to remove all or part of them. To use the product, simply download it into a folder of your choice, and then double-click the CS3Clean.exe file. Follow the prompts, and by the end of the process, CS3 products should be removed from your computer. Note that you may need to run the utility more than once to completely remove all traces of CS3 products from your hard drive and your Windows registry.
Likewise, there’s a CS4 Clean Script (kb2.adobe.com/cps/406/kb406241.html) for those who have the latest Adobe CS4 products installed and need to remove those. Note that these scripts can be used even if uninstallation of the products was successful using the conventional Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel. The scripts will remove registry entries and folders left behind by the standard uninstallation.
Before running either of these tools, however, be sure to download and install the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility (support.microsoft.com/kb/290301). Once the products are removed, you should reboot your computer and re-try the installation of the newer versions.
Q: I tried to remove Symantec’s Norton 2009 from my computer, and while the uninstallation seemed to work, there are remnants of the program still on my computer. How can I get rid of everything related to Symantec?
A: Symantec, like Adobe, has no doubt heard complaints like yours before, and it too has released separate, downloadable Removal Tools for a number of its products (service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039). Just select the removal tool for the product you own, run it, and afterwards you should be left with a clean system. The removal tool may restart your PC several times before the removal is complete.
Q: I allowed Windows to install a suggested update to my computer. After the installation, my Microsoft Word started stalling and freezing. How can I remove the update? I can’t find it in the Uninstall area of Control Panel.
A: Every required and recommended update is logged by Windows. But you’re right: It’s just not easy to find out how to uninstall those updates.
To do so, open the Windows Control Panel and go to Add/Remove Program (XP) or Programs and Features (Vista). From the XP Add/Remove Programs window, select the check box labeled “Show updates.” In Vista, click the View Installed Updates link. In both cases, you will then see the updates that have been applied both to Windows and to various other applications on your system. You can sort the list by the date installed to see the most recently installed items first.
From that point, uninstalling an update is a simple affair. Just select the update and then click Remove, as usual.
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
Last week the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the budget cuts voted for by the China-aligned parties in the legislature, are intended to force the DPP to hike electricity rates. The public would then blame it for the rate hike. It’s fairly clear that the first part of that is correct. Slashing the budget of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is a move intended to cause discontent with the DPP when electricity rates go up. Taipower’s debt, NT$422.9 billion (US$12.78 billion), is one of the numerous permanent crises created by the nation’s construction-industrial state and the developmentalist mentality it
Experts say that the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on Friday was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modeling suggesting thousands could be dead. Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people. Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had
RSS