So I'm trying to uninstall a program on my machine. I went to add/remove programs and discovered only 6 programs in my list. I have at least 30 programs. Why aren't they showing up...and how can I get them to show up?
Winodws XP...add/remove programs
- Thread starter MMike
- Start date
del *.*
You can't get them to show up if they're not there.
There are several reasons why they might not be showing up. Check the program folders to see if they come with uninstallers - if they do, just use them. If they don't, just delete them manually and run a program like Tune Up Utilities to clean the crap out of your registry.
There are several reasons why they might not be showing up. Check the program folders to see if they come with uninstallers - if they do, just use them. If they don't, just delete them manually and run a program like Tune Up Utilities to clean the crap out of your registry.
It's not letting me delete manually. One of the .dll files says it's write protected
For what program?MMike said:
Try killing all of your background processes first with Ctl-Alt-Del. It's probably just in use.
Tune Up Utilities also gives you a pretty user-friendly program to manage programs that load on startup - you can uncheck all the programs and reboot your computer, then delete whatever you need to.
Ciaran said:
Do you work for Dell Supprt in India?
Check.Ciaran said:
I am educated enough to make a pretty decent living at it, smart guy.
It's too bad sarcasm doesn't come through in text better. Then you would have seen that the first post was tongue in cheek.
Also, do a little looking around... the only people who think Windows doesn't need to be reinstalled periodically are Microsoft employees.
It's too bad sarcasm doesn't come through in text better. Then you would have seen that the first post was tongue in cheek.
Also, do a little looking around... the only people who think Windows doesn't need to be reinstalled periodically are Microsoft employees.
Well than, share the wealth.
It sounds as though MMike has been installing programs that are not written to current standards, therefore they don't show up in add/remove programs.
Like most people who ask these questions, he failed to say what operating system he's using. Let's guess XP.
A DLL that reports as write-protected sounds a little suspicious.
Mike could search the registry for the name of the DLL, but he's going to need some competent help to decide what to do with the results.
Mike, what operating system are you using and what program are you trying to remove?
J
It sounds as though MMike has been installing programs that are not written to current standards, therefore they don't show up in add/remove programs.
Like most people who ask these questions, he failed to say what operating system he's using. Let's guess XP.
A DLL that reports as write-protected sounds a little suspicious.
Mike could search the registry for the name of the DLL, but he's going to need some competent help to decide what to do with the results.
Mike, what operating system are you using and what program are you trying to remove?
J
johnbryanpeters said:
pssst - look ay the thread name/title
No kidding eh? I'm almost insulted!douglas said:
BTW... I deleted the program folder. did a search for any other files with the name, and delted those, deleted the registry folder with the name of the program, and ran the free version of tune-up.
So far things seem ok.
MMike said:
TuneUp is a great tool, since for unknown programs, you can simply disable them at boot, delete their folders, and TuneUp will delete all their registry references for you. It sometimes leaves some (benign) residuals but at least it removes references to the .dll files and such. I turned our I.T. department on to this tool since they refuse to invest in expensive software like Norton Utilities.
Sounds like you got it covered... I didn't get back in to work and my PC till this morning, but I was going to see if I could help you with a little troubleshoting. Since you seem to have fixed the main issue I'll just throw in a few tidbits on info...
The add/remove programs list is located in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall If it's not there it could be that it was never installed correctly in the first place. Other possibilities are that it was incorrectly uninstalled at some point, or a virus mucked up your registry, though that is much less of a posibility.
About the only thing you can do is what you have already done... manually search for an delete all directories and registry keys, or use a utility program that does it for you.
The thing I would be wondering about is why the reg keys were missing in the first place. Does your PC run fine otherwise? Do you get Runtime errors, or BSOD's? Does it seem slow or sluggish? When you install programs, do you get errors?
You might try reinstalling one or two of the programs to see if they install correctly.
And lastly, before mucking with the registry, back it up.
The add/remove programs list is located in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall If it's not there it could be that it was never installed correctly in the first place. Other possibilities are that it was incorrectly uninstalled at some point, or a virus mucked up your registry, though that is much less of a posibility.
About the only thing you can do is what you have already done... manually search for an delete all directories and registry keys, or use a utility program that does it for you.
The thing I would be wondering about is why the reg keys were missing in the first place. Does your PC run fine otherwise? Do you get Runtime errors, or BSOD's? Does it seem slow or sluggish? When you install programs, do you get errors?
You might try reinstalling one or two of the programs to see if they install correctly.
And lastly, before mucking with the registry, back it up.
The Registry is an evil invention............
-S.S.-
-S.S.-
