Uninstalling 1.8.5 Fails

[jliu]

I seriously need some help to uninstall 1.8.5 (1353) on my Windows 7 Pro/SP1 workstation. 

Over the past two days I have been trying various ways to do it without success.  Attempting to use the control panel uninstall results in the Pixinsight installer window popup and lock up, requiring task manager to terminate it.  I have also tried stopping the Norton antivirus and a Windows clean boot without success.  I even tried to run the 1353 installation code again, hoping that a uninstall option would appear, but all I could see was a window or alert flash and disappear within a fraction of a second.  With the 1353 install, my start windows menu under the Pixinsight folder shows only: New Instance, Reset Settings, Websight, and Pixinsight.  There is no Uninstall.  I am current with all the windows updates.

I recall seeing a thread a year ago on this forum by someone with the same Windows 7 Pro OS, having the same problem trying to remove 1352 in order to install 1353 that was solved by modifying the installer key in the windows registry.  However, I will not go there without instructions from the developers.

It is frustrating that windows control panel uninstall is blocked from removing the previous Pixinsight version.  So, help!

Jack

[John_Gill]

Hi,

Have a look on the internet/google for a program called "Revo".  This application, once installed, will removed any program installed on your computer.  Run the "setup" and then remove PixInsight.  I would recommend that you reboot the PC afterwards and then do the new PixInsight installation.

space is not black
John

[jliu]

Thanks John.  I will give Revo a try next, although there are comments that it doesn't work on 64-bit programs. I just ran the Windows Uninstall Troubleshooter ( https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed ) and let it apparently run for 6 hours with no success.  I think it also hung when it may have invoked the Pixinsight installer.  Regardless, Control Panel Uninstall subsequently failed as usual.

This is really frustrating.  It would be nice if a member of the Pixinsight development team can offer suggestions on how to proceed, short of me wiping the hard drive and reloading windows.

Jack

[RickS]

This is really frustrating.  It would be nice if a member of the Pixinsight development team can offer suggestions on how to proceed, short of me wiping the hard drive and reloading windows.

I can understand it would be frustrating.  Unfortunately, it's probably nothing to do with PixInsight per se and the dev team members aren't likely to have a magic bullet solution unless one of them is a Windows system admin and too ashamed to admit it 

If Revo doesn't work then you could try removing all traces of PixInsight manually (delete the folder c:\program files\pixinsight, delete registry keys containing the string "pixinsight" etc.)  That may be enough to get a new install of 1.8.6 to work.

Cheers,
Rick.

[pfile]

although this thread has to do with installation and not uninstallation:

https://pixinsight.com/forum/index.php?topic=13009.0

is it possible for windows defender to interfere with an uninstall?

rob

[jliu]

Hi Rick and John,

I don't use Windows Defender; I use Norton Security Suite.  Regardless, I did use Revo Pro to remove hopefully most of the 1.8.5 and residue from previous installations to the point that I could try to install 1.8.6 (1448)  with Norton Security turned off.  I get as far as the do you want to install dialog, and after that there is a quick flash of a window that disappears, and again  the installer/uninstaller hangs without showing itself.  I have to use Task Manager to kill the PI-windows install process.  So I never get the opportunity to click on an install button.  Something is still lurking in the background.  Are there any other keywords I should ask Revo to look for and delete?  Now I don't have any version of PixInsight to work with. 

Thanks

Jack

[jliu]

Painful as it was, I solved the problem by biting the bullet, wiping the hard drive, and reinstalling windows and application programs on this workstation.  I suspect it was a corrupted windows registry with too many loose ends that interfered with PixInsight uninstall/install. This process will take me a few days to get back to normal. At least PixInsight installed.

Jack

[RickS]

Glad you got it working, Jack.  I would have tried cleaning the registry out manually but whatever works

[jliu]

Rick,

I did use Revo Portable and Wise Registry Cleaner several times before getting PI 1.8.5 to unstall, installing 1.8.6 failed no matter what I tried.  I bet the registry lost necessary entries.  So, now I am rebuilding  the programs on my workstation. It's just like moving to a new house. 

Jack

[msmythers]

Jack

I know this is to late to help what you went through but for future possible issues. I do this every month to 2 computers I own. I do a hard drive image backup of my system SSD drives. I have one external drive that is dedicated to this. I have a backup of the original drive after all programs were installed and then a running backup of the latest as of each month. I do my backup on the first of the month(calendar scheduled) and when the backup is complete I delete the previous months backup. If I change hardware on the computer then I keep that new system drive backup also. That doesn't happen often. This has rescued me a few times over the years and makes for a very easy recovery process. Also the external drive that has this backups is a physically small drive that I keep a copy of the backup software on. I can take the drive with me in my pocket in case of an emergency like a fire or tornado or hurricane. That drive also never get plugged in except to do the backup. One other thing is I don't keep data on my system drives, only programs. This helps keep the drive size small and speeds up the backup or the recovery process. It also keeps the data safe from a system drive failures even if I was not doing backups.


Mike

[jliu]

Hi Mike,

I hear you.  My computer is connected to my NAS that has 41 TB of storage capacity.  So, I can easily accommodate storing complete boot drive images and system backups there, from which I can transfer to a portable HD for safety.  This is a lesson learned, especially with programs such as Pixinsght and its continual updates, where the likelihood of the registry losing track of its marbles increases.

I have several terabytes of my astro imagery data and also commercial satellite imagery data.  PI works great for processing and enhancing satellite data too!

Thanks for your comments!

Jack