Uninstall just flat not working any more

[schmenge]

Cingular 8125, WM5. Uninstalling (especially to install an update) has always been spotty with WM5, at least for me. Now it just flat doesn't work. If I try and uninstall a program from the PPC (using the PPC) I will always get the dialog that the program was not removed, would I like to remove the program from the list, etc. etc. If I use ActiveSync I get no error messages, the program gets removed from the list, but nothing is deleted from the device.

I hate to have to do a hard reset. Is there some registry key or something that I could be checking?

[Brad Adrian]

I hear what you're saying, but it's more than likely due to the specific applications and not to any device or WM5 problems.

If you're still having trouble uninstalling a particular application, first make sure that it's not running, even in the background, like a Today screen add-in. A utility like MemMaid or any other task manager can help you find out exactly what's running. Once that's taken care of, you can probably delete the actual folder that the application was installed to. After that, the Remove Programs utility should take care of the rest and resolve completely.

One more tip: If you ever get the message that an application hasn't been removed completely, I'd suggest that you do NOT opt to remove the application name from the Remove Programs list. That way, once you've done the steps above, you can go back and use the Remove Programs utility to clean up the registry and zap any remaining files.

Good luck!

[Darius Wey]

Cingular 8125, WM5. Uninstalling (especially to install an update) has always been spotty with WM5, at least for me. Now it just flat doesn't work. If I try and uninstall a program from the PPC (using the PPC) I will always get the dialog that the program was not removed, would I like to remove the program from the list, etc. etc. If I use ActiveSync I get no error messages, the program gets removed from the list, but nothing is deleted from the device.

Unfortunately, Windows Mobile 5.0 has a buggy uninstall routine. The advice is to soft-reset before you uninstall each application. So if you wish to uninstall three applications, soft-reset, uninstall, soft-reset, uninstall, soft-reset, and uninstall. Of course, Brad's advice applies in that if the process is running in the background (often a case if it is designed to launch on startup), you will have to terminate it prior to uninstalling.

It's a tedious process, and one you'll usually have to do until Cingular implements the patch that Microsoft recently released.

[victore]

schmenge, i've run into this problem almost every time i uninstall a app from my qtek 9100. to make uninstalling as trouble free as possible, i do a couple of things:

1. i uncheck all my today screen plug-ins
2. i move all of the programs from my startup group into a "unstartup" group
3. i soft reset my device

using a combination of these three things, i can pretty much uninstall any application.

[schmenge]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I already do (and have done) all of those things. They used to do the trick, but not anymore. :(

[Darius Wey]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I already do (and have done) all of those things. They used to do the trick, but not anymore. :(

How much free memory do you have after a soft-reset (both program [RAM] and storage [ROM])?

[schmenge]

How much free memory do you have after a soft-reset (both program [RAM] and storage [ROM])?

18.20 and 18.03 megs respectively

[Darius Wey]

18.20 and 18.03 megs respectively

Hmm, you've got plenty of memory. Looks like we've exhausted a lot of the options available. If none of the soft-resetting and plug-in disabling help, Brad's advice on safely deleting the program folder is probably your best move from here.

[schmenge]

Hmm, you've got plenty of memory. Looks like we've exhausted a lot of the options available. If none of the soft-resetting and plug-in disabling help, Brad's advice on safely deleting the program folder is probably your best move from here.

That's pretty much what I do now. But I suspect that some programs are dumping something into places I do not know about and then I never get rid of that (unless it has an obvious name). Oh well, I have been contemplating a ROM upgrade..................

[Darius Wey]

Oh well, I have been contemplating a ROM upgrade..................

Yes, you definitely should, if you aren't running the latest.

[schmenge]

In case anybody stumbles upon this thread............ I tried using the uninstall routines with Pocket Mechanic Pro (2.x) and SK Tools (3.x). PM did not uninstall softwatr but SK Tools is doing the job. Probably still gonna update the ROM though.