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The Uninstall program allows you to get rid of unwanted applications, and makes it easy for you to delete a program item and its respective application files.  Uninstall helps you free up more room on a drive for new programs and data files.

When you run the Uninstall program, Uninstall collects program manager information on the program groups and items installed on your PC.

When the collection is complete, Uninstall’s main program window appears, where you can select program groups and items for deletion.

See Also:

Uninstall’s Main Program Window

Selecting Program Items

Deleting Program Items

Restoring a Program From a Saved Copy

Exiting the Uninstall Utility


Uninstall's Main Program Window

Uninstall’s main program window appears when the collection of program groups and items is complete.

The Group/Program Item List

When you first open the Uninstall program, the Group names are listed alphabetically in blue, program items are listed in black, and orphans in red.  For a program group, Uninstall shows a folder (either open or closed).  For program items, Uninstall shows the corresponding icon.

Notice the plus and minus signs next to the Group names.  A plus sign means that there are program items hidden under the Group name.  Clicking on a Group name with a plus sign next to it will break out the program items underneath.

Group names with a minus sign are already expanded.  If you wish to hide the program items underneath, click on the Group name.  The program items will be hidden and the Group name will then have a plus sign next to it.

Group names with neither a plus sign nor a minus sign are empty.

Displaying Program Item Properties

Clicking on the program item itself or clicking on the Properties... button opens a read-only dialog box that displays the Windows properties for the program highlighted in the Group/Program Item List.  If a line is too long, select it, then use the arrow key to see the rest of the line.  You can also double-click on the program item to display its properties or choose the Display Properties command from the Actions menu.

Uninstalling a Program

The Uninstall... button, which is dimmed until you choose a program from the Group/Program Item List, takes you to the Uninstall window.

NOTE:  The Uninstall button changes to "Delete" when you highlight an orphan or an empty group, allowing you to immediately get rid of it.

Restoring a Program

The Restore button, which is dimmed until a program has been saved (archived), lets you recover an archived program.  For more information, see Restoring a Program From a Saved Copy.

Compact or Expanded View

These radio buttons toggle between a program-group-only list (compact) and a complete listing of all the program items under their respective program groups (expanded).  You can also use the Expanded List command in the Options menu to toggle between the two lists.

The Show Only Orphans Checkbox

Selecting this checkbox displays all program groups and items that are orphans in red.

Command Buttons

There are two command buttons -- Help and Close.  The Help button opens Uninstall’s online Help system; the Close button exits the Uninstall utility.

See Also:

Deleting Program Items

Causes of Orphans

Restoring a Program From a Saved Copy

Selecting Program Items


Selecting Program Items

To select a program item to delete, choose one from the Group/Program Item List, then click on the Uninstall... button.  This action opens the Uninstall window.

Selecting a Program Item

The Uninstall... button remains dimmed until a program item is selected to be uninstalled.  Once you have selected a program item, click the Uninstall... button.  The Uninstall window appears.

Selecting a Program Group That Is Empty

If the program group is empty, the Uninstall... button is replaced with a Delete button which allows you to easily delete the empty program group.

Selecting an Orphan

If you select a program item that is an orphan (see Causes of Orphans), the Uninstall... button is replaced with a Delete button which allows you to easily delete the orphan item.

See Also:

Uninstall’s Main Program Window

Deleting Program Items

Causes of Orphans


Causes of Orphans

If the icon is an "orphan," the program item appears in red next to the icon.  The possible causes of orphans include the following:

1.	The program’s item is a shortcut command in Windows 95.

2.	The program item's executable file has been deleted

3.	The program item's executable file has been moved

4.	The program item's executable file is on a drive that is not currently accessible (for example, a network or removable drive)

5.	The program item's executable file is present, but Uninstall cannot find the file used as an argument.  Or, the program item’s argument is present, but the executable is missing.

For example, you set up a program item for a Persuasion slide show so that you can double-click on an icon to start the show.  Your Command Line for this Program Item would be C:\PR2US\PR2.EXE SLIDESHW.PR2.  The "C:\PR2US\PR2.EXE" part tells Windows where to find the Persuasion program and to start it.  If the slide show file SLIDESHW.PR2 (the argument) is missing, then Uninstall will report this program item as an orphan.

Therefore, if Uninstall can find the file SLIDESHW.PR2 but not the program’s executable (in this case C:\PR2US\PR2.EXE), then this program item will be reported as an orphan.

6.	A file (not a program executable) is used alone and Uninstall cannot find the executable file associated with it or there is no association, as set up in your WIN.INI or REG.DAT files.

Using the example above, if you set up a program item for a Persuasion slide show, but you did not associate the Persuasion file extension (*.PR2) to Persuasion's executable file in your WIN.INI Extensions section, and Persuasion’s installation did not register .PR2 as one of its files in the REG.DAT file, then Uninstall will report this program item as an orphan.

See Also:

Deleting Program Items


Deleting Program Items

After you select a program item for deletion, click the Uninstall... button or choose the Uninstall/Delete command from the Actions menu.  Either action opens the Uninstall window.

Selecting Files to Delete

The Program File List displays the files that probably belong to the program item you selected to uninstall.  The list includes files taken from the program’s executable directory and its subdirectories along with the working directory and its subdirectories.  Also, the program’s INI file (if it is located in the Windows directory) is included.  In addition, the Uninstall utility looks in the program’s INI file to find other files that are called out there to be added to the File List (e.g., a .DLL file in the WINDOWS/SYSTEM directory).

If the program is in a special directory (e.g., the Windows directory), then just the program’s executable file (EXE extension), help file (HLP extension), and initialization file (INI extension) are selected (highlighted).

If a program item is an executable file followed by a file parameter, only the file parameter is selected.  For example, some big applications install numerous help files that run under the same help program (HELP.EXE).  Each of these help files has its own program item.  If you wanted to free up some disk space and selected a help file program item to delete, Uninstall would list the help file but not the Help program because other help files need that program to run.

WARNING:  Be advised, some of the files that Uninstall displays may not belong to the program that you want to delete.

Uninstall lists all the files in the above-named directories regardless of the file's relation to the program item selected for deletion.  From this list, you may select all or some of the files for deletion.  The files selected by default include: the file associated with the program item (click the Properties button to see the Command Line), the Windows initialization file (with an INI extension), and the Help file (with a HLP extension).

NOTE:  In Windows 95, check to see if you can remove the program(s) via the Control Panel -- Add/Remove Programs before using the Uninstall utility.  For further information, please consult your Windows 95 User Guide.

Select Group Radio Buttons

Choosing the Full Uninstall radio button causes the entire File List to be selected (highlighted).  The Minimum Uninstall radio button causes only the program item’s executable file (with an EXE extension), the Windows initialization file (with an INI extension), and the help file (with a HLP extension) to be selected.

To be more selective with your deletions, choose the Minimum Uninstall or Full Uninstall radio button, then select (or de-select) the files you want.  Once you have selected the files you want to uninstall, click on the Uninstall... button.

 Program Icon

This shows the icon that corresponds to the program item being deleted.

Information Group

As you select (or de-select) files for deletion, the cumulative number and size of the selected files increases (or decreases) accordingly.

Saving Copy of Uninstalled Program

Select this option to save the program that you want to uninstall into a compressed zip file that can be restored later.  If this option is selected and you click on the Uninstall... button, Uninstall automatically creates a zip file using the program’s executable name and adding a .ZIP extension.

Buttons

Selecting the Uninstall... button deletes all the selected files.  You’ll receive a warning, allowing you to proceed with or cancel the deletion.  Uninstall has a "Think Twice" feature that protects you from making a serious mistake when deleting files.  For more information on how this feature helps keep you from deleting files that could impair the workings of Windows or an application, see Protecting Your Applications.

The Cancel button returns you to the main program window.  Any selections that you made will be lost.

See Also:

Protecting Your Applications

Saving a Copy of an Uninstalled Program

Restoring a Program From a Saved Copy


Protecting Your Applications

When you have selected files for deletion, Uninstall functions like the Windows' File Manager.  You will be asked if you are sure that you want to delete the file(s).

As in File Manager, you can answer the question by selecting one of the four buttons:

1.	 Yes (delete the one file)

2.	 Yes to All (deletes all the selected files)

3.	 No (does not delete the file)

4.	 Cancel (immediately ends the deletion process)

The "Think Twice" Feature

Uninstall has a "Think Twice" feature that protects you from making a serious mistake when deleting files.

Uninstall maintains a list of files that are considered "dangerous" for the user to delete.  This list is stored in a file named FILES.DAT in the Uninstall program directory.  You may view or append this list at any time using a text editor (i.e., DOS' Edit utility, Windows Notepad or Windows 95 Wordpad).  In addition, Uninstall considers any read-only, hidden, and system files as dangerous to delete.

When you select any files that are designated as being dangerous to delete, a warning dialog box appears.

Examples of Dangerous Files

DLL (Dynamic Link Libraries) Files

Files with a DLL extension (*.DLL) are often shared by different Windows programs.

For example, you have two programs written in Visual Basic 2.0 that use the file VBRUN200.DLL.  One of the programs was purchased off the shelf with VBRUN200.DLL included in the program setup.

However, the second program is a Shareware program (downloaded from a BBS, CompuServe, etc.).  VBRUN200.DLL did not come with the second program because the publisher wanted to save the royalty costs or reduce the size of the file, resulting in a quicker download.

In this example, if you decided to uninstall the Shareware program and chose VBRUN200.DLL among the files to delete, you would accidentally delete a critical operating file for the off-the-shelf program.  In this case, Uninstall would warn you before deleting VBRUN200.DLL.

Shared Windows Files

Because some Windows files are shared by multiple applications, Uninstall will give you a special warning if you try to delete any files in your root, WINDOWS, or WINDOWS/SYSTEM directories.

See Also:

Deleting Program Items

Saving a Copy of an Uninstalled Program


Saving a Copy of an Uninstalled Program

Select the Save copy of uninstalled program checkbox to save the program that you want to uninstall into a compressed zip file that can be restored later.  If this checkbox is selected and you click on the Uninstall... button, Uninstall automatically creates a zip file using the program’s executable name and adding a .ZIP extension.

For example, if you were saving a copy of Word for Windows, which has the executable WINWORD.EXE, then the default zip file name that would be provided is WINWORD.ZIP.  However, if the zip file already exists, you would be prompted to provide a name and location for the current zip file.

For more information on restoring a saved program, see Restoring a Program From a Saved Copy.

See Also:

Selecting Program Items

Deleting Program Items

Restoring a Program From a Saved Copy


Restoring a Program From a Saved Copy

To restore a program saved in a zip file, choose the Restore command from the Actions menu or click on the Restore button in the main program window.  This button remains dimmed until a program group or item is targeted for deletion, and the Save copy of uninstalled program checkbox is selected.  When you execute the Restore command, a list of zip files (that are saved) appears in the Restore Uninstalled Application window.

If there are several zip files, the date the zip file was created is provided.  These files are stored in the UNINSTAL subdirectory.

To Restore a Program

Select the zip file you want to restore, then click on the Restore button. The restoration of the program begins.  The restoration window appears displaying the number of items and file names as they are being extracted in terms of a percentage of completion.

Once the restoration is complete, a message box appears giving you the option of keeping or deleting the program's zip file.

To delete the zip file, click on the Yes button; to keep the zip file, click on the No button.  If you select No, you can use the Delete button to remove the zip file at a later time.  Selecting the No button returns you to the Restore Uninstalled Application window.  Click the Cancel button to close the Restore Uninstalled Application window.  This action returns you to Uninstall’s main program window.

Uninstall then re-scans your PC and collects the group/program items to detect the addition of any program items that you have made.

When the re-scan/collection process is finished, the program that you restored should appear in the Group/Program Item List (tree).

NOTE:  When you restore a program using the Uninstall utility in Windows 95, the program name next to its corresponding icon appears in ALL CAPS.  To change the name back into upper/lower case lettering, click on the icon, highlight the name, and type in the proper name.

See Also:

Uninstall’s Main Program Window


Exiting the Uninstall Utility

To close the Uninstall utility, choose the Exit command in the Actions menu or click on the Close command button in the main program window.


Orphan

An icon with an executable file that Uninstall could not find.