[wpkg-users] Check command

[Rainer Meier]

Hi,

ds10025 at cam.ac.uk wrote:
> Where {xxxx} is a long idea code, where can I get the id code from I've
> checked registry.

If you still have a machine where this "old" version is installed you can grab
the uninstall code from its uninstall entry within the registry:

For example on my system I found it here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A91000000001}

It needs some explanations I guess...
The Wow6432Node sub-key is only there if you use a 64-bit system. On such
systems all 32-bit HKLM\SOFTWARE\* entries are re-located to that sub-key. So on
your 32-bit system it will be here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A91000000001}

The best way to find it is to go to the enclosing "Uninstall" key and then
search for a string as it appears within the control-panel. You should end up
finding the "DisplayName" entry within the corresponding key.

Then have a look at the UninstallString. This is the uninstall command-line used
if you click "remove" within the control-panel -> add/remove software.

Sometimes there is a QuietUninstallString entry too which already contains the
values to silently uninstall the application. This value usually can be used 1:1
within a remove command in WPKG.

Also the UninstallString can usually be transformed into a silent uninstaller by
adding some commands. Most uninstallers support an option like -s or /s to run
it silently.
In case of Adobe Reader it looks as follows on my system...
UninstallString: MsiExec.exe /I{AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A91000000001}

As you can see the command-line contains the correct ID to uninstall it and can
be easily transformed into a silent uninstall string:
MsiExec.exe /x {AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A91000000001} /qn


It depends on the application packager which key is chosen. In case of Adobe
Reader this key unfortunately changes with each release or patch. This means you
really need to know all of them - or guess them by naming scheme (have a look at
the latest part of the ID, it includes the version of the reader).


> Also, is it possible to msiexec /x acrobat?

No.
You have two possibilities to use msiexec or software uninstall. Either you have
to specify the ID (as above) or you have to refer to the MSI package. So for
Adobe Reader the following works:

MsiExec.exe /x {AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A91000000001} /qn
MsiExec.exe /x \\path\to\AcroRead.msi /qn


> Also at the same time I want to remove Acrobat.com & Acrobat air,?

I don't have Acrobat.com and Acrobat Air installed but I guess they will create
their own Uninstall entry. If there is one follow the procedure above to find
its ID in order to uninstall it.

Personally I preferred to extract the Adobe installer and then use the Adobe
Customization Wizard 9 to modify some parameters (like disabling all online
features) so Acrobat.com does not get installed at all. Download it from:
<http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3993>
it will generate some MST transform file, then you can use
msiexec /i \\path\to\AcroRead.msi /qn TRANSFORMS="\\path\to\AcroRead.mst"
/update "\\path\to\AdbeRdrUpd912_all_incr.msp"

In order to install Adobe Reader 9 using the transform created with the wizard
and directly apply the latest 9.1.2 patch.

Somebody might find some time to add this to the WPKG wiki...


> Is they a command that removed file as listed in the Add/remove control
> panel?

The control panel does not list files. It lists installed programs - there is
one entry for each entry within the registry key I referred to on top.
And there is no way to uninstall these entries silently - only the ones having a
QuietUninstallString might work but it's more an exception than the default that
applications specify a QuietUninstallString. So it's not possible to
automatically read the necessary commands from the registry.
As you can see from the Adobe Reader example Adobe does not even use the correct
'msiexec /x ...' syntax for uninstall - they use the install syntax (msiexec /i
...) instead. This will make you enter the installation routine when you click
the "remove" button within the control panel. In case of the Adobe installer
this will show you an option to modify or to remove the reader (maybe also to
repair it). The same effect you get if you try to (re-)install the reader by
running the installer again.


br,
Rainer