Install failure (Evernote 10.40 Windows 10)

[Glenn Linderman 1]

Evernote has been bugging me at startup for months now... telling me there is a new version, but when I click install, it says it can't uninstall the old version, and fails to install the new one.

So today I downloaded the latest installer, and ran it, and it said the same thing.

Should I expect that this will get fixed someday, or should I convert to OneNote?

[PinkElephant 8,244]

Is your PC managed by somebody, like corporate IT ?

If not use Revo Uninstaller (from the internet, free) to purge any trace of EN from the PC. Restart, then download the latest version from the EN website.

Install, log in. Once it works, let the app open in the background. It will download all content for offline use.

[Glenn Linderman 1]

Thanks for the suggestion, it isn't exactly an answer to my question, though.

I shouldn't have to do heroic measures using 3rd party software that I don't know whether or not is trustworthy to update Evernote.

[gazumped 11,744]

39 minutes ago, Glenn Linderman said:

Should I expect that this will get fixed someday, or should I convert to OneNote?

If that was your question,  then the answers are:  no it won't "be fixed" because there's nothing to fix.  And if you'd like to go to OneNote,  please don't let us stop you.

Evernote is used by 200M plus people,  and the other 199,999+ of us don't have a problem with the update,  so you might need to do a little house-cleaning on your own system to join back in...

[agsteele 2,964]

You could just download the latest version and install. But your fellow users are often inclined to point to ways of avoiding issues that might be caused by locally corrupted data.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

44 minutes ago, Glenn Linderman said:

Thanks for the suggestion, it isn't exactly an answer to my question, though.

I shouldn't have to do heroic measures using 3rd party software that I don't know whether or not is trustworthy to update Evernote.

You said yourself the regular update fails - which has nothing heroic, but something is amiss.

We can now try to heroically find out where the problem is located - or be less than heroically clean out the problem, and start with a virginized system (as far as EN is concerned). If you don’t like it, you don’t need to follow the advise.

Have fun with OneNote (I couldn‘t care less ….).

[Glenn Linderman 1]

1 hour ago, agsteele said:

You could just download the latest version and install. But your fellow users are often inclined to point to ways of avoiding issues that might be caused by locally corrupted data.

As stated, I did try downloading the latest version and insntalling it, after the automatic update failed repeatedly for months (and apparently via several versions as well, from the version number seen)... and it didn't work.

Attempting to uninstall Evernote from the settings claims it is still running, even after using the File / Quit Evernote feature to close the program.  Maybe this is another symptom of the same problem in trying to install the automatic update, and the newly downloaded installer.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

The build in Windows uninstaller won‘t do the job. Revo will.

You can kill any app by the Task Manager.

[Glenn Linderman 1]

17 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

You can kill any app by the Task Manager.

No evernote tasks listed.  Uninstaller still says it is running.  So I took evernote out of my startup sequence, and will try uninstalling next time I reboot.

[agsteele 2,964]

1 hour ago, Glenn Linderman said:

So I took evernote out of my startup sequence, and will try uninstalling next time I reboot

And please use Revo Uninstaller or remove all leftover data prior to reinstalling.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

1 hour ago, Glenn Linderman said:

No evernote tasks listed.  Uninstaller still says it is running.  So I took evernote out of my startup sequence, and will try uninstalling next time I reboot.

You have a completely garbled up install. To me it looks as if something in the registry is afoul.

Make sure to clean this install entirely from your PC - or the problems will likely return, even if it allows you to reinstall.

Correctly handled Revo will clean out everything, including the registry. If this doesn’t work, you probably need a registry checker to find and correct all the loose ends.

[Glenn Linderman 1]

8 hours ago, gazumped said:

If that was your question,  then the answers are:  no it won't "be fixed" because there's nothing to fix.  And if you'd like to go to OneNote,  please don't let us stop you.

Evernote is used by 200M plus people,  and the other 199,999+ of us don't have a problem with the update,  so you might need to do a little house-cleaning on your own system to join back in...

I've been using Evernote successfully for quite a few years myself, and never had this problem before. But I have it now.  So there is something wrong, and it could be fixed. I am a software developer myself, so I understand the support process, the bug search, the bug fix. But I don't have access to Evernote source code.

Some comments have speculated about local corruption.  I suppose that might be possible, but if there is something that is corrupt, the installer should give better error messages providing information on what it is confused by.  So there is something to fix, but obviously, since you are not an Evernote employee, you don't have the knowledge or authority to investigate and fix it.

It is foolishness to claim  that evernote is still running, when it is not visible via Task Manager (except for the installer itself, when the error is reported), which is what the installer is doing.

Is there any available support channel to report bugs like this to Evernote engineering?  Or are "free" users left on their own to be annoyed by the bugs (even though a bug reported by a free user is reasonably likely to be encountered by paid users as well, so supporting free users can be beneficial to the company).

[agsteele 2,964]

4 hours ago, Glenn Linderman said:

Is there any available support channel to report bugs like this to Evernote engineering?  Or are "free" users left on their own to be annoyed by the bugs (even though a bug reported by a free user is reasonably likely to be encountered by paid users as well, so supporting free users can be beneficial to the company).

The simple answer is no. Tech support is a paid benefit. You can get support on a case by case basis by paying for one month.

In these forums fellow users will do their best to advise on ways to resolve an issue. You are, of course, free to try the suggestions or not.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

It is quite obvious something is wrong with this individual installation on Windows. Nothing general, just a rotten machine by somebody who claims to be a developer. Advise has been given and not accepted, I won’t go further.

OK, it’s a sunny Sunday, I am out. Pay, contact support and sort it out with them.

[Glenn Linderman 1]

13 hours ago, agsteele said:

The simple answer is no. Tech support is a paid benefit. You can get support on a case by case basis by paying for one month.

Thanks, that saves me from trying to find out what the support policy is, which wasn't obvious from a quick search.

Just FYI, after rebooting without starting Evernote (removed it from my startup script yseterday), the Uninstall still claims Evernote is still running. Clearly the technique used by Evernote uninstall to determine if it is running or not is bonkers.

I guess I'll automate clicking "Not Now" on the update prompt, so I'm less annoyed, and keep using the 10.40 version until I get a chance to migrate my data out, or just use the web version, if Evernote can't make a reliable Windows (un)-installer for their own program.

You and that PinkElephant both recommended using Revo uninstaller. The Pink one said "Correctly handled" it'll do the job... but I never heard of Revo uninstaller before, so wouldn't have a clue how to "correctly handle" it, and I'm a bit cautious about using something I never heard of, from a third party, and expect it to know better than the vendor of an application how to uninstall the application better than the vendor's uninstaller. If it uses a sledge hammer, what else might it mess up in the name of cleaning up Evernote? There are other cautions about it being easy to remove too much using Revo, when I search the internet for it.

[gazumped 11,744]

22 minutes ago, Glenn Linderman said:

There are other cautions about it being easy to remove too much using Revo, when I search the internet for it.

I'd be interested to have the URLs for any such cautions. 

If your original question is still valid,  then please reinstall the app or fell free to move to OneNote..  you seem unwilling to accept any other suggestions to resolve this issue. 

[agsteele 2,964]

We've recommended Revo and it has worked perfectly for many. If you prefer you can use the Windows standard uninstall and manually delete the left over files. You'll find these in %AppData%\Evernote and %LocalAppData%\Programs\Evernote

Once uninstalled locate the Evernote directories and delete them. But Revo Uninstaller is much easier and reliable.

[Glenn Linderman 1]

4 hours ago, gazumped said:

I'd be interested to have the URLs for any such cautions. 

If your original question is still valid,  then please reinstall the app or fell free to move to OneNote..  you seem unwilling to accept any other suggestions to resolve this issue. 

URLs: The accepted answer for the question at this URL has one such caution. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftedge/forum/all/revo-uninstaller/9bd2e917-cdc9-47f6-b08e-92b0ed842083  The review at this web site by willy1 is mostly positive but has another caution  https://thinkmobiles.com/products/36380/  And in this thread Pink Elephant says "Correctly handled Revo will clean out everything".  Never having used Revo (or even heard of it until this thread), I certainly do not know how to "correctly handle" it.

I'd be glad to update the app, except I get an error.

I'd be glad to do a fresh install, except I get an error.

I'd be glad to uninstall, to make the fresh install work better, except I get an error (even after a fresh reboot where Evernote has never been started).

In all cases, the error seems to be that even though Evernote is not running (either because the (un-)installer stopped it, or because I stopped it manually before running the (un-)ĭnstaller, that the (un-)ĭnstaller claims it is still running.  Task Manager shows the only Evernote process that is running at that time is the (un-)installer... at least, when I stop that process using Task Manager, the (un-)installer dialog goes away.

So the main suggestion I've gotten in this thread is to use Revo Uninstaller.  agsteele just pointed out that "it has worked perfectly for many", and that is good to know, but somewhat contradicts what gazumped said in this thread: "Evernote is used by 200M plus people,  and the other 199,999+ of us don't have a problem with the update, "  Seems like I'm not the first to encounter this problem, and get the recommendation to use Revo to fix it, if it has worked perfectly for many... and so it seems there must be one or more bugs in the Evernote uninstaller, if Revo has to be recommended to many people. Would be nice if there were a way to report the problem to Evernote, even as a free user, even if they make no promises to fix it in a timely manner for free users.

 

[agsteele 2,964]

I'm not sure that there is anything further to offer. We've pointed to Revo Uninstaller and provided the steps if you want to use the Windows uninstall.

I hope you are successful.

 

[gazumped 11,744]

5 hours ago, Glenn Linderman said:

Seems like I'm not the first to encounter this problem

Hi.  You seem determined to find issues with Evernote and /or Revo while we're simply pointing out that glitches do happen in the best regulated system - and fixes should be easy and quick.  In Windows you can use Task Manager to verify whether or not any application is running,  and to stop it if necessary.  The most basic of all fixes is to uninstall an app,  power the system off and on again to clear temporary srtorage,  and then to reinstall the app.  If you are a subscriber and contact Evernote support (which we are not) they'll recommend the same thing.

[Glenn Linderman 1]

41 minutes ago, gazumped said:

Hi.  You seem determined to find issues with Evernote and /or Revo while we're simply pointing out that glitches do happen in the best regulated system - and fixes should be easy and quick.  In Windows you can use Task Manager to verify whether or not any application is running,  and to stop it if necessary.  The most basic of all fixes is to uninstall an app,  power the system off and on again to clear temporary srtorage,  and then to reinstall the app.  If you are a subscriber and contact Evernote support (which we are not) they'll recommend the same thing.

Right.  Task Manager says it is not running.

Windows uninstall fails, says it is running.

Power off/on Windows uninstall still fails, still says it is running. Task Manager disagrees.

So its seems the only remaining option is this recommended but dangerous-sounding Revo thing that I'd never heard of... with no guidance on how to use "correctly handle" it.

[PinkElephant 8,244]

It is amazing how difficult some things appear to be:

https://www.revouninstaller.com/support/

https://www.revouninstaller.com/products/revo-uninstaller-free/