How to force uninstall/reinstall in Win10?

[maDDness 1]

I'm on Windows 10-

 

I keep getting notices from Evernote that there's a new version (as of a week or so back).  When I attempt to run the upgrade it always fails with a message:

 

"Windows Installer

Another program is being installed.  Please wait until that installation is complete, and then trying this software again."

 

I've had this happen over the past week (after reboots) 5+ times to where I decided tonight that I'd uninstall Evernote and then install the latest package downloaded from their site.

 

Unfortunately, I can't even uninstall it -- I get the same message as above when I try to uninstall.

 

Is there a solution for this somewhere that I'm missing?  I've searched here and on Google and haven't found any answers so far.

 

Thanks,
Jason

[gazumped 11,652]

Sounds like the last install/ update for Evernote didn't complete correctly.  Revo uninstaller free http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html says it's W10 compatible - give that a try to zap your current setup.  Make sure you backup your database first - you might uninstall more than you intend...

[maDDness 1]

Thank you for the suggestion.

 

Before I go that route, do you know if there are manual uninstall instructions somewhere vs. installing a third party product just to uninstall something?  I'd rather not install something else if I can avoid it.

 

Thanks!

[gazumped 11,652]

Hi again - with Windows,  the uninstall process is either to use the inbuilt uninstaller for an app (if there is one) or to go through Control Panel (in versions up to 8.1) and use the generic Windows uninstall process.  You say you uninstalled Evernote once already,  so I assume you used the Windows route.  Unfortunately with a faulty or incomplete install (and sometimes lazy or sneaky coders) the Windows uninstall doesn't always remove all the registry entries and accumulated files connected with a given app.  Revo will do that,  which I why I suggested it.  If you don't want to install it,  check the web page - there's a thumb drive version you can use if you prefer.

[maDDness 1]

Thank you for the "portable" version suggestion!

 

It also returns the same error in the first stage.  The second stage identifies 396 Evernote registry entries (wow!).  I may just deal with the current version for now until I have time to safely look at every entry. 

[gazumped 11,652]

Congratulations - 396 entries may be a new record...

 

You're wise to be very cautious about messing under the hood and removing that many items.  If you do decide to take this any further,  make sure you backup your complete system to ensure that you can at least get back to your current situation if anything does go wrong.  I'd be surprised if there were any problems - I've used Revo dozens of times (I test beta software) and it's never deleted anything it shouldn't.

 

Good luck anyway - try a support request through the website or on twitter (see my signature below) for some more direct assistance...

[dconnet 529]

That message may be happening because another (unrelated) program is updating. (There's a reason I _hate_ Chrome/Firefox/etc doing automatic updates. And in Windows 10, you can't turn off Windows Update, so that's another installer-is-currently-running process you need to worry about.)

[maDDness 1]

That message may be happening because another (unrelated) program is updating. (There's a reason I _hate_ Chrome/Firefox/etc doing automatic updates. And in Windows 10, you can't turn off Windows Update, so that's another installer-is-currently-running process you need to worry about.)

 

I thought that might be the case too originally but I've rebooted and actually installed other programs several times in the past 1-2 weeks that this has been happening.

 

I'm going to open a support ticket to see if they can help.

 

Thanks!

[maDDness 1]

If it helps anyone in the future, Evernote Support recommended trying the upgrade while booted up in safe/clean mode.  That did the trick for me.

 

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/windows-10-another-program-is-being-installed/17784b3c-9be4-48ab-9bfa-f6aef52b6e10.

[Menthol 1]

On 9/21/2015 at 7:22 AM, gazumped said:

Hi again - with Windows,  the uninstall process is either to use the inbuilt uninstaller for an app (if there is one) or to go through Control Panel (in versions up to 8.1) and use the generic Windows uninstall process.  You say you uninstalled Evernote once already,  so I assume you used the Windows route.  Unfortunately with a faulty or incomplete install (and sometimes lazy or sneaky coders) the Windows uninstall doesn't always remove all the registry entries and accumulated files connected with a given app.  Revo will do that,  which I why I suggested it.  If you don't want to install it,  check the web page - there's a thumb drive version you can use if you prefer.

Been using Revo for more than 5 years. Most often it finds a lot of stuff Windows un-install didn't touch. Backs up the Registry for you too.

[Menthol 1]

On 9/21/2015 at 7:54 AM, maDDness said:

Thank you for the "portable" version suggestion!

 

It also returns the same error in the first stage.  The second stage identifies 396 Evernote registry entries (wow!).  I may just deal with the current version for now until I have time to safely look at every entry. 

Could be worse. I can't install Evernote on a new Windows 10 pc. Fails with message a "Warning 1909 could not create Shortcut Evernote.ink". It your case I would use Revo  as the other guy suggested to un-install all the bits including the ones in the Registry that do not work. Then fresh install if you can. Note I can't.