Windows – How To Remove A Broken Program From the Programs and Features List In Windows 7

uninstallwindows 7

On a Windows 7 64-bit desktop, there is a program on the Programs and Features list (Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features) that refused to uninstall. The error obtained is:

 Error 1723. There is a problem with this Installer package.
 A DLL required for this install to complete could not be run

I suspect filer were deleted or corrupted. The big problem is that the program refused to install itself over the broken version.

So how to I manually clean up the list of installed program?

Best Answer

It depends on how the program is detecting that it is already installed.

The programs showing in the Programs and Features list are generated from the registry keys under: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

The program may be looking elsewhere in the registry, or looking for a file on disk, in order to determine if it is already installed.

You can use Process Monitor (ProcMon) from Sysinternals to see which files and reg keys it is poking at when it refuses to cooperate with you.

Related Solutions

Windows – What does “remove only” mean for installed programs in Windows 7

Every application in Windows may have upto three options in 'Programs and Features' section; ie uninstall, change or repair.

Uninstall means to remove the application from the OS.
Change means to add or remove certain features or components from the application.
Repair means to verify if the application is installed correctly and if not, fix any issues with an incorrect installation.

(Remove Only) applications can only be uninstalled. The change and repair options will not be available.

The below image is for reference showing all the three available options.

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Windows – force Windows 7 to display Control Panel elements (ie: the list in Programs and Features) in one shot

You can't do what you're asking, I figure its a non-changeable Windows setting, but I can suggest a third-party program like CCleaner which has a pretty simple uninstall dialog that loads up all the installed programs in a blink and without any waiting, even with a large list (I have almost 200).

There's also Revo Uninstaller to completely remove all traces of the program when you uninstall it (left over registry files, files, folders etc.), but it also has a push for an upgrade to the 'Pro' version which I don't like.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Windows – What does “remove only” mean for installed programs in Windows 7

Windows – force Windows 7 to display Control Panel elements (ie: the list in Programs and Features) in one shot

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