Uninstall not allowed in Vista

I need help and have searched and have not found a thread that provided a
sufficient answer. I am using a 4 month old laptop running a preloaded,
fully updated Vista Home Premium OS. I am the only one who uses the computer
and by necessity (and choice), I am the Administrator.

My problem is this - I have installed multiple programs, CA antivirus, trial
versions of MS Office 2007 and Adobe CS3 and others (all Vista compatible)
and cannot uninstall these programs. In fact, the uninstall method via the
control panel>programs>programs and features (uninstall) does not allow me
uninstall these, yet does allow me to uninstall some other programs. In
other words, the programs populate the list, but do not give me the option of
changing or uninstalling *certain* programs. Why???

In regards to the CA antivirus, I went to manually delete it's folders and
was able to delete some folders, but was restricted from deleting others with
the message saying I do not have permission. Now, I cannot install the
Antivirus of my choice because it first requires the removal of CA and the
current files are incomplete. The same goes for MS Office 2007 (I want a
less comprehensive package and need to delete the trial software first). I
could reinstall the CA to fix the removed folders, but why am I forced keep
what I don't want. Why am I not fully in control of my own computer??? I am
worried that the solution may require registry changes and I do not feel
comfortable messing that up. I have done nothing but download the programs
in question.

Any solutions or suggestions? Thanks.

--
Steve

On Sep 15, 9:46 pm, sbmmm <sb...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> I need help and have searched and have not found a thread that provided a
> sufficient answer. I am using a 4 month old laptop running a preloaded,
> fully updated Vista Home Premium OS. I am the only one who uses the computer
> and by necessity (and choice), I am the Administrator.
>
> My problem is this - I have installed multiple programs, CA antivirus, trial
> versions of MS Office 2007 and Adobe CS3 and others (all Vista compatible)
> and cannot uninstall these programs. In fact, the uninstall method via the
> control panel>programs>programs and features (uninstall) does not allow me
> uninstall these, yet does allow me to uninstall some other programs. In
> other words, the programs populate the list, but do not give me the option of
> changing or uninstalling *certain* programs. Why???
>
> In regards to the CA antivirus, I went to manually delete it's folders and
> was able to delete some folders, but was restricted from deleting others with
> the message saying I do not have permission. Now, I cannot install the
> Antivirus of my choice because it first requires the removal of CA and the
> current files are incomplete. The same goes for MS Office 2007 (I want a
> less comprehensive package and need to delete the trial software first). I
> could reinstall the CA to fix the removed folders, but why am I forced keep
> what I don't want. Why am I not fully in control of my own computer??? I am
> worried that the solution may require registry changes and I do not feel
> comfortable messing that up. I have done nothing but download the programs
> in question.
>
> Any solutions or suggestions? Thanks.
>
> --
> Steve

You can go into the Start menu and in the box at the bottom type
Regedit. Then you can search for your software - probably under Local
Machine or somewhere and delete the registry entries.

Then you can go to the same box and type cmd - at the top of the
window it will show cmd.exe - right click it and say run as
administrator - you will then have a DOS shell - then you can do a
whole bunch of dos navigation - cd .. gets you up a directory, dir /p
lists files, etc. with a pause, cd DIRECTORY NAME gets you down to a
lower level folder, X: gets you to drive X and then del FILENAME or
*.dll for all dlls will remove then you can go cd .. and del the
directory. Sounds primitive but it probably works...

Have you tried logging on as administrator in safe mode and uninstalling
from there?


"sbmmm" <> wrote in message
news:6D87CCD0-BC23-456E-ACE8-...
>I need help and have searched and have not found a thread that provided a
> sufficient answer. I am using a 4 month old laptop running a preloaded,
> fully updated Vista Home Premium OS. I am the only one who uses the
> computer
> and by necessity (and choice), I am the Administrator.
>
> My problem is this - I have installed multiple programs, CA antivirus,
> trial
> versions of MS Office 2007 and Adobe CS3 and others (all Vista compatible)
> and cannot uninstall these programs. In fact, the uninstall method via the
> control panel>programs>programs and features (uninstall) does not allow me
> uninstall these, yet does allow me to uninstall some other programs. In
> other words, the programs populate the list, but do not give me the option
> of
> changing or uninstalling *certain* programs. Why???
>
> In regards to the CA antivirus, I went to manually delete it's folders and
> was able to delete some folders, but was restricted from deleting others
> with
> the message saying I do not have permission. Now, I cannot install the
> Antivirus of my choice because it first requires the removal of CA and the
> current files are incomplete. The same goes for MS Office 2007 (I want a
> less comprehensive package and need to delete the trial software first). I
> could reinstall the CA to fix the removed folders, but why am I forced
> keep
> what I don't want. Why am I not fully in control of my own computer??? I
> am
> worried that the solution may require registry changes and I do not feel
> comfortable messing that up. I have done nothing but download the programs
> in question.
>
> Any solutions or suggestions? Thanks.
>
> --
> Steve

I have and it does not work. Interestingly enough, I bought the same MS 2007
Office Suite that I was using on a trial basis and those items populate the
list and are able to be uninstalled, but the other CA Antivirus and Adobe CS3
trial do not allow me to. I just don't understand why as the only user of my
personal computer with the title of Administrator, I need "Permission" to
delete software I downloaded.

In regards to amhey1, I don't feel comfortable making "loose" registry edits
and saying 'oops' later. I am generally opposed to such measures, but if I
have to, I want specific direction that is a result of knowing exactly what
to do and why. I appreciate your trying to help, however.
--
Steve


"John Barnes" wrote:

> Have you tried logging on as administrator in safe mode and uninstalling
> from there?

Are you sure you are the administrator (in safe mode) and not just in the
administrator group?

"sbmmm" <> wrote in message
news:2FC51E1E-8F3B-4F96-9DFE-...
>I have and it does not work. Interestingly enough, I bought the same MS
>2007
> Office Suite that I was using on a trial basis and those items populate
> the
> list and are able to be uninstalled, but the other CA Antivirus and Adobe
> CS3
> trial do not allow me to. I just don't understand why as the only user of
> my
> personal computer with the title of Administrator, I need "Permission" to
> delete software I downloaded.
>
> In regards to amhey1, I don't feel comfortable making "loose" registry
> edits
> and saying 'oops' later. I am generally opposed to such measures, but if
> I
> have to, I want specific direction that is a result of knowing exactly
> what
> to do and why. I appreciate your trying to help, however.
> --
> Steve
>
>
> "John Barnes" wrote:
>
>> Have you tried logging on as administrator in safe mode and uninstalling
>> from there?
>

The only Account I use on my computer is the Administrator account and it's
password protected. I have to sign-in every time I start the computer as
Administrator and I also have to provide the same password in safe mode.
What am I missing? Is there some other Admin account?
--
Steve


"John Barnes" wrote:

> Are you sure you are the administrator (in safe mode) and not just in the
> administrator group?
>
> "sbmmm" <> wrote in message
> news:2FC51E1E-8F3B-4F96-9DFE-...
> >I have and it does not work. Interestingly enough, I bought the same MS
> >2007
> > Office Suite that I was using on a trial basis and those items populate
> > the
> > list and are able to be uninstalled, but the other CA Antivirus and Adobe
> > CS3
> > trial do not allow me to. I just don't understand why as the only user of
> > my
> > personal computer with the title of Administrator, I need "Permission" to
> > delete software I downloaded.
> >
> > In regards to amhey1, I don't feel comfortable making "loose" registry
> > edits
> > and saying 'oops' later. I am generally opposed to such measures, but if
> > I
> > have to, I want specific direction that is a result of knowing exactly
> > what
> > to do and why. I appreciate your trying to help, however.
> > --
> > Steve
> >
> >
> > "John Barnes" wrote:
> >
> >> Have you tried logging on as administrator in safe mode and uninstalling
> >> from there?
> >
>
>

http://www.computerworld.com/action/...8&pageNumber=2

"sbmmm" <> wrote in message
news:E10E405E-5CDB-49E5-8A0F-...
> The only Account I use on my computer is the Administrator account and
> it's
> password protected. I have to sign-in every time I start the computer as
> Administrator and I also have to provide the same password in safe mode.
> What am I missing? Is there some other Admin account?
> --
> Steve
>
>
> "John Barnes" wrote:
>
>> Are you sure you are the administrator (in safe mode) and not just in the
>> administrator group?
>>
>> "sbmmm" <> wrote in message
>> news:2FC51E1E-8F3B-4F96-9DFE-...
>> >I have and it does not work. Interestingly enough, I bought the same MS
>> >2007
>> > Office Suite that I was using on a trial basis and those items populate
>> > the
>> > list and are able to be uninstalled, but the other CA Antivirus and
>> > Adobe
>> > CS3
>> > trial do not allow me to. I just don't understand why as the only user
>> > of
>> > my
>> > personal computer with the title of Administrator, I need "Permission"
>> > to
>> > delete software I downloaded.
>> >
>> > In regards to amhey1, I don't feel comfortable making "loose" registry
>> > edits
>> > and saying 'oops' later. I am generally opposed to such measures, but
>> > if
>> > I
>> > have to, I want specific direction that is a result of knowing exactly
>> > what
>> > to do and why. I appreciate your trying to help, however.
>> > --
>> > Steve
>> >
>> >
>> > "John Barnes" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Have you tried logging on as administrator in safe mode and
>> >> uninstalling
>> >> from there?
>> >
>>
>>

This is strange. I did what was recommended and created a *new* Admin
account. In doing so I assigned the Admin account as the actual Admin and
converted my normal account to regular status. However, I think my normal
account had been the full blown Admin.

When I went to uninstall or manually delete files as the new Admin, I
received the same message that I needed permission. Same in Safe Mode. I
don't understand this.

--
Steve


"John Barnes" wrote:

> http://www.computerworld.com/action/...8&pageNumber=2
>
> "sbmmm" <> wrote in message
> news:E10E405E-5CDB-49E5-8A0F-...
> > The only Account I use on my computer is the Administrator account and
> > it's
> > password protected. I have to sign-in every time I start the computer as
> > Administrator and I also have to provide the same password in safe mode.
> > What am I missing? Is there some other Admin account?
> > --
> > Steve
> >
> >
> > "John Barnes" wrote:
> >
> >> Are you sure you are the administrator (in safe mode) and not just in the
> >> administrator group?
> >>
> >> "sbmmm" <> wrote in message
> >> news:2FC51E1E-8F3B-4F96-9DFE-...
> >> >I have and it does not work. Interestingly enough, I bought the same MS
> >> >2007
> >> > Office Suite that I was using on a trial basis and those items populate
> >> > the
> >> > list and are able to be uninstalled, but the other CA Antivirus and
> >> > Adobe
> >> > CS3
> >> > trial do not allow me to. I just don't understand why as the only user
> >> > of
> >> > my
> >> > personal computer with the title of Administrator, I need "Permission"
> >> > to
> >> > delete software I downloaded.
> >> >
> >> > In regards to amhey1, I don't feel comfortable making "loose" registry
> >> > edits
> >> > and saying 'oops' later. I am generally opposed to such measures, but
> >> > if
> >> > I
> >> > have to, I want specific direction that is a result of knowing exactly
> >> > what
> >> > to do and why. I appreciate your trying to help, however.
> >> > --
> >> > Steve
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > "John Barnes" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Have you tried logging on as administrator in safe mode and
> >> >> uninstalling
> >> >> from there?
> >> >
> >>
> >>
>
>

I very much appreciate JB's suggestions, but no one has an answer yet. Can
you help?

Thanks,
--
Steve


"sbmmm" wrote:

> This is strange. I did what was recommended and created a *new* Admin
> account. In doing so I assigned the Admin account as the actual Admin and
> converted my normal account to regular status. However, I think my normal
> account had been the full blown Admin.
>
> When I went to uninstall or manually delete files as the new Admin, I
> received the same message that I needed permission. Same in Safe Mode. I
> don't understand this.
>
> --
> Steve
>
>
> "John Barnes" wrote:
>
> > http://www.computerworld.com/action/...8&pageNumber=2
> >
> > "sbmmm" <> wrote in message
> > news:E10E405E-5CDB-49E5-8A0F-...
> > > The only Account I use on my computer is the Administrator account and
> > > it's
> > > password protected. I have to sign-in every time I start the computer as
> > > Administrator and I also have to provide the same password in safe mode.
> > > What am I missing? Is there some other Admin account?
> > > --
> > > Steve
> > >
> > >
> > > "John Barnes" wrote:
> > >
> > >> Are you sure you are the administrator (in safe mode) and not just in the
> > >> administrator group?
> > >>
> > >> "sbmmm" <> wrote in message
> > >> news:2FC51E1E-8F3B-4F96-9DFE-...
> > >> >I have and it does not work. Interestingly enough, I bought the same MS
> > >> >2007
> > >> > Office Suite that I was using on a trial basis and those items populate
> > >> > the
> > >> > list and are able to be uninstalled, but the other CA Antivirus and
> > >> > Adobe
> > >> > CS3
> > >> > trial do not allow me to. I just don't understand why as the only user
> > >> > of
> > >> > my
> > >> > personal computer with the title of Administrator, I need "Permission"
> > >> > to
> > >> > delete software I downloaded.
> > >> >
> > >> > In regards to amhey1, I don't feel comfortable making "loose" registry
> > >> > edits
> > >> > and saying 'oops' later. I am generally opposed to such measures, but
> > >> > if
> > >> > I
> > >> > have to, I want specific direction that is a result of knowing exactly
> > >> > what
> > >> > to do and why. I appreciate your trying to help, however.
> > >> > --
> > >> > Steve
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> > "John Barnes" wrote:
> > >> >
> > >> >> Have you tried logging on as administrator in safe mode and
> > >> >> uninstalling
> > >> >> from there?
> > >> >
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> >