To remove the folders completely from Program files

[krishnaKumar]

Hi,

I am using Installshield 2008 professional edition to build a setup for my application.Everything works fine. It is a basic MSI application. The Installation and the uninstallation are working fine. I have no issues with that.

The only problem that i find is even after the application has been uninstalled, i still find traces of the application in the program files folder. I still find the folder of my application with few files in it. The registry cleaning and removing of the application are all fine. As i said, the only issue is, i still find the folder residing in my program files.

Is there any way that i can remove everything that is related to my application while uninstalling.

Looking forward for an early response.

Thanks in advance


krishna

[dan_galender]

This would suggest that either the Permanent property of the corresponding component is set to Yes or these files are being created after the product is installed (so the installer doesn't know about them). Does your application create them when the app is run? If so look at this thread for more information.

[krishnaKumar]

Hi,

Thank you for a quick response. The folder and files are created during the installation of the software. The application does not create any folder or files during its execution. It is created during installation.

When my Setup file is executed, it starts installing the application. during the installation process, the folder and the exe required for the execution of the application are created in the Programfiles folder in the c drive

All i need is to remove the created folder during the uninstallation process.

Please help.

Thanks in advance

krishna

[dan_galender]

What about the components that contain these files? Are any of them marked as Permanent? What about Shared? Is it possible the the reference counts are "off"?

[#5]

Please review the following KB article for likely causes of this issue.
http://kb.acresso.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=Q112656&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_PROBLEM_1_1&dialogID=41619442&stateId=0%200%2041615704

Once you have established the cause for the problem, resolving the issue should be a matter of process.

[krishnaKumar]

Hi All,

Thanks a lot. The post was really helpful. I had one of the component with its permanent property set to Yes. Now i am able to uninstall the folder also. But still i have a problem. If suppose the User starts using the application, the recently used files list are stored in the application path, i.e in the c drive program folder where the application files are installed.

Now since a txt file resides in the folder, the folder does not get deleted. Is there a way that i can delete the created folder.

Thanks in advance

krishna

[dan_galender]

You might consider installing a dummy (zero-byte) file with the same name as the file that contains the most recently used list. That way since the installer installed the file with that name, it will be removed on uninstallation. Alternatively, you could author in an entry in the RemoveFile table which tells the Windows Installer to remove files in addition to those that were originally installed. Take a look at the help topics RemoveFiles Action, RemoveFile Table, or Knowledge Base article Q112530.

[krishnaKumar]

Hi All,

Thank you all for the immediate replies that has been really helpful in my development process. Now i am able to remove all the files from the C:Program files folder. But i still find the folders alone remaining in the path.

I would like to give you a clean picture of the folders created during installation.

While developing the setup file, in the application information section, i give my company name and then my application name. When i more to the application files section, i find 2 folders created. Under the ProgramFilesFolder, i find a folder created in my company's name, and a subfolder in the project name. Inside this folder i add the exe and other application realated files.

When i install, my c:programfiles looks like this
C:ProgramFiles\CompanyName\Applicationname and the files inside this folder. Now the files are getting removed and the folder is empty during uninstallatiob but the folders remain intact.

I hope i am explaining it in the correct way.

Please help on how to remove the folders also that are created

Thanks in advance

krishna