# Can't uninstall things, Add/Remove doesn't work



## Like Butta (Jul 21, 2006)

for the past month or two, my Add/Remove programs in control panel has not been working

only like 4 items on the list give me an option to remove it
the rest it has no button right below it, but it used to

i have no viruses or anything
I want to get rid of my Yahoo Messenger, and Photoshop CS2... but they have no uninstall files i can use.. and add/remove does not work


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## Geekgirl (Jan 1, 2005)

**BACK UP YOUR REGISTRY BEFORE EDITING**

Click Start, Run and type REGEDIT. This starts the Registry Editor. Navigate to: 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SOFTWARE
\Microsoft
\Windows
\CurrentVersion
\Uninstall
\<Program Name>

In the right-pane, do the following: 

Double-click NoRemove (REG_DWORD) and set it to 0
Double-click NoModify (REG_DWORD) and set it to 0

If NoRemove is set to 1, the Remove button will be unavailable
If NoModify is set to 1, the Change button will be unavailable

http://www.winxptutor.com/arpbuttons.htm


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## Like Butta (Jul 21, 2006)

in \Uninstall I only see 6 folders, none of them being yahoo messenger or photoshop

EDIT: I just realized, that the things which i recognize that ARE listed in \Uninstall are the ONLY programs which have the Change/Remove options in Add/Remove programs... ironic...


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## Geekgirl (Jan 1, 2005)

Did you change the value?


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## Like Butta (Jul 21, 2006)

uhh I don't see NoRemove or NoModify 
only a REG_SZ is directly in Uninstall

there is like a NoModify in Mozilla Firefox there though


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## Geekgirl (Jan 1, 2005)

Lets get the programs you want uninstalled removed then we will address your Add/remove Programs Applet issue

Try using the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility. As long as you installed the application using the Windows Installer, this utility will remove all the folders, files, registry keys, and entries from your system and allow you to start over with a clean slate.

Download the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
Locate and run msicuu2.exe to install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.
Locate and launch the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility on the Start menu.
From the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility window, locate the application in the list and click the Remove button.
Once the application has been removed, click the Exit button to close the utility.

You may now reinstall the application or at least have piece of mind that it is gone 

This version of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility works correctly in all 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows. The 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows are: :
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Microsoft Windows XP
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
Microsoft Windows 2000
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 or later
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 95


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## Like Butta (Jul 21, 2006)

yahoo messenger wasn't on the list
i removed photoshop but it looks like it is still installed on my comp


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## Geekgirl (Jan 1, 2005)

Sometimes you can open the folder in Program Files and find an uninstaller.exe in there, have you looked? 



> i removed photoshop but it looks like it is still installed on my comp


How so? Have you rebooted?


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## Like Butta (Jul 21, 2006)

no uninstall.exe's in program files

and yes i rebooted and nothing was different


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