Uninstall will not complete after reboot

[jmjsquared]

Greetings.
Great product that I've used for nearly two years on several machines (Windows XP, Vista, 7 32- and 64-bit).
Now, for the first time, I've encountered a disastrous problem:
Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop
Intel 2 x 2.0GHz, 8GB DDR2, 320GB 7200 HDD (20+GB free)
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, fully patched, updated and maintained
Norton IS 2012, Malwarebytes, Mamutu, Windows Firewall (regularly run Kaspersky, ESET, etc., scanners offline. No malware.)
Have 350+ third-party apps installed for reference, testing and troubleshooting customers' computers.

Problem: Using Full Uninstall, after uninstalling Windows Mobile 2003 Device Driver which required a reboot to complete, I cannot boot the system. The Windows logon screen appears, a message displays, saying, " Force delete jobs completing...". The system freezes there with a black screen, mouse cursor responds but no other activity. Even the LED showing HDD activity ceases.
Attempted solutions:
-- Safe Mode(s), Last Known Good Config, etc., Startup Repair, (System Restore has been disabled.)
-- BCD rebuild (successful)
-- SFC will not complete from Windows RE Command Prompt
-- Using Windows RE Command prompt, ran regedit-> File-> Load Hive and navigated to "Windows Mobile 2003 Device Driver" installation directory and moved it to another folder on C: drive hoping that would break the call to the "Force delete jobs completing...". No Luck.

No image is available and reinstalling all those apps, updates, tweaks, etc., etc., is not an option.
Suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks

[Chemtable Software]

Hello,

I'm very sorry about your problem. Not sure this is related with removing using Full Uninstall, but we'll download Windows Mobile 2003 Device Driver and try to reproduce this problem.

[jmjsquared]

Hello and Thanks for the reply and for the sympathy and especially for your offer to look into the matter.

I followed the standard advice provided for installing or uninstalling apps with Full Uninstall; ie., in this case: The driver's native uninstaller routine called for a reboot. So, as recommended by Full Uninstall's documentation, I completed the uninstall with Full Uninstall and then attempted the reboot. It appears to me that Full Uninstall removed (Registry?) information necessary for the complete removal of the driver.

Note: I stopped the driver's Service and set its Startup to "Manual" before attempting to remove it from my computer. I then rebooted and proceeeded to uninstall it using Full Uninstall, as described below.

Thanks again for your attention.

---JMJ

[Kissol]

( ... ) It appears to me that Full Uninstall removed (Registry?) information necessary for the complete removal of the driver. ( ... )

Likely you are right.

It's always adviced to uninstall firstly with the owner uninstaller. If it is requested to reboot user need to reboot - without to clean anything with Full Uninstall (with monitorized log OR traces searching leftovers option). If not troubles can arise.

It were these reasons that left me to do the suggestion some months ago here:

> "it will be useful to keep the app.'snapshot tracing, even after the standart uninstall was made. Since sometimes the uninstaller needs to reboot to complete the uninstall (after reboot user could to do the complete uninstall with Full Uninstaller then)".

The same to "searching leftovers option".

At this point Full Uninstall doesn't allow to do that needed and suitable action!

[jmjsquared]

Hello Kissol.
Yes. You are absolutely correct! However, since the driver was an .exe that I used Full Uninstall to install-with-tracing and since I unloaded the driver, rebooted (to avoid any access/in-use violations) and ONLY THEN ran the uninstall, it came as a BIG surprise that Full Uninstall (apparently) caused my problem. And, it's a tough one!

If-and- when I find a solution (other than a clean install!), I'll post back.

Thanks for the sympathy.

[Kissol]

It seems that the better way to solve the annoyance is to install again "Windows Mobile 2003 Device Driver". But like I understand your posts, you are unable to start Windows.

For my experience I advice to add in your exclusion list the following key:
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root

This key contents some items (legacy keys) that needs 'System' permissions to remove/modify. Better is to ignore it always.

And we have here other issue/suggestion: to add a list of excluded items by default (for common users is adviced; if advanced users dislike, they can delete them...).

[Chemtable Software]

Under Windows XP there is a technique which allows to restore the corrupted registry that prevents Windows from starting. I know that you are using Windows 7, but this article may direct onto some thoughts (the registry backups are stored in the \System Volume Information\ folder):

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en

Also if you have access to the disk of the corrupted system you may find the registry hives backups in C:\Windows\System32\config.

Regarding the reboot problem in Full Uninstall. In the next version we plan to add the delayed traces cleanup. I.e. you may close the uninstall wizard window after the standard uninstaller has requested reboot and the traces will be kept. Next time you run Full Uninstall they can be removed.

[Chemtable Software]

Also we are trying to reproduce the issue, but no luck so far. We are using the driver from:

www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3182

But it does not require reboot when uninstalling. If possible, please confirm whether this link is correct.

[jmjsquared]

@Konstantin,
Thanks for the suggestions and your attention to this issue.

Under Windows XP there is a technique which allows to restore the corrupted registry that prevents Windows from starting. I know that you are using Windows 7, but this article may direct onto some thoughts (the registry backups are stored in the \System Volume Information\ folder):
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en

-- This would then require me to reinstall most/all programs, updates, tweaks, customizations, etc., etc., and almost certainly would leave me with a system that would fail in dozens of different ways. I would even have to reinstall Full Uninstall whose registration info is stored in the Registry, right? That's the Windows Registry for you! I have not studied all the instructions at the link provided but already see that they were written primarily for FAT systems with added "tweaks" for NTFS systems. I will have to look into this approach further because, if there are issues with FAT -vs- NTFS, then there will almost certainly be "surprises" vis-a-vis NTLDR -vs- BCD. I'd be better off doing a clean install and spending hundreds of hours restoring the current system.

Also we are trying to reproduce the issue, but no luck so far. We are using the driver from:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download ... px?id=3182

That points to Version 6.1.6965 for Mobile Device Center on Windows Vista and 7 that replaced Activesync on Windows XP and prior.
I had installed a compatible Mobile 2003 USB Driver (that worked side-by-side with 6.1.6965) whose uninstall caused the problem. I will locate the version of that driver for Mobile 2003 that I tried to uninstall and post back.

In the meanwhile, I'm trying two things:
1. I will locate the Mobile 2003 driver and, if necessary, install it on a VM to trace its install. Then, I'll try to manually locate and remove the file and Registry entries made by Mobile 2003 on my "Real" system; and/or,
2. I am going to figure out how to reinstall Version 6.1.6965 from boot using the Recovery Environment to see if that will help.

Regarding the reboot problem in Full Uninstall. In the next version we plan to add the delayed traces cleanup. I.e. you may close the uninstall wizard window after the standard uninstaller has requested reboot and the traces will be kept. Next time you run Full Uninstall they can be removed.

I enjoyed watching Full Uninstall resume its install monitoring after reboot and, now, this will make a great tool even better!

Thanks again for your assistance. I'm confident a solution will be found... eventually.

[jmjsquared]

It seems that the better way to solve the annoyance is to install again "Windows Mobile 2003 Device Driver". But like I understand your posts, you are unable to start Windows.
I may be able to reinstall the driver during a "Startup Repair". I am relocating the driver package now (I can't find a copy in the "Executables" folder that I usually store programs.) and will 7zip it and look for .inf files.
For my experience I advice to add in your exclusion list the following key:
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root
This key contents some items (legacy keys) that needs 'System' permissions to remove/modify. Better is to ignore it always.
I always do a SysTrace before running Full Uninstall when installing substantial software, especially when new drivers or services are involved. And I usually take another snapshot/backup before uninstalling. I guess I got too comfortable this time! Why do you suggest excluding this Key specifically? If Full Uninstall monitored installation accurately, couldn't leaving these Registry 'leftovers' cause conflicts?

And we have here other issue/suggestion: to add a list of excluded items by default (for common users is adviced; if advanced users dislike, they can delete them...)
I think this is a good suggestion as long as we have the ability to access and easily examne uninstall logs AFTER uninstalls are complete. That is, Full Uninstall should include the archiving of install/uninstall actions for some period (10-30 days) even after those operations are completed. Of course, creation of a Backup Installer Executable would be ideal. Hey, I can ask for anything! I don't have to write the code.