[SOLVED] Removing residue of previous installation

[Reverendnice]

How do I remove all residue of a previous installation such that the registry has no record of it whatsoever?

Thanks - rev

 

[rgd1101]

if you don't need to save any data. format the disk before install

 

[Reverendnice]

No, I have to save all the data, can't format. I did the uninstall of Cakewalk Sonar using Revo which is not supposed to leave any residue, but it did. Sonar won't let you install to more than one Shared Utilities folder so it saves that path in the registry. I want to install Sonar to a different drive but I can't because the previous installation locked the Shared Utilities location .

I found the offending path in the registry but it won't let me delete it. I tried editing the path but it won't allow me to edit it, even as Administrator.

 

[Nemesia]

Just move the data that needs to be saved on another drive and format.

 

[USAFRet]

The problem in the question is...
"all residue of a previous installation "

Is this a specific application uninstall, or the whole OS?

 

[rgd1101]

contact Cakewalk Sonar for support?

 

[Reverendnice]

Sonar doesn't exist anymore, it was bought and became Bandlab, which is an online DAW designed for collaborating. Even the forum has gone.

I can't move data and format because it's the C:\ drive and I have hundreds of installations controlling 5 terabytes of crap. The installations alone take a full-time week, then comes configuring everything.

I've had nothing but trouble with Win 10. I have to fix errors almost every day before I can work. I'm not going through that again for a locked path. I need to know how/where it's locked.

 

[lordmogul]

What is the issue that the "residue" after uninstallation causes so much trouble?

 

[Reverendnice]

Sonar has a Shared Utilities folder where all the plugins and control surfaces get installed along with Shared DXi and MIDI plug ins.
If you need to reinstall it makes sense not to have more than one of these folders. The VST plugin scanner would get confused and list entries twice (assuming you had 2 Shared Utilities folders) .

So Sonar locks the location and that path has not been removed from the registry with the uninstall.

This effectively means I can't install Sonar to any other location, which is what I want to do.

I found and deleted all the references to the old path but now I get a dialog box with no path in it at all which is disabled so I can't enter a path. That suggests the registry key itself has restricted permissions, not the value in the key.

 

[Reverendnice]

I finally solved this one. Bandlab are giving away Sonar Platinum, or at least it's free for six months. They posted a 'Clean Uninstall' article, I deleted a couple of folders I'd missed before and installed Sonar without a problem.
I'll spend a week or two accessing the old stuff and then never no more.

Thanks to everyone who pitched in on this one!

rev