uninstalling labview

[spartanII]

i installed labVIEW 8.5 on winXp (sp2) PC.later i removed it by deleting manually the folders from the 'program files',as there was no uninstall utility.now i want to install the same evaluation version on the same system again,i've tried the steup but labview does not start and the Xp gives a system error(the "send the report" kind).

kindly help.

[altenbach]

Of course there is an uninstall utility!

Go to the uninstall control panel and look for an entry named "National Instruments Software". Double-click it and select LabVIEW 8.5 and remove.

Removing the folder was probably not such a great idea, because there are shared parts and numerous registry entries that still float around. Post again if you encounter problems with the above uninstall step.

[Bob_Schor]

I've (sadly) "mis-installed" LabVIEW numerous times (usually when trying to install two or three versions all at once -- I forget to do "oldest first", or otherwise put something in the wrong place).  The time to uninstall can, it seems, almost be as long as the time to install!

You are correct that there is no "Uninstall LabVIEW" icon in the LabVIEW Start Menu folders.  You have to do it the "old-fashioned" way by opening Control Panel, going to Add/Remove Software (or Programs), looking for National Instruments, and choosing Uninstall.  There might be other things there as well having to do with hardware (I've seen IVI and VISA entries that "came in" with LabVIEW).

Bob Schor

P.S. -- my "most unusual" install is one I recently did on a Windows XP VM running on a Windows 7 PC -- it had LabVIEW 7.0, LabVIEW 7.1, LabVIEW 8.0, and LabVIEW 2010.  Can you guess why I wanted this bizarre setup?  Can you say "Not Backward Compatible"?

[altenbach]

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@BOB Schor wrote:

I've (sadly) "mis-installed" LabVIEW numerous times (usually when trying to install two or three versions all at once -- I forget to do "oldest first", or otherwise put something in the wrong place).

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Isntallation order of LabVIEW versions should not matter. Why do you think it does?

[Norbert_B]

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@BOB Schor wrote:

[...]

You are correct that there is no "Uninstall LabVIEW" icon in the LabVIEW Start Menu folders.  You have to do it the "old-fashioned" way by opening Control Panel,[...]

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Bob,

as far as i am aware of, all software products using MSI do not have a dedicated "uninstall routine" in their program entry of the Start-menu. I know those links only for other install routines like InstallShield.

So i would not call it "old fashioned", but "Microsoft conform".

You either like it or not, but that's the way how Microsoft is considering the user to interface with software uninstallation.

But back to your original question:

It is possible that due to repeated installation and deletion (without uninstallation) that your registry is a complete mess. Maybe you should try to revert your system to an older 'version' by choosing and "downgrading" to a former system backup state. I hope you have one available due to driver installation or you created one manually.

Norbert

PS: I have just looked into my Start-menu. There is nearly NO software supplying an "uninstall" selection in there, the only one being software i am sure using InstallShield. Microsoft Office for instance, does not provide this "feature".

[spartanII]

@altenbach-are you reffering to the "uninstall control panel",which bob and i presume it is?if not where do i find it?

@bob-control panel>add/remove programs did not work.

@norbert-'system restore' seems the only solution here...is there anything else that i can do? because its quite tedious.

thanks for your replies,

Regards,

[ABCPrograms]

Hi alten,

for some reason the installation does matter.  (or I'm doing something wrong ;), I'm everything but perfect )

If I have for example 2009 installed, I can't install 8.6 anymore.

Or do you know a work-a-round?

[altenbach]

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@spartanII wrote:

@altenbach-are you reffering to the "uninstall control panel",which bob and i presume it is?if not where do i find it?

@BOB-control panel>add/remove programs did not work.

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Yes, "add/remove programs" or similar. The regular control panel of windows for software management (It got slighty renamed with various windows versions).

"did not work" is not sufficient information to troubleshoot.

• What happened if you tried to uninstall?
• What was the exact error message?

You might want to try something to clean out the registry. You could try e.g. CCleaner.

[altenbach]

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@ABCPrograms wrote:

If I have for example 2009 installed, I can't install 8.6 anymore.

Or do you know a work-a-round?

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Again, "can't install" is not useful information. What exactly happens (computer crashes, error message, corrupt installation, etc.)?

I have installed many LabVIEW versions in any order and have never run into any issues. When installing, I recommend to use the default install locations and not manually change them. I imagine that if you move the install location around, you could run into a scenario where things collide or get overwritten. Not sure.

[ABCPrograms]

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@altenbach wrote:

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@ABCPrograms wrote:

If I have for example 2009 installed, I can't install 8.6 anymore.

Or do you know a work-a-round?

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Again, "can't install" is not useful information. What exactly happens (computer crashes, error message, corrupt installation, etc.)?

I have installed many LabVIEW versions in any order and have never run into any issues. When installing, I recommend to use the default install locations and not manually change them. I imagine that if you move the install location around, you could run into a scenario where things collide or get overwritten. Not sure.

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It's been awhile, but as I can remember correctly it gives you an error.  Nothing crashed.  

Message => newer version already installed (or something in that area).

I should do the test again.  I've removed 8.6 earlier this week, because my computer crashed and it corrupted some files, so I will try tio install in again tonight and come back to you 😉