What does install consist of?

VFN

VFN

Member
What's the difference between uninstalling a game through the control panel and deleting the game folder and saves folder. In fact, what's the difference between the two when is comes to any program. Is it only the registry?

I ask because I had trouble uninstalling a game through control panel due to an uninstall error. I suspect the trouble was due to a folder I deleted that I shouldn't have. I deleted the game folder and saves folder and the control panel then told me the game didn't exist and would I like to remove the entry from the programs list.

So I'm trying to understand what it means to install a program that appears in your control panel and what it means to uninstall it.

If I haven't made myself clear just tell me to get it together. :shock:

Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
Installing an application could include any or all of the following:
Creation of a folder and contents in "Program files"
Creation of folders in the users profile
Creation of other folders
Creation of a registry key and contents in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Creation of a registry key and contents in HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Changes to file associations
Other registry keys
Startup entries in the registry or startup folder
Installation of device drivers and services
More

Only the application developer and the installer & uninstaller knows what changes are made and how to reverse them.
Deleting the application folder can cause serious problems.
 

My Computer

System One

Thanks. Hopefully my PC won't have problems. I tried to restore before installing the game but I couldn't due to an error.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
Thanks. I don't think I want to mess with the registry as long as my PC is working. And I didn't delete the game folder until after I couldn't uninstall. The uninstall panel was indeed telling me it couldn't find, or had a problem, with the uninstall utility so I think the problem may have been that I deleted a config folder in Documents. There's also the restore I did to after the game was installed but before it installed other programs for the game to work. The game wasn't working properly which led to me handling things incorrectly (i.e. deleting the config folder.)

Thanks for the response and I'll be sure to ask here if I'm having other problems.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
Just wanted to pass on what I did.

Because I felt that my PC wasn't behaving properly (it seemed to be working too much/slight elongated freezes after start-up) I restored to a point when the game was installed along with it's accompanying programs such as Direct X. I saw that the control panel couldn't uninstall the game because unis000.dat was missing. I reinstalled only the game to a new folder, copied the unis00.dat and put it in another folder. I then restored my PC to a point after I originally installed the game but before DirectX was installed. I pasted that unis00.dat file I had copied into the game folder and the control panel was then able to uninstall the game.

Thanks again for the responses/advice. You guys are a great resource. :party: Hope my PC will work without problems.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
Never delete things that you install, always use the Control Panel > Programs to uninstall and, if necessary, go to the manufacturer's website for a removal tool or support if it's stubborn and wont go.

Glad you are OK now.

Keep all aspects of Windows up to date, including IE, even if you don't use it.

Later today Microsoft will be issuing their monthly "Update Tuesday" security updates for all operating systems.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II 1 x 1TB SATA II 1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down
I'm usually pretty careful with installations, as with other things, but I think I got out of sorts when the game refused to function properly.

Thanks again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
A free tool called what changed can do a scan before and after installing programs so you can see what it added
I have it in my tools section

tools_index
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD 1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp 1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm 1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset. Only ever used a laptop. Also use USB Freeview TV Card Lenovo Docking Station External Speakers Other bits a pieces as needed
Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
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