Going through the computer trying to free up enough space to defrag, I uninstalled version 7.x of a program because we are running 8.x now. At least, that’s what I thought I did. Apparently, I uninstalled 7.x, 8.x and any trace that they once existed. This is not good.
Is there any way to un-unistall the program? I’ve probably got the install disc somewhere, but a bigger problem is the loss of the database asssociated with the program. Help?
Did you try system restore? I used it once to get rid of some bad drivers and afterwards discovered that several small programs that I had recently uninstalled, were back in place.
System restore is a good suggestion and should be pretty harmless nevertheless. It is possible to undelete specific files after they are trashed but whole applications might be another matter. The application might consist of hundreds of files and you probably have no way of knowing what they all were and where they should be. There would be OS entries missing as well after an official uninstall. I would say try the restore then start looking for your disks.
How do I go about system restore? As in, where do I find it? Control panels?
And since I forgot to mention this, I’m running Windows XP.
I don’t know if there’s an easier (more direct) route to it, but you can go Start–>Help and Support–>Undo changes to your computer with System Restore (under “Pick a task”).
Good luck. System Restore worked great for me when I buggered up my video drivers, but I’ve never used it to try to “un-uninstall”.
Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / System Restore.
The lesson to be learned is to delete an old version of software before installing the newer version if the newer version does not install itself in the same folder structure as the older version.
Personally I hate software that embeds its version number in the installation folder name; if I see that I change it.
This problem happened to me when installing some Astronomy Software which will remain nameless. They changed the folder name in the upgrade, left a ton of old crap around, but still had hooks in the old folder tree. Ugh!
So, system restore worked fairly well, however some RAVE files are missing. I have an install disc coming tomorrow, so hopefully that will take care of everything.
Also, a lesson has been learned: Backing up critical software more than once every two years is a good idea. Shocking.