# Uninstallshield ????

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstallshield/504987>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 1, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstallshield/504987 "2009-08-01T18:31:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstallshield/504987/1 "2009-08-01T18:31:01Z")

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“Setup has detected that uninstallshield is in use. Please close uninstallshield and restart setup”

How do I close it??

Thanks in advance!

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**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstallshield/504987/2 "2009-08-01T18:35:19Z")

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ctrl+alt+del -\> open task manager -\> processes -\> click on “description” and scroll down (it should be alphabetical, if it’s reverse alphabetical click on description again) looking for “uninstall shield” -\> end the process

If that doesn’t work just restart your computer.

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**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstallshield/504987/3 "2009-08-02T00:27:40Z")

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What if it doesn’t appear on that lits? And rebooting doesn’t do anything?

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstallshield/504987/4 "2009-08-02T01:12:10Z")

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It should appear in there, but I believe it’s called uninst.exe or IsUninst.exe .

If you don’t find it, try looking up the specific error on Google. Just make sure to put the error message in quotes.

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**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uninstallshield/504987/5 "2009-08-02T05:21:32Z")

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Can you use [Windows Installer Cleanup](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301) to remove whatever you were trying to install when this happened?

Also, [from here](http://support.dataviz.com/support.srch?docid=2346&pid=51), try disabling antivirus and make sure you are logged in as an Administrator. I also find that, for install problems, it often helps to create a new Administrator-level profile (damage to user profiles seems to cause a lot of installation issues, in my experience).