Windows 7: problems uninstalling program completely. Help?

I had the simulator lock-on patched up to its latest with flaming cliffs 1.12b (1.12b required starforce activation and it asks to save the registry when you uninstall it but i have the original sf activation registry saved to reimplement it upon reinstall of the FC update) installed in my c:/program folder(x86)/ubisoft/eagle dynamics/lock on folder. I never have any problems installing anything it just asks for my permission. After istalling a few mods the app appears to have been corrupted so i uninstalled everything, including the eagle dynamics folder and all remnants of lock on and any mod i had installed( i still have the ubisoft folder because il2 1946 is installed there)

My problem is that when i reinstall the application to the same directory ( c:/program files (x86)/ubisoft/eagle dynamcs/lock on) without any reinstall of any mod and run the game again the game appears as if i hadn't uninstalled it ( e.g., settings ive changed are back, and the corruption of the app that occured is still there) I've tried to uninstall this and reinstall multiple times to the same directory with the same thing happening. Now when i do an install to a newly created dirctory, such as, c:/games/ubisoft/eagle dynamcs/lock on, and do the same thing the game installs as it should ( completely vanilla)

Two questions: Firstly, when uninstalling Flaming cliffs it prompts me to save the registry settings for that install due to starforce activation. Could me saving this be causing this reversion back to the previous install? and if so would you know where those saves are located so i can delete them since i have the original registry saved after first starforce activation?

Secondly, could there be hidden files that im missing that are not getting uninstalled and if so how can i trully unistall everything from that directory ( i already have my os set to show all files and folders) ?

Would really appreciate any help? Thanks

I'm currently running Win7ultimate 64bit

Hi, Welcome to SF,

You could use Revo Uninstaller
But i'm not sure whether it would save your registration information

Hope this helps

I was thinking about using this. I have the saved starforce activation registry entry saved in a folder with the all the installers. I was thinking about just copying what i needed to a dvd or cd and using revo uninstaller then just installing to that directory again. Ive never used revo. if i had the registry saved in one of my folders would revo still remove a saved registry from places other than the actual registry?

I would go to control panel and uninstall. Then you can use the software that the captain suggested or ccleaner, to remove the remanants. If this does not work, you can use the guaranteed method of system restore to a point prior to installation. Be warned, I doubt if any registry settings would be saved. Before you use SR, make an additional back up point, so that you can return in the case of a problem.

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Yup Just Export that registery information copy it to a thumb driver then remove using Revo and reinstall then add that registry back

Do you think that the remaining registry or rather the fact that im hitting ok when asked to save the registry each time i was uninstalling could be what the problem is? Wouldn't it still happen even if i installed to a different directory because it installs clean to any other new directory?

I don't believe even if you change the directory would fix the problem because it might be the registry that's causing problems due to the left over files. If your sure that saving those registry would retain the activation information then you could backup those registry in thumb driver(so you can remove the thumb driver while we remove the program) then remove it completly then after reinstalling it then you could import those registry back in

The captain is giving very good advice, as usual. Just one more word of caution. I become concerned when the registry is involved. To be on the safe side you may want to make a system image, and put it on and external drive, just in case.

That aught about cover it mate. Iwould think. 1 thing I always do before I install a new program is create a restore point. Just in case I'm not happy with the application. then I use CCleaner to uninstall it then use my restore point.

Sounds good. I'll try the revo uninstaller. I already had the registry I saved after i went through the starforce activation after i initially installed the game so i have that already. The only registry stuff involved is when i reinstall and before running it for the first time i just reapply the saved registry i've had when i purchased the game. It does install fine though in a different directory its just trying to reinstall clean into the directory it was in when the problem occurred isn't resulting in a clean install.

I used to create a restore point before installing anything new, and now that i'm back using windows it looks like i really have to be diligent about doing this.