Product retirement notice. IS Decisions announces the product retirement of RemoteExec. Here is how the end of life process and dates has been defined.

How to remotely uninstall applications thanks to RemoteExec.

There are different ways to uninstall software with RemoteExec.

Using the original MSI package.

You have the original installer package which is a MSI package. You just have to set a “MSI installation” action. In the “MSI file” field, set the share path where the MSI package is stored and choose the uninstall “Operation”. Leave the default option “Only if needed” and “Don’t reboot” checked.

In the “Target computers”, choose the systems on which you want to uninstall the concerned software and launch the Action.

Using the original installer package which is an “exe” file.

You have the original installer package which is an “exe” file. Several editors allow silent uninstallation thanks to specific arguments available in their documentation.
For example, Firefox allows launching the uninstaller silently.

Using RemoteExec, we can start a “File execution” action with the uninstaller file path “C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe” and the argument /S. You can leave the default options: “Administrative” context choice, the “Auto mode” box checked and the “Reboot” option unchecked.

In the “Target computers”, choose the systems on which you want to uninstall the concerned software and launch the Action.

If nothing is available in the Software help guide, you can try the 3rd method.

You don’t have the original installer package.

This procedure allows the uninstallation of applications: Skype, Live Messenger, browser’s toolbars etc…

The installation of an application writes a value into the Windows registry of a machine that contains the required information for a silent uninstallation. This information can be different depending on the version you are concerned with. But they are usually the same for a same major version.

How to get it:

  1. Go on a computer where the application is installed. We will take Skype as an example here.

  2. Run regedit and go to the key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall (32 bits)
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall (64 bits)

    This key contains the software uninstallation key. You will find two types of keys: Application name and GUID name. As some editors don’t name the associated keys with the application name, you may have to parse them and check value “Display name” to find the correct one. That’s the case in our example. You can also launch a research (Edit/Find next (F3)) directly using the application name.

  3. Once you have found it, open RemoteExec on go to File Execution action.

  4. Type “msiexec.exe” in the “File” field.

  5. In Argument(s) field, type :
    /X (for uninstallation) {Guid string you get previously} /qn (silent option).

    Example with Skype version 5.5.117 guid:
    /X{AA59DDE4-B672-4621-A016-4C248204957A} /qn

  6. Keep the “Administrative” context choice, the “Auto mode” box checked and uncheck the “Reboot” option.

  7. Choose the target machine(s) on which you get the Guid to do a test and launch the execution.

    If the procedure is successful, launch it on your other computers. Don’t forget to save this action into your Favorites (My Remote Actions).

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