Uninstall Java from registry/system after manually deleting folder

When I go to 'Add or Remove Programs' in Windows XP, I see entries for some old JDK installations such as 'Java SE Development Kit 6 Update 16'. When I click the Remove button I get the message 'Fatal error during installation'.

I suspect this is because at some point I manually deleted the folder from the filesystem. If this is the case is there anyway to get rid of the entry in 'Add or Remove Programs' dialog? Basically I just want to get rid of all traces of the program.

I also tried CCleaner since that provides uninstall functionality. When I uninstall using that, it seems to succeed but then I reopen CCleaner and the entry is back so it obviously didn't actually do anything.

Dave L.

Posted 2011-06-11T21:40:00.183

Reputation: 153

Answers

KB310750 - Removing Invalid Entries in the Add/Remove Programs Tool:

KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Really should be using the uninstall. Just deleting the folder is almost certainly going to leave things behind (e.g. COM object registrations, services, scheduled tasks).

Ian Boyd

Posted 2011-06-11T21:40:00.183

Reputation: 18 244

Useful answer -- but after following the steps the invalid entries were still listed in the Add/Remove Programs tool. There must be some other additional registry location. – Dave L. – 2011-06-12T20:30:08.107