Uninstall help

[kaydenlewis]

Hi, I used LabVIEW in school, I have now graduated and would like to remove it from my computer. When I try to uninstall I keep receiving errors in the Package Manager, nothing will uninstall and it won't give me much of an error message. I tried repairing so I can fix whatever issue it is having, but nothing will repair either. At a loss, just want the software off the computer, nothing against NI, the product was good. There are 86 installations it says, want them all off. Thank you for the help.

Sample error message:

An error occurred while removing a package: ni-visa-labview-support (22.5.0.49222-0+f70)

Additional error information:
An error occurred while uninstalling the MSI at 'nivisalvaddon.msi'.

[Bob_Schor]

Here's a "safe" and secure way to uninstall LabVIEW without damaging anything else on your computer:

1. On the Windows "Search Bar", type "Control Panel".  This brings up the the Windows 7 Control Panel.
2. Select "Programs and Features".  This brings up the Windows "Uninstaller".
3. Scroll down and fine "NI Software" (or something similar).  Click it.  (You should also see NI Package Manager, to be used later).
4. Step 3 should actually start NIPM (NI Package Manager), probably asking if you want to Uninstall or Change things.  [Note you probably need Admin rights to do this].  Agree.
5.  When Package Manager starts and opens, it should show you everything it "knows about" for LabVIEW.  Be sure that the little box on top that says "Products Only" is not checked.
6. Check "Name" (found just above the list of all the Packages that are installed), to remove everything.
7. Click Remove.  It will tell you what its about to do, and ask if that's what you want.  Agree.
8. Wait for up to 10-15 minutes (maybe longer).  It should prompt for a Reboot, but if it doesn't, reboot anyway.
9. When Windows restarts, repeat Steps 1 and 2, above.  This time, you should see only NI Package Manager.  Select it.  It should bring up NIPM, showing only NI Package Manager, and asking if you really want to remove it.  The answer is "Yes", and is the only safe way to remove it.
10. Again, reboot, and repeat Steps 1 and 2.  Sometimes you'll see still more NI Software, possibly from routines that predate Windows 17.  Go ahead and uninstall them.  This uninstall (if it occurs) will look a little different, since NIPM won't be doing it, but it is safe to do.
11. This process might leave some National Instruments folders on your C: drive in the folders C:\ProgramData, C:\Program Files, and C:\Program Files (x86).  If you are not short of disk space, I'd leave them alone (though they should be safe to delete).

Bob Schor

[kaydenlewis]

Thanks Bob, but those are the steps I followed when I received the error message I listed above. I am on Windows 11 right now too (if that matters).

1) Went to uninstall NI

2) Opened NIPM

3) Admin “yes”

4) “Products only” turned off, remove, went through the process of it saying what it wants to do

5) Fails

Any other tips? I was going to schedule a tech to look at it but since it was downloaded from school account, I don’t have the access / ‘premium’ account to do so.

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@Bob_Schor wrote:

Here's a "safe" and secure way to uninstall LabVIEW without damaging anything else on your computer:

1. On the Windows "Search Bar", type "Control Panel".  This brings up the the Windows 7 Control Panel.
2. Select "Programs and Features".  This brings up the Windows "Uninstaller".
3. Scroll down and fine "NI Software" (or something similar).  Click it.  (You should also see NI Package Manager, to be used later).
4. Step 3 should actually start NIPM (NI Package Manager), probably asking if you want to Uninstall or Change things.  [Note you probably need Admin rights to do this].  Agree.
5.  When Package Manager starts and opens, it should show you everything it "knows about" for LabVIEW.  Be sure that the little box on top that says "Products Only" is not checked.
6. Check "Name" (found just above the list of all the Packages that are installed), to remove everything.
7. Click Remove.  It will tell you what its about to do, and ask if that's what you want.  Agree.
8. Wait for up to 10-15 minutes (maybe longer).  It should prompt for a Reboot, but if it doesn't, reboot anyway.
9. When Windows restarts, repeat Steps 1 and 2, above.  This time, you should see only NI Package Manager.  Select it.  It should bring up NIPM, showing only NI Package Manager, and asking if you really want to remove it.  The answer is "Yes", and is the only safe way to remove it.
10. Again, reboot, and repeat Steps 1 and 2.  Sometimes you'll see still more NI Software, possibly from routines that predate Windows 17.  Go ahead and uninstall them.  This uninstall (if it occurs) will look a little different, since NIPM won't be doing it, but it is safe to do.
11. This process might leave some National Instruments folders on your C: drive in the folders C:\ProgramData, C:\Program Files, and C:\Program Files (x86).  If you are not short of disk space, I'd leave them alone (though they should be safe to delete).

Bob Schor

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[Bob_Schor]

If NIPM (the "uninstaller") is failing, my suspicion is that NI files or folders were "manually" deleted, so when NIPM tried to carry out its orderly procedure of finding and deleting the files and folders that it "knew" were present, the data it needed to do its job were not present, either because "files on disk" or "entries in the Windows Registry" had been previously been altered (or deleted).

The first time I tried to install LabVIEW 2017, the first year that NIPM was released as the only way to install LabVIEW, I was unable to get the installation to complete.  So I tried to remove LabVIEW, but didn't "know what I was doing".  So I tried to do a "force uninstall" of LabVIEW.

This was a big mistake.  Here's how I recovered:

1. Backed up my Profile.
2. Made a list of all the Programs that were installed, and got the installation disks.
3. Reformatted the C: drive (erasing everything from my hard drive,
4. Reinstalled Windows 10.
5. Reinstalled Office and other programs (except LabVIEW) noted in Step #2.
6. Reinstalled versions of LabVIEW up to LabVIEW 2016 (I think I was using 14, 15, and 16).
7. Didn't try to install LabVIEW 2017 right away -- tried on some test VMs first.

Bob Schor