Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Deleting $NtUninstallKB folders in the Windows directory
directories.
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Delete Microsoft Uninstall Update Files $NTUnistallKB
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There are many posts about this. These folders contain information that allows you to uninstall Microsoft updates.
If you are satisfied that an update is working on your computer and that you never want to remove that update, then you can delete
the folder for that update.
There will be a registry entry to list the update in Add/Remove programs. You can then go Add/Remove programs and click Remove. This
should give an error and then remove the entry from the registry.
CAUTION: DO NOT USE Add/Remove programs before you delete the folder or you will remove the actual update.
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Rename With @ to Make Deleteable
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If you are not sure, you can do what I do with all folders I am not sure about. I rename the folder, putting @date at the end. For
example, folder becomes folder@20090812.
My naming convention is that anything with an @ means it is deleteable at anytime.
The date tells me how long ago I made it deleteable. That way, after some time, if I never used the file, it is safe to delete.
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Update Cleaner
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You can buy Update Cleaner for $5 to delete the folder and remove the registry entry if you do not want to do it yourself.
www.pc-shareware.com/update.htm
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Ccleaner
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Crap Cleaner will also clean up these folders and registry entries. Ccleaner appears to delete them all or none, but not sure since
I did not try to use that feature. Update Cleaner lets you select which ones.
Ccleaner will analyze your computer for things to clean. This was useful. I had less than 1GB of the update files, so I did not
bother removing them.
Ccleaner cleans other things, including your registry.
www.ccleaner.com
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VB Script to Delete Folder and Remove Registry Entry
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There is an interesting entry from this page, with a script for deleting the folder and the entry in the registry for Add/Remove
programs.
www.eggheadcafe.com/forumarchives/windowsupdate/Oct2005/post25175268.asp
10/24/2005 5:21:05 PM Re: Removing UninstallKB's from the Winnt directory
Jim in Cleveland wrote:
Hi,
As long as you doesn't care about not being able to uninstall the
updates anymore, all the $ntuninstall... folders can be deleted.
Below is a VBScript (put it in a .vbs file) that I have written that
will remove the uninstall folder (and the Add/Remove Programs entry
if one exists) for all hotfixes that creates $ntuninstall... folders
under the Windows folder.
Note: This will not uninstall the update itself, only the
uninstall folder and the Add/Remove Programs entry.
'--------------------8<----------------------
Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
sWinDir = oFSO.GetSpecialFolder(0)
Set oFolder = oFSO.GetFolder(sWinDir)
Set oDictionary = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
For Each oSubFolder In oFolder.SubFolders
sFolderName = LCase(oSubFolder.Name)
sFolderPath = LCase(oSubFolder.Path)
If Left(sFolderName, 13) = "$ntuninstallq" _
Or Left(sFolderName, 14) = "$ntuninstallkb" Then
' get the update name for the registry delete
sUpdateName = Mid(sFolderName, 13, Len(sFolderName) - 13)
' never delete folders/files while enumerating a file/folder collection
' adds them to a dictionary object for later handling instead
oDictionary.Add sUpdateName, sFolderPath
End If
Next
sDeleted = ""
For Each sUpdateName In oDictionary.Keys
sDeleted = sDeleted & vbCrLf & sUpdateName
sFolderPath = oDictionary.Item(sUpdateName)
On Error Resume Next
' remove entry in Add/Remove Programs
oShell.RegDelete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\" _
& "CurrentVersion\Uninstall\" & sUpdateName & "\"
On Error Goto 0
' delete the uninstall folder
oShell.Run "%Comspec% /C RD /S /Q " _
& Chr(34) & sFolderPath & Chr(34), 0, True
Next
If sDeleted <> "" Then
MsgBox "The uninstall data for the following updates are now removed:" _
& vbCrLf & UCase(sDeleted)
Else
MsgBox "No updates found to remove the uninstall data for."
End If
'--------------------8<----------------------
--
torgeir, Microsoft MVP Scripting, Porsgrunn Norway
Administration scripting examples and an ONLINE version of
the 1328 page Scripting Guide:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/default.mspx
Monday, August 10, 2009
|DataDirectory| in connection string
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sqlce/thread/dc31ea59-5718-49b6-9f1f-7039da425296
|DataDirectory| (enclosed in pipe symbols) is a substitution string that indicates the path to the database. It eliminates the need
to hard-code the full path which leads to several problems as the full path to the database could be serialized in different places.
DataDirectory also makes it easy to share a project and also to deploy an application.
For example, instead of having the following connection string:
"Data Source= c:\program files\MyApp\Mydb.sdf"
Using DataDirectory, you can have the following connection string:
"Data Source = |DataDirectory|\Mydb.sdf"
To set the DataDirectory property, call the AppDomain.SetData method. If you do not set the DataDirectory property, the following
default rules will be applied to access the database folder:
. For applications that are put in a folder on the user's computer, the database folder uses the application folder.
. For applications that are running under ClickOnce, the database folder uses the specific data folder that is created.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Last known configuration that worked - anti-virus procedure
Turn your computer off and back on.
Press F8 during start up.
Select last known configuration that worked.
This might get you out of some trouble.
Revo uninstaller to get those hard to uninstall programs
again.
For these and other hard to uninstall programs, try Revo Uninstaller.
www.revouninstaller.com/
Registry cleaner and PC utility
www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
090504 Internet Handholding Newsletter, Search Engines, Clean Up PC
One of my customers had his website on AOL for years.
His website came up number 1 on Google for a particular
search and this is how he got a lot of his business.
AOL discontinued their website service.
When we brought his website up under his own name,
he was no where to be found on any searches and was
getting no business from his website.
See the first article for how we solved this problem.
If you have cleaned off your anti-virus software from your
computer, you are ready for the next stage, which is to free
up more of your computer memory so it can run faster. See the
second article.
Be Happy, Healthy and Prosperous,
Andrew
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In This Email:
1. Article: Back to the Top of Google
2. Article: Clean Up Your System Tray
3. Article: The Dog Whisperer
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Links:
- Email Marketing
www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?pn=bronzebp
- My Internet Blog
http://internethandholding.blogspot.com/
- Web Hosting
www.webhosting.gy
- Email High Reliability
www.email.gy
- Domain Names
www.evolve.name, www.domainnames.gs
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Quotes:
- Do not be sloppy. Make every step a work of art.
~ Andrea Pham, Tango instructor
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1. Article: Back to the Top of Google
After enjoying years at the top of Google, AOL discontinued its
website service, which my customer had been using.
When we brought his website up under his own website name, it
was no where to be found on Google and he was getting no business.
Today I searched for "classical music records" and he came
up as the first one on page 2. That is #11 out of 6 million hits.
What did we do?
1. Got a domain name with keywords
- www.classicalrecords.biz
2. Updated his data regularly
3. Created a blog and linked to his website
- classicalrecords.blogspot.com
4. Linked to his website from a number of my websites
5. Linked to his website from some social bookmarking websites
My website www.JewishNetwork.com is up to #2 on Google for
searches for "Jewish events" out of 14 million hits. In an
earlier newsletter, you had heard that this website had been
unfairly dropped from Google for a year and we got it back
on by linking to it in a blog.
For another of my customers, we set up twenty, one page websites
with the domain name of the engine for which he sells parts.
These mini-websites simply say something like "For the
best XX400 engine parts at the best prices contact us or
visit our main website ..." and link back to his main website.
He is getting a fair amount of business from this.
Spending some time to help your website get found works.
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2. Article: Clean Up Your System Tray
Look at the lower right hand corner of your computer.
This is called the System Tray.
Do you have a lot of icons down there?
Each of those icons represent a program running all the time on
your computer, taking up memory and slowing your computer down.
Some of these icons may indicate problems with your computer.
How did those icons get in your System Tray?
In some cases, presumptuous programs put themselves there when
they were installed. In some cases, these icons indicate things
you need to fix.
Do you need them in your System Tray?
Probably not most of them. Possibly not any of them.
What should you do about them?
If you know for sure you need it, leave it.
Otherwise, remove it from the System Tray.
If you find you miss it, you can always put it back.
Here is how to remove them from your System Tray.
Left click on an icon to open the program. See what it is.
If you do not absolutely need it running all the time,
remove it from the System Tray.
Find properties or settings for this program.
If you cannot find the settings, close the program and then
try right clicking on the icon. If you still cannot find settings,
go to your Start menu, Control Panel and look for settings for it.
Once you find the settings, look for a propery like:
- Place or Install in System Tray, or
- Automatically run when Windows starts
Turn that property off.
If the icon is still in the System Tray, right click on the icon
and click exit or close.
When you restart Windows, it should be gone.
Repeat for each of the icons.
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3. Article: The Dog Whisperer
The Dog Whisperer is my favorite show.
Last weekend a young woman came up to me at the park.
She pointed to a lost dog. If a dachschund is a hotdog,
this dog would be a black and white bratwurst.
The dog sniffed my hand and took off before I could grab her,
trotting out of the park and down the street. The young woman
rode after her and I followed on foot.
You know how hard it is to catch a runaway dog.
Without a sound or gesture, from 50 yards away, I commanded
the dog to come to me.
That sounds absurd and I was as surprised as you would have been,
when that dog walked back across the street, crawled towards me
on her belly and rolled over on her back and waited for me.
I picked her up and dropped her off with the pool attendants,
who called her owner.
Thanks to Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, for explaining the
language of dogs. It can truly seem like a miracle when you
can communicate.
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thing in this week's email that would interest you or others you know.
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Visit www.WebHosting.gy
Andrew Weitzen
publish@bronz.com
561-939-2469
Gainesville, FL
www.bronz.com
- Internet hosting, programming and handholding
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as long as you include this copyright notice.
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