Uninstall Difficulty

[Sequitur]

I had a bitch of a time trying to uninstall the trial version of PocketInformant from my 400 Mhz Axim. I had installed the trial version to a Lexar 256 SD card and, after installing, ran the program. Didn't like PocketInformant, hence I wanted it completely removed.

I close all programs in Switcher. I run the uninstaller from ActiveSync. I select PocketInformant and click "Remove." ActiveSync informs me it has removed PocketInformant, but this is false -- instead Pocket Acrobat was uninstalled (yes, I had deselected the check box next to Acrobat). I again try to remove PocketInformant using ActiveSync, and I receive the same success message. But this message is again false, since on the Axim, there it is, PocketInformant. I then tried to run the PocketInformant uninstaller from the desktop Start/Programs menu, but all that did was uninstall the PocketInformant installer software from my desktop's c:/ drive, not the Axim.

Frustrated, from ActiveSync I explored into the SD card and deleted all the PocketInformant executables/data files I could find. Next, I performed a hard reset. That *appeared* to get rid of PocketInformant, since the original calendar/contacts/tasks programs have returned and it seems stable right now.

So, in deleting the executable PocketInformant files from the SD card and performing a hard reset, have I returned the Axim to its original glory? Or, since the ActiveSync uninstall was unsuccessful, could annoying registry edits, program files, or data files still reside in ROM or RAM? I don't want stray bits of third party software floating around the Windows registry or ROM just waiting to corrupt the Axim six months from now.

I guess this question applies to all unsuccesful software removals. Thank you in advance.

[Raynne413]

If you did a hard reset then you should have no problems because everything other than the pre-set software should have been deleted.

[JakeRich]

Sequitur, to prevent future hard resets, what was left behind on the Ax after uninstalling the right program was probably just an orphan shortcut. To delete them, Tap and hold until the menu opens then tap delete.

Also, when uninstalling, if you perform a soft reset after the uninstall that will clean up some of these orphans for you, and remove any resident .dll's that programs need to operate, particularly programs like PI that are so interwoven in the operating system files.

A soft reset is like a reboot on the PC, it just starts the system up again fresh, with everything still installed.

A Hard reset is like a reformat, reinstall on the Hardrive in the PC, forcing everything back to "factory" status.

One more thing: I have found that it is better to uninstall programs from the Ax itself. That way the results message is more accurate and appropriate.