win98 2nd ed. still cant uninstall ECDC 5

[Cornbread]

well i tried all that... but it didnt work..
i get an error message saying, "cant install b/c
previous version is still there...

"windows wants me to give the uninstall file that
came with the 1st ECDC 5, but i dont have it and
when i use my new ECDC 5, it doesnt work for the file..

i tried to delete from the registry but the files
were not there to delete.?.?

ive also tried add/remove programs..but they
didnt work..

[mjc]

Please keep all of these together?

[Paul Komski]

You could try THIS THREAD (http://support.roxio.com/en/support/roxio_support/discussions/index.jhtml?_requestid=911037) from the Roxio Support Forum. If that doesn't help try a search there for Uninstall and you should get a number of other threads to view. If that fails then you might post your question on their forum.

I thought I had found the fix elsewhere but have lost the link and cant find it. :(

[Sylvander]

Hello Cornbread

One way to eliminate all trace of a programme that you cannot uninstall is to re-format the partition(s) including the prog [C: drive?] and restore a backup [of the partition(s)] taken before the prog was installed.
END OF PROBLEM

I'm always amazed at the fact that despite backups being so vital and books saying things like:
"BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, one day you WILL need it!"
people still fail to do it.

[Paul Komski]

Adaptec installs four driver files for EZCD, and a number of newsgroups, as well as Nero, recommend renaming their file extensions from .vxd to .vx_ (and not to .old) to allow the reinstall to proceed. They should normally be found in the Windows\System\IOSUBSYS directory.

Thus you could try:-
Renaming CDR4VSD.VXD to CDR4VSD.VX_
Renaming CDRPWD.VXD to CDRPWD.VX_
Renaming CDUDF.VXD to CDUDF.VX_
Renaming CDUDFRW.VXD to CDUDFRW.VX_

Roxio used to have the full details in a FAQ on their website, but for their own reasons have taken it down. That is where the specific Registry Entries were also mentioned. Perhaps the install will go ahead without any need to edit the Registry, but the only other way to find them with some likelihood would be to try a utility like RegCleaner (free) (http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/index.shtml) or CleanSweep (Part of Norton's System Works) (http://www.symantec.com/sabu/ncs/).

Sylvander is right of course about developing a good backup and restore strategy but most people only do this once it has actually happened to them and one does not expect this from a widely known company to whom one has parted good money and who then don't even provide adequate support.