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Add an uninstall start menu item to your .NET deployment project

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21 Aug 2005CPOL 264.7K   77   54
The simple way to add an uninstall menu item to your .NET deployment project

Introduction

It's super easy to add this to your deployment project.

  1. Select your deployment project and go to the file system editor, user programs menu.
  2. Add an additional shortcut to your primary output project and name it Uninstall Application.
  3. Set the Arguments property to /u=[ProductCode].
  4. Add the following code to your project's Main() sub or startup form's New() sub just before the call to InitializeComponent().
    VB
    Dim arguments As String() = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()
    Dim argument As String
    For Each argument In arguments
        If argument.Split("=")(0).ToLower = "/u" Then
            Dim guid As String = argument.Split("=")(1)
            Dim path As String = _
               Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.System)
            Dim si As New ProcessStartInfo(path & _
                      "\msiexec.exe", "/i " & guid)
            Process.Start(si)
            Close()
            Application.Exit()
            End
        End If
    Next

That's is! The Deployment project will replace [ProductCode] in the Arguments property with the actual installer project's ProductCode GUID value. Your program will see the /u={Actual ProductCode} argument and pass it to msiexec.exe before exiting.

The installer is run in repair/remove mode for your application. The user is allowed to select repair or remove, and continue. If you want the product to remove only, replace the "/i " with "/x ".

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Systems Engineer Mark J Means Consulting
United States United States
I have been a software consultant since 1985 working on everything from the Commodore VIC-20 & RadioShack CoCo games to 8051 Embedded USB Microcontrollers to Windows Vista database applications. I have written over a half million lines of code since 2004. Please see my DataConnectionDialog control at http://mjmeans.com/dcd.aspx.

Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionThanks Pin
Kashif Alvi25-Jun-13 11:02
Kashif Alvi25-Jun-13 11:02 
QuestionWorked but getting an error in some machines Pin
Vaidehi P16-May-11 20:21
Vaidehi P16-May-11 20:21 
AnswerRe: Worked but getting an error in some machines Pin
mjmeans17-May-11 11:00
mjmeans17-May-11 11:00 
GeneralVerifying The Link... [modified] Pin
jp2code15-Sep-10 12:04
professionaljp2code15-Sep-10 12:04 
GeneralCondensed C# Code Pin
Geo24227-May-10 13:01
Geo24227-May-10 13:01 
GeneralRe: Condensed C# Code Pin
satheesh.palanisamy28-Sep-12 3:10
satheesh.palanisamy28-Sep-12 3:10 
GeneralCode in C# Pin
Nitin S3-Dec-09 15:53
professionalNitin S3-Dec-09 15:53 
QuestionWhere should I put these codes? Pin
qiux4-Sep-09 0:51
qiux4-Sep-09 0:51 
AnswerRe: Where should I put these codes? Pin
mjmeans5-Sep-09 23:01
mjmeans5-Sep-09 23:01 
QuestionHow to Show Product Name while confirming the Unistallation? Pin
Upendra Jagdale19-Aug-09 20:45
professionalUpendra Jagdale19-Aug-09 20:45 
AnswerRe: How to Show Product Name while confirming the Unistallation? Pin
mjmeans20-Aug-09 7:22
mjmeans20-Aug-09 7:22 
AnswerRe: How to Show Product Name while confirming the Unistallation? Pin
stratokazik17-Aug-10 19:45
stratokazik17-Aug-10 19:45 
GeneralThank you Pin
Sintre8-Jun-09 11:14
Sintre8-Jun-09 11:14 
GeneralOne Problem [modified] Pin
thirstyDev26-Nov-08 18:43
thirstyDev26-Nov-08 18:43 
GeneralRe: One Problem Pin
mjmeans27-Nov-08 7:37
mjmeans27-Nov-08 7:37 
GeneralRe: One Problem Pin
thirstyDev27-Nov-08 17:46
thirstyDev27-Nov-08 17:46 
My Mistake!! Though I would give myself benefit of doubt in this case. Smile | :)
Basically I created deployment project in VS 2005. Now by default "DISABLEADVTSHORTCUTS" property is disabled. So, whatever shortcut to uninstaller is made, it will try to check whether msi is there at original position or not, if not, it will give a prompt.
Now through script I set that property to true. And Everything is working fine. Smile | :)

ref: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368297(VS.85).aspx[^]

http://www.lewilab.org/index.php?view=article&catid=15:addins-for-onenote-2007&id=27:creating-shortcuts-in-setup-projects&option=com_content&Itemid=28[^]
GeneralEven easier solution Pin
Vyacheslav Trubarov3-Nov-07 14:28
Vyacheslav Trubarov3-Nov-07 14:28 
NewsRe: Even easier solution Pin
Bilal Haider13-Mar-08 8:46
professionalBilal Haider13-Mar-08 8:46 
GeneralNo Code Solution VS2005 Pin
code@controlbox.co.uk9-Aug-07 5:52
code@controlbox.co.uk9-Aug-07 5:52 
GeneralRe: No Code Solution VS2005 Pin
mjmeans9-Aug-07 7:26
mjmeans9-Aug-07 7:26 
GeneralRe: No Code Solution VS2005 Pin
cedear19-May-08 5:50
cedear19-May-08 5:50 
GeneralRe: No Code Solution VS2005 Pin
nnans29-Oct-08 0:07
nnans29-Oct-08 0:07 
GeneralRe: No Code Solution VS2005 Pin
mjmeans29-Oct-08 6:16
mjmeans29-Oct-08 6:16 
GeneralRe: No Code Solution VS2005 Pin
nnans29-Oct-08 17:07
nnans29-Oct-08 17:07 
GeneralRe: No Code Solution VS2005 Pin
mjmeans30-Oct-08 2:08
mjmeans30-Oct-08 2:08 

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