Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel not functioning...

[jayeye]

I recently reinstalled my T41p from the recovery diskettes (another horror story), and I finally finished installing all the software from installation media (this was a good chance to clean up). After applying all the updates, as well as all the ThinkVantage-brought updates, I noticed that most programs in the Add or Rmove Programs feature of the Control Panel cannot be removed. The "Uninstall" button just never shows up! Did something else take over the function of installing/uninstalling, and if so, what?

I checked HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ and it's almost empty (only the stuff that I can actually uninstall are showing up there, predictably).

Did something bollix that registry key at some point?

Did I screw something up? What?

Is this a T4x/Thinkvantage problem, or maybe I should post in a different forum?

[tfflivemb2]

Did you recently install PC-Doctor 5? If so, read this.

[jdhurst]

It is not a systemic T4x / Thinkvantage problem that I can see. I have a T41, have used Software Installer to install updates, have all the Windows patches, all the Driver updates, and am now using IE7. So far, no problems with Add / Remove Programs.

It is a long shot, but you could try downloading the SP2 update (large file) and re-applying it. That re-writes much of Windows. Check in the very recent PC Doctor thread. Mr. Wolf has pointed to a Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q266668 that addresses the issue somewhat.
... JD Hurst

[christopher_wolf]

You should also make a backup of the Registry, then try the modifications recommended in the thread that tfflivemb2 linked to.

[jayeye]

I restored from backups, updated everything again except for PC-Doctor, and all is right as right can be.

Some doctor... must have gotten his degree from one of those "prestigious, non-accredited universities" we get spam about. :)

[christopher_wolf]

More likely, the package for the silent installer wasn't done correctly; hence, it wiped out a good majority of the ARP uninstaller references in the registry.

[USSS]

I've noticed the spreading panic regarding the recent PC Doctor 5 update, so I am posting my solution (run System Restore in Safe Mode) here and under a couple of other related threads:

Before performing major surgery on your system, please see: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 131#215131

[christopher_wolf]

Thanks alot for the contribution, Steve; I am sure it is appreciated, by those of whom only had System Restore points, and welcome to the Thinkpads.com Forums

Well, I think I have found another soultion; it isn't all that practical and should probably be used as a last resort if you don't have any R&R backups or System Restore images handy and don't want to re-image the entire Thinkpad.

You can go through the ARPCache and, by copying over and creating new keys to the Uninstaller entry, restore the functionality of the ARP CPL. The drawback of all of this is that you have to find the uninstallers yourself, make all the keys correctly, and have a passable knowledge of how the registry works. It does take a long time, however, yet isn't too deadly to your system as long as you keep registry backups throughout the procedure. Afterwards, a re-registration of the DLLs (mldao, Darwin, arp, etc) through REGSVR32 should get everything back to normal.