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Request #11391 No uninstaller
Submitted: 2001-06-10 23:33 UTC Modified: 2001-11-27 04:07 UTC
From: Martin dot Krieger at fernuni-hagen dot de Assigned: phildriscoll (profile)
Status: Closed Package: Feature/Change Request
PHP Version: 4.0.5 OS: Win 98
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
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From: Martin dot Krieger at fernuni-hagen dot de
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 [2001-06-10 23:33 UTC] Martin dot Krieger at fernuni-hagen dot de 
The Windows installer does not create an uninstall entry. Since it places several files (you don't know about) in Windows directorys it is not easy to uninstall by hand.

If the installer increases the reference counters for the dlls in the registry (and it should do so) it is nearly impossible to uninstll by hand.

Please, don't say: Who want's to uninstall this great software? There must be a chance to test it without corrupting the system.

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 [2001-07-22 15:05 UTC] andy@php.net 
reclassified
 [2001-08-12 15:27 UTC] sebastian@php.net 
User Response:

Because I wasn't able to comment on an existing bug [ #12363 ], I'll open a new bug with
my comments to [ #11952 ], since I believe the reporter was right.

I agree it isn't hard to uninstall PHP from a Windows PC (it doesn't change anything in
the registry or so) - if you know what files to delete. Most Windows users like
easy-to-use installers, so the .exe was a great idea.

However, if you use the .exe, you don't know which files are added, so uninstalling them
is hard to do. If there would be an uninstallation utility (like most Windows programs
have), people that used the installer because they don't want to know about the technical
stuff of PHP, don't have to do so when the remove it.

Plus, and this is more personally, I prefer programs that come with an uninstaller,
because if I want to get rid of it, I know all traces of it are removed with a single
click (I know the "all traces" thing isn't completely correct, but that's
another issue). And I think other users also think so.

Maybe one of your arguments would be "if they don't know how to (un)install from an
archive, they shouldn't run a web server with PHP on it". Correct. If that would be a
live web server, and not like I use it, as a simulation to build (and test) my site
locally (with Apache, MySQL and PHP all running from Windows 98), and then to upload it to
a real server, that is maintained by people who know what they are doing (at least, that's
what I pay them for).

So my suggestion is to look for someone who knows how to do it, and add this feature to
the Windows installer.
 [2001-10-02 04:49 UTC] phildriscoll@php.net 
Will investigate for the next release of the installer.
 [2001-11-27 04:07 UTC] phildriscoll@php.net 
Fixed.

As of php 4.1.0, the widows installer has an uninstall facility.
 
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