Do not use Windows Installer Cleanup Utility to “clean” your PC. DON’T.

OK, I was just idly browsing along (trying to fix a Windows Installer problem), and I found this article…

http://msmvps.com/blogs/installsite/archive/2009/07/25/don-t-clean-up-your-pc-with-windows-installer-clean-up-utility.aspx

… describing why the utility is NOT to be used for “cleaning up” your PC. It’s 110% correct – I’ve seen too many idiotic, uninformed bloggers posting “cleanup guides” with absolutely destructive advice (like disabling themes, services, etc). This is one of the more rare ones but I want to throw this out there in case there are some think-they’re-geeks out there that use the Installer Cleanup Utility as a “cleanup” tool.

The only thing this utility does to “clean” is to clean in the “what was dirty” sense, to gut a program’s configuration from Windows Installer, not from your computer! It just makes Windows Installer “forget” that a program was ever installed, so that installation issues can be resolved to re-install and cleanly uninstall the related program. It does NOT “clean” your computer of the installed program – hell, it doesn’t even uninstall it in the formal sense. All its files will still remain.

Personally, I use its “msizip G” as part of a cleanup routine, which removes orphaned Installer files – product packages that are located in the Windows\Installer folder, but not associated with any product that’s installed. Usually from failed Office updates or the like.

Just a public service blog post. =P

Donate to F4UBCD Development

I get asked a lot, why don’t I have a donate link for F4UBCD? Well, sheer laziness, really. I really could use the side bonus – part-time IT job pays the bills, but the rest of my time is spent messing around on this stuff. With as much student loan debt I’ve racked up, sheesh, I could really use the help! It’s a balance figure staring at me, laughing, saying “Succkkerrr!” =P

So here’s the thing… first I want to make sure all responsible contributors get taken care of. Patching it all together and making it all play nice was only half the story! If you think these guys’ contributions are worth it, drop them a part of your contribution:

• Hiren’s BootCD, the core of utilities that F4UBCD was originally founded on: http://www.hiren.info/pages/contactus
• HD Tune: http://www.hdtune.com/
• Kon-Boot: http://www.kryptoslogic.com/
• TreeSize Personal: http://www.jam-software.com

… to name a few. If you use their software on the disc routinely, please at least have the decency to buy a license! You should, after all, only be using software you’re licensed for – I have a license for each one myself.

Finally, if you have some money left over after all that gratuitous gratuity , here’s the big magic button! You can drop a couple bucks – say, $10 for “Thanks!”, $20 for “This CD saved my arse!”, or maybe $50 for “This CD saved my PC repair business!”

Or via Bitcoin to address: 19U5krMNrScHWdVurD8dHAUmd9Hb9onLJV

And if you do feel like donating… thanks for your support!!