WD6 - How Does The Installation Program Know The Product Is Already Installed?

[Technoir Design]

Sorry folks, it's always a cry for "Help!!!" from me. No change today, sadly....

Here's the situation. I had a problem with WD6 yesterday - it kept "Not Responding" whilst opening the last project file. Although I had saved the file successfully before close something had upset it and WD6 was taking ages to open it and eventually running out of memory. Not good.

Anyway, because WD6 kept trying to open this particular file, I couldn't use it to open any other .web files, including a previous backup. I didn't know how to 'force' WD6 to open without opening the last file accessed, so I decided to bite the bullet and deinstall/reinstall WD6. That's where it got really interesting...

I used YourUninstaller (normally works like a charm) and it reported that the WD6 Deinstallation program had a problem. It then tidied up a number of files & registry entries and stopped. I physically deleted the ../Program Files/Xara directory and ran a registry cleaner to tidy up any spurious entries.

Upon attempting to Install WD6 it told me that the product was already installed and thus must be deinstalled first. Not visible via YourUninstaller or 'Add/Remove Programs'. Doh!

So, I spent 2+ hrs manually checking for and removing every(?) file from my hard drive and every 'xara' entry from the Registry - or at least those that have anything to do with the old installation (Xaras Tweaks remain).

The result? No joy. I still get the same message upon trying to install WD6 - "Product already installed"

Anybody got any idea where the WD6 installation info might exist and (if registry) what it might be called??

I've got to the point where I'm contemplating reinstalling Win 7 x64 to clear the problem. However, that's really 'last resort' stuff and I'd prefer not to have to go that way. Talk about having to use a Hammer to crack a nut....

Belated Season Greetings to all & my fingers are firmly crossed for some assistance.

Best Regards

TD

[Deltapete]

Hi TD,
I would try a system restore to be fore you un-installed WD6
Then browse to this directory
C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Xara\WebDesigner\6.0\Backups

Cut (ctrl x) the contents then paste to a new folder on your desktop. Then try opening WD6 again.
Hope this helps
Peter

[Technoir Design]

Thanks for your suggestion Peter. Much appreciated. I may indeed try that.

In the interim I went for another option, which was to download a trial copy of Xara Designer Pro 6. That installed no problem and does allow me to open the other .web files that I previously couldn't access. It's a temporary solution though as I only have 30 day trial and I don't think my budget runs to a copy of the software. It does look pretty good so far though...

Best Regards

TD

[Technoir Design]

Hi Everyone,
I'm still in the same predicament regards reinstallation of WD6 - so I would really appreciate some help.

I had a think about @Deltapete's suggestion and I think that would leve me in the same situation as I started. If I get WD6 back via a previous restore point then it will still get stuck trying to reopen the same .web file that started the whole problem.

Anybody got any ideas about where the WD6 installer gets it's information about currently installed versions of the product? If it's the registry, can someone provide the name of the key or variable please?

Thanks & Very Best Regards

TD

[Christine Farrelly]

When you start to install it should offer you the option to repair - try that.

Christine

[handrawn]

one way to avoid the program trying to open the last web file is to open a different one directly by clicking on it

or you could try removing the web file [and the program generated backups] so that the program cannot find them when it starts, and it should default to a new document

once you are in the program you should be able to disable the open last document automatically function in options

so having said that - going back to a restore is the first thing I would try - especially as you have been removing lots of stuff from the registry

good luck

having got back to the restore point I would


back up the registry
try the above steps to open web designer
if it still won't go then try uninstalling it with the windows uninstall routine [what is the attraction of a third party uninstaller?] and reinstalling



EDIT - just seen Christine's post - yes you can try that first - good suggestion

[Technoir Design]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I will try some of these and report back.

One thing, I did initially try to get WD6 to open another file directly but it also tried to open the last file opened as well - so I got the same result. I also now plan to try expandxar on the problem file to see if that helps.

Since my last post I have decided that I needed a backup machine and thus have purchased one and installed WD6 on it. At least I have some additional options now and won't have to worry about 'down time' if something happens like this in the future. I'll just have to consider it a late Xmas present to myself.

I suppose that means I used a very expensive 'new' hammer to partially crack this nut. Now I just have to get access to the data in that .web file. I'd prefer not to have to redo my last weeks work...

Very Best Regards

TD

[Soquili]

Hi TD,

I see no one else had mentioned this:

If you are comfortable editing the Registry you can turn off the Restore on Startup feature.


Close WD6 then edit the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Xara\WebDesigner\6.0\Op tions\Workspace\RestoreOnStartup key and make the value 0.

When you restart WD6 it will not try loading any previously open files.

[Technoir Design]

Hi Soquili,
thanks for the tip. I shall certainly use that in future to avoid any similar issue. However, I have already removed every instance of data from the registry that had a Xara reference in it in an attempt to re-install WD6. My main problem now is that the installer still thinks that the product is installed on my laptop - when it has been removed (albeit manually). As I explained in my original post it's been quite a catalogue of unfortuante circumstances... Now I need to unwind it.

I suppose that reverting to an earlier system restore point and setting the registry as you have suggested might indeed do the trick.

Thank You for your help.

Best Regards

TD

[Technoir Design]

OK. Just tried reverting to an earlier restore point. For whatever reason WD6 was not restored and my trial copy of Designer Pro 6 has been corrupted in the process. The catalogue of unfortunate circumstances continues! What an awesome end to 2010!!

Jeez!!! I just hope 2011 brings some better success with technical matters..

On that note let me wish everybody at Talk Graphics (and especially those who have helped me during the year) a very Happy New Year !!!!

I think I'll go have a beer and watch some New Year Fireworks now!!!!


Best Regards

TD