WebMaximus 320 Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Yesterday I thought I would update Split X to the latest version so I went into Control Panel-Programs & Features to uninstall the old version and was very surprised when I noticed lots of my programs were missing in the list of installed programs including all my Aerosoft sceneries. Later on I asked about this in a Windows 10 forum and was told another place to look for my programs is under Settings-System-Apps & Features and I did find some programs in that list but no Aerosoft sceneries. I noticed there's an uninstall entry under All Programs menu and the entry for Split X which in my case happens to be named simply aerosoft - and that's it but I verified it indeed is for Split X by opening the Manual entry found under that group. I don't know but since I started using Windows 10 there seems to be lots of these kind of issues and I'm not sure really what the reason for this is. I guess Microsoft changed a couple of things in how your applications/programs are listed once installed meaning if you don't follow the new Windows 10 standard when building an installer for your software you might end up having all these kind of issues. Anyone else noticed how the list of installed programs changed with lots of stuff missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emi 5161 Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Do you use some kind of a Migration Tool for P3D? These can cause such issues when enabling/disabling the virtual FSX mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus 320 Posted June 18, 2016 Author Share Posted June 18, 2016 Just found this one and guess that's what happened in my case as well... So now that the uninstaller for the previous version of Split X seems to have corrupted my list of installed programs is there any way for me to restore/rebuild the list without having to reinstall everything on my computer including Windows? 2 minutes ago, Emanuel Hagen said: Do you use some kind of a Migration Tool for P3D? These can cause such issues when enabling/disabling the virtual FSX mode. Nope, this is a clean installation of P3Dv3 with no FSX on my disk. However I think I might have found the culprit as mentioned in my previous post above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus 320 Posted June 18, 2016 Author Share Posted June 18, 2016 Looking at the thread I linked in my post above I just wanted to ask what the solution is to the problem since you have marked that topic as 'Solved'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted June 19, 2016 Aerosoft Share Posted June 19, 2016 I will ask Andreas (he makes the installer) to respond to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus 320 Posted June 19, 2016 Author Share Posted June 19, 2016 Thanks Mathijs but as I understood it once you already used the uninstaller for Split X ver 1.41 you're pretty much screwed where a complete reinstallation of your computer is the only way to have a complete list of your installed applications again. Sure I still hope for some miraculous way to rebuild the list but right now it's looking like I'll spend most of next week reinstalling my computer trying to get it back to its current state minus this issue looking at Windows, P3D, all my add-ons plus a number of other applications I'm using. Just need to make sure I have all my latest configurations and settings well documented before I wipe the PC. What's so annoying with this issue is it won't show up until next time you look at the list of installed applications. That's why I had this issue since the day I upgraded Split X from 1.41-1.42 without even knowing about it meaning it's also included in my image backups rendering those useless. Normally whenever I face an issue I can't find a quick fix for I simply revert to my latest image backup meaning I'm back in a good situation within a couple of minutes. This time that's not possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted June 20, 2016 Aerosoft Share Posted June 20, 2016 It is indeed a very nasty issue, one that is not reversible as far as we know. If you contact us on support@aerosoft.com we'll at least make sure you got some goodies. Fortunately we have seen only a very limited amount of downloads. Just to be clear, you should not remove the old version of Split, just install the new version over it. This will fully avoid the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus 320 Posted June 20, 2016 Author Share Posted June 20, 2016 Thanks Mathijs, I appreciate that. Good to know not too many people ended up in the same situation Rob and I did but maybe it would still be a good idea for you to send out an email to warn about this for anyone still on 1.41 so they don't uninstall the scenery using the uninstallation program. I always learned the best way to upgrade a product is to first uninstall the current version before you install the new version unless there's a proper upgrade install file which is rarely/never the case with these products. They mostly come with a full installer. Actually I have a good friend of mine within the community who is also currently on 1.41 and was about to uninstall it to upgrade to the new 1.43 version and he was very thankful I warned him about this before it was too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydney1962 35 Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Hello Matthijs , I am am sure there will be more people involved then the few who makes a topic about this I also lost 2 weeks of works to get things working again, my last restauration point was 15 may 2016 because of all the issue with Apcontrol with Prague and split involved waited for update until this was finally settled, but aswell v1.41 and V1.42 of split has this issue. because advise of aerosoft this Always to uninstall old versions before installing the update, this screwed up to sim, because also non sim related programs are removed aswell. what options can aerosoft offer to get things back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted June 20, 2016 Aerosoft Share Posted June 20, 2016 I am afraid there simply is no way to get things back, but contact us on support@aerosoft.com and we'll see what we can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus 320 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Share Posted June 21, 2016 On 6/20/2016 at 11:40 AM, Mathijs Kok said: Just to be clear, you should not remove the old version of Split, just install the new version over it. This will fully avoid the issue. Mathijs, Just wanted you to confirm if this recommendation above is a general one from now on for any of your airports or exclusively for Split X version 1.41 to avoid the issue discussed? Also now that I'm about to reinstall everything I'll still like to use Split X so is the latest version of Split X (1.43) 100% safe both to install and uninstall should I decide to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydney1962 35 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 V1.43 is safe to install, have tried out to install over existing V1.42 and everyting is there. maybe an option before installing from scratch is to see if there is in older recovery point in windows available, that takes you down back, but maybe less work then start all over again. I have since this issue made also a complete backup from my registry saved on USB stick. have never done this before but maybe useful for future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus 320 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Share Posted June 21, 2016 Thanks for the info 1.43 seems to be good as well as the tips checking for old recovery points but fact is I don't use the internal system protection in Windows but a more advanced software. Unfortunately that didn't save me this time since I didn't noticed the problem until it was too late and I already updated my backup image. I say more about this in post #6 above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Ainscough 204 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Like Mathijs has indicated, there is no "solution" once the registry damage is done. Unfortunately it will impact your P3D/FSX install and may cause SimConnect issues, FRAPS issues, and many other issues for those products you have installed that are now missing from Add Remove Programs. If one has been impacted by this I would recommend: 1. If you do regular restore points (recent), then use a restore point to bring your system back to the state prior to Split X uninstall, then just install Split X 1.43 2. If you have no restore point, then use a complete system backup (recent) if you have one and restore that 3. If you don't have a viable restore point or system backup, then I'm afraid a complete OS wipe is in order (this is my situation) NOTE: for P3D users, since you are no longer be able to use the Control Panel to uninstall P3D or update P3D, you will need to use the original P3D "Setup.exe" you used to install P3D, execute this "Setup.exe" and it should find that P3D package cache and will provide a button to uninstall P3D ... if you don't see the "uninstall" button then you are unfortunately not going to be able to deactivate your P3D license. So on a re-install of P3D you "may" run into license count issues and will have to contact LM for a reset. Cheers, Rob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted June 21, 2016 Aerosoft Share Posted June 21, 2016 And always contact support@aerosoft.com.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydney1962 35 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Hello Rob, do you maybe know where is list of installed programs is saved in windows register, because I have searched to find the place where this list of installed programs is registered, but couldn't find it. what also is interesting how an uninstaller from aerosoft, removes not only the aerosoft sceneries but also non sim programs, because from the 80 installed programs in total, there were only 10 left, and not the first 10 in the list, but a mix of the total list, I am curious to know how this can happen. rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bell 144 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Hi everyone, Been following this thread silently; I don’t have a solution that’s fits all… But I do have a suggestion that could help in some cases to some extent! If it’s just a handful of programs one is looking to uninstall or restore missing entries; there is a way to do that! Since it’s just a default registry entries; everyone gets the same, one can be exported from one PC; than imported to another! (provided the same OS and path were used) Below is where these entries can be found in the registry, Please login to display this image. Good luck, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus 320 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Share Posted June 21, 2016 16 minutes ago, sydney1962 said: What also is interesting how an uninstaller from aerosoft, removes not only the aerosoft sceneries but also non sim programs, because from the 80 installed programs in total, there were only 10 left, and not the first 10 in the list, but a mix of the total list, I am curious to know how this can happen. This is something I'm wondering too. Not that it really matters when the harm is already done, more out of curiosity what really happens "behind the scenes" and why. Indeed it's weird how programs not even related to flight sim take a hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bell 144 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 thats easy to explain, a misspell in the installer script could end up deleting the wrong registry entry (as show in my post above) here is a live example; i just deleted my own Uninstall main registry entry then restored it, note 71 programs initially, after manual delete 49 (i restored my pre backed up entry and im back with 71) Please login to display this image. Please login to display this image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus 320 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Share Posted June 21, 2016 OK, I'm not a developer so I still don't fully understand how a misspelled registry entry can delete lots of entries that weren't supposed to be deleted but never mind. Thanks though for trying to explain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deputy Sheriffs Tom A320 4915 Posted June 21, 2016 Deputy Sheriffs Share Posted June 21, 2016 Richard, it is comparable with a delete *.* from former DOS times, instead of a delete specific_file.xyz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bell 144 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 25 minutes ago, WebMaximus said: OK, I'm not a developer so I still don't fully understand how a misspelled registry entry can delete... i'm aware; i was trying not to get too technical there in none technical (and lets not forget this is unintentional human error); its not the registry entry itself that deletes the other entries! its likely the installer when it tries to place the entry there for the new program, or during uninstall as Tom mentioned; a wildcard could have accidentally issued to delete the wrong registry path and its sub directories during uninstall; when the entry is deleted from there by the uninstaller, technically speaking a missing comma or a space in the wrong place is enough to cause this, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus 320 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Share Posted June 21, 2016 Ah, thanks Tom! Then I fully understand but that to me sounds really crazy why you would use wildcards to uninstall a specific product rather than using the exact name of the product you intend to uninstall. Nothing to do with a misspelled name really. Well, no need I guess to take this any further. What happened happened and good thing this issue came out in the open before more people were affected and hopefully those of us spending this week reinstalling our computers can look forward to some goodies at the end of the tunnel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bell 144 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 4 minutes ago, WebMaximus said: that to me sounds really crazy why you would use wildcards to uninstall a specific product rather than using the exact name of the product thats because we know in advance that we need to delete everything under a single folder, which is normally the case with our type of software; there is no point in indicating each file to be deleted under a single folder if the whole folder needs to be deleted anyway, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus 320 Posted June 21, 2016 Author Share Posted June 21, 2016 Got it, thanks Chris for taking time explaining! Scary how such a small mistake can have such huge consequences! Hopefully lesson learned is to always include installing and uninstalling in the beta process from now on to catch these kind of things before the product is released to the public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.