HELP, I am unable to uninstall Pro Tools LE 7.3!!

[PT7USER]

Up until recently, my Pro Tools worked flawlessly (PT LE 7.3.1). I just went to fire it up the other day and the application would not launch. Many hours of troubleshooting later...I don't know what else to do. I have an incomplete installation of PT LE 7.3 (was finally able to uninstall 7.3.1, but when I reinstalled 7.3, it just hung and wouldn't fully install. It used to work FINE, but recently stopped for some unknown reason. I've searched and searched DUC and the Digidesign.com web sites for answers. The tech people even sent me a "fix" to uninstall 7.3, which didn't work. I've also used the instructions for manually uninstalling 7.3, to no avail. I'm very tech savvy, so I don't believe it's stupid user syndrome. How do you get a partially or corrupt installation off the computer????? I can't install and I can't uninstall. There's nothing in Add/Remove Programs that shows an installation of Pro Tools. The system is worthless to me in this state. Please start with the assumption that my computer is not the problem (Windows XP Professional, Dell, Pentium 4, 2 GB RAM, two 160-GB hard drives). All of my other applications are running fine. What can I do???!!! I own the downloaded PT LE 7.3 and 7.3.1 software which resides on my Desktop.

[DigiTechSupt]

The tech people even sent me a "fix" to uninstall 7.3, which didn't work.

Are you saying you spoke to someone in tech support here at Digi?

Which 'fix' did they send you - the actual Pro Tools Uninstaller utility or did they give you instructions on how to use the '-fix' command in the Run dialog?

[PT7USER]

I went to Digidesign.com and submitted my problem to the tech support folks. I got a response from them last night with several links included in the email. The first link was for an "unsupported" fix that you used to get PT to uninstall. You basically add "-fix" to the end of the Setup.exe command. This did not work. It just hung and didn't remove anything. The second link was what you do after the uninstall. I was to first reinstall version 7.3, then follow the link to the 7.3.1cs6 download. After that, I was to download the Support Tech folder or something that would help troubleshoot or remove preferences or something (sorry, I'm doing this from memory). I found something on Digidesign.com that explained how to manually uninstall PT LE 7.3 (in preparation to install version 7.4). This involved some registry hacks. I followed the instructions, but that didn't work either. I'm stumped.

[DigiTechSupt]

Did you install Pro Tools to the same drive as your OS? Installing it to a different drive can sometimes cause issues like this.

Have you tried the Uninstall Utility?

If not - try it and see if it helps.

[PT7USER]

Thank you for your help. The main Pro Tools programs and plug-ins (Strike, !Xpand, etc.) reside on my C: drive, same drive as my OS. My songs and some other folders reside on the D: drive. Will this uninstaller remove EVERYTHING from the Digidesign folder on my C: drive? I don't want to lose all my plug-ins. I just want it to remove the program files and device drivers, which will be reinstalled (hopefully) once the uninstall is complete. Then I'm back to my original problem of getting LE 7.3 to successfully install!

[DigiTechSupt]

You can move the Plug-Ins folder and any other folders you want to keep out to your desktop or somewhere else for safekeeping before running the utilty. After reinstalling, you can replace the plug-ins folder with the one on your desktop.

[PT7USER]

Thank you for the information. As you recommended, I will move folders like: Strike, Xpand!, and several others that are currently under the Digidesign folder (c:\programfiles\digidesign). I trust that all the other software I had to install when I first installed Pro Tools LE will not be removed when I use the PT Uninstaller??? (The Ignition Pack: Reason Adapted 3, Ableton Live Lite 4 Digidesign Edition, SampleTank2 SE, Amplitube LE, TrackS EQ, BFD Lite, Melodyne)? I don't want to have to reinstall all of these. Can you comment? From other posts I've read, I may still have issues even after running PT Uninstaller, but I'll keep the faith!!

[DigiTechSupt]

As long as you move the Plug-Ins and Plug-In settings folder from C:\program files\common files\digidesign\dae\ and keep it in a safe place, those plug-ins will stay installed. After using the uninstaller and reinstalling, just move the Plug-Ins and Plug-In Settings folders back to that directory (let it overwrite what's there, or just copy over the ones that weren't reinstalled with Pro Tools).

[PT7USER]

I decided to finish this thread so if others in the future have this problem they can read what I did to fix the problem. I'm going to make a long story short. What I finally ended up doing was moving the entire DAE folder onto my desktop (to replace after the reinstall). You recommended moving the plug-ins and plug-ins settings folders only. I used the PT Uninstaller (a couple of times), but it finally uninstalled successfully. Then I reinstalled LE 7.3 and 7.3.1. Unfortunately, it still didn't work! No surprise there. Okay, I had read that I may have to create a new user profile and install under the new profile name. I wasn't keen on the idea at first, but have since decided that it's not as bad as I thought. When I'm recording I will be logged in as the new user profile PTUSER. I can still have my regular account logged in simply switch between users if I need to check email or whatever. So, it actually makes more sense to do it that way. ANYWAY, once I created the new PTUSER user (with admin level privileges), I installed LE 7.3 successfully. I then copied the DAE folder back overtop of the DAE folder in c:\programs files\common files\digidesign\ folder. I think I then reinstalled the 7.3.1 update after that (in that order). After the required reboots, Pro Tools actually loaded under the new profile, but still wouldn't run when logged in as the old profile name (although, all my other apps work flawlessly under the original profile login name). I called up a few songs but I now had a new problem!! Any track that had Xpand! recorded would not play back. I happened to have Xpand! on a CD so I reinstalled it and then the Xpand! tracks worked. I seemed to recall that Xpand! was included in 7.3.1 release, but I must have been mistaken. I've played several of the songs and things seem to be working. I'm not fully confident that everything is back and working, but time will tell. This chapter can now be closed. Now I know what to do to reinstall when your software becomes corrrupt (or profile or whatever it was). The biggest frustration is all the hours it took to get to the right procedure to fix the thing. Whoever it was that helped me through this, thanks for your input. Do you do consulting work on the side on a per-incident basis??? If so, please email me with your contact information!! Any final comments for me? Was it okay to copy the entire DAE folder back over?

[DigiTechSupt]

The problem you're having with your other account is because there's an account related preference or file that's causing problems for Pro Tools. Good call on using a new account - it's something we recommend for troubleshooting, as we see this issue pop up every now and then.

As for moving the entire DAE folder - in this case, it's OK, as it seems to work. Normally you wouldn't UNLESS you make sure to delete the DAE Prefs file before using the new account, otherwise the prefs file could cause issues with the new install/account.

All in all, I think you're fine. Glad it's working again...!