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installationnsisuninstallation
Ron Gross
Ron Gross

Reputation: 1624

NSIS Uninstaller does not delete directory

I am using NSIS for My Installer. When I uninstall, at the end I want to remove the installation directory and all it's content. I am using the following code

Delete "$INSTDIR\*.*" RMDir /r "$INSTDIR"

And I notice that the installer deletes all the files in the directory, and then crashes. (i've added log in between the lines and it is not called, The directory stays)

What could be the reason for it to crash like this? I've shutted down the service, and the process, and don't think that anything is in use.

Thank you

EDIT: Maybe it's because I am deleting the Uninstaller.exe? I tried calling ExecWait to a batch file that deletes the folder and it also stops working after the delete

Upvotes: 2

Views: 3813

Answers (3)

user2871188
user2871188

Reputation: 41

Here is a little snippet of my uninstaller section.

I would assume you must remove every single thing you create, so this isn't a wildcard solution.

Section Uninstall

Delete "$SMPROGRAMS\your app\Uninstall.lnk"

Delete "$DESKTOP\your app.lnk"

Delete "$SMPROGRAMS\your app\your app.lnk"


RMDir "$SMPROGRAMS\your app"

RMDir "$INSTDIR\folder"

RMDir "$INSTDIR"

SetAutoClose true

Section End

Upvotes: 3

DannyG
DannyG

Reputation: 241

Please refer to the official docs: https://nsis.sourceforge.io/Reference/RMDir

You have to specify /r flag to remove not empty directories and /REBOOTOK to remove any directories that can't be removed at run time and will be removed during OS reboot.

Additionally you can't delete current working directory that is set by SetOutPath command. You need to change it first. See my unistall section below:

Section "Uninstall"

  Delete "$DESKTOP\${PRODUCT_NAME}.lnk"
  Delete "$SMPROGRAMS\${COMPANY_NAME}\${PRODUCT_NAME}.lnk"
  Delete "$INSTDIR\${PRODUCT_NAME}.lnk"
  RMDir "$SMPROGRAMS\${COMPANY_NAME}"
  Delete "$INSTDIR\*.*"
  Delete "$INSTDIR\Uninstall.exe"
  SetOutPath "$PROGRAMFILES"
  RMDir /r /REBOOTOK "$INSTDIR"
  
  DeleteRegKey /ifempty HKCU "Software\your app name here"
  DeleteRegKey HKLM "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\your app name here"
SectionEnd

Upvotes: 6

M.Shaikh
M.Shaikh

Reputation: 250

I use this script to Uninstall all the files and delete the folder using NSIS.

Section "Uninstall"
    Delete "$INSTDIR\*.*"
    Delete "$INSTDIR\Uninstall.exe"
    DeleteRegKey /ifempty HKCU "Software\APPName"
    RMDir /r "$INSTDIR"
SectionEnd

Hope this helps.

Upvotes: 2

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