Thank You Internet!

the_Grinch

We use MozyPro at work to do individual backups for each of our users. It really has been great thus far. It requires not interaction on the user's end, the client upgrades itself, and restores can be done locally or through the online console. Another great feature is we get reports of backups that are failing on a consistent basis. My boss and I (along with the VP from time to time) review the report to see which ones aren't working. Recently we've had three that keep failing. Generally this tends to be because the client is failing to update, so uninstalling and reinstalling will do the trick.

Well the one I was working on would just not uninstall. Each time I tried, it would request that I point it to an msi file. So I did the following:

1. Found a forum post that said if you opened the installer exe with 7zip you could extract the msi and it would work - this didn't work
2. Another post pointed to an uninstaller made by Mozy to remove the program manually - ran it and it didn't really remove it, continued to get the error
3. Contacted Mozy support and they provided another uninstaller - ran it and this too did not work

I was losing my mind because at this point it appeared I had not recourse and this user hadn't had a solid backup in a week (they help students enroll and are always on the phone/computer along with working weird hours it hard to work with them to fix issues). I went back to Google since calling Mozy with at the right time was going to be hard. I ran across a post where someone discussed manually removing some registry keys and process (steps pasted below):

Please note that these steps are expected to be taken when all other options for removal have failed. This uninstall process involves manual removal of registry entries, so ensure that for each registry entry deleted, you make a backup copy of that entry. To make a backup copy of a registry entry, highlight the entry or key, and then select File from the menu above, and select Export. If you have any questions about this process, or things don't match expectations given by this article, please consult with the L2 or L3 staff.

First, removal of registry entries tied to the Mozy install:
1. Open regedit.exe
2. Locate and delete one or more Mozy registry sub-keys under [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products]
Search through the sub-keys for any item labeled as Mozy. If none are found, search for any items that do not have a ProductName. If you find an item missing a ProductName entry, check the location pointed to by the ProductIcon entry. If that location displays the Mozy icon, then this is the sub-key you'll want to remove.
3. Locate and delete the registry key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\mozypro]
If you transfered or upgraded from a 32bit version of Windows to a 64bit version, you will need to perform the same operation on the key at [HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\mozypro]. The Wow6432Node contains the 32bit versions of programs installed on a 64bit version of Windows.
4. Locate and delete one or more Mozy registry sub-keys under [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall]
you'll have to search through the subkeys, and find the Mozy entry. Delete this sub-key.
5. Locate and delete the registry key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\mozypro]
Now that registry entries have been handled, we'll deal with the services.

6. Open a command prompt.
7. Type sc delete mozyprobackup and sc delete mozyprofilter.
You may receive an error on one or more of these deletes, as these services may have already been deleted, or have been scheduled to be deleted, after any previous uninstall attempt. In such a case you may safely disregard the error messages. DON'T CLOSE THE COMMAND PROMPT! You will need that in a second.

8. Open the Windows Task Manager.
9. Within the Task Manager, End Process on explorer.exe, and mozystat.exe or mozyprostat.exe (dependent on the version of Mozy).

This will lose you access to the desktop, but you can use the command prompt to perform the remaining steps.

10. Type cd \"Program Files", then press enter.
11. Type rename MozyHome oldMozyHome or rename MozyPro oldMozyPro (dependent on the version of Mozy installed), and press enter.
12. Type explorer.exe, then press enter.

The desktop should have reappeared.

13. Reboot.


Then try your install.

**Note this was posted by a Mozy Engineer**

I got the user to give me an hour (it took 15 minutes) and bam got the old client removed and new client installed. Successful backup and now a fix for the other two! Thank you Google!

RomBUS

Next time try to use an uninstaller software like Revo Uninstaller Pro (trial). It does a really good job cleaning up the registry entries of the programs installed with it. Just something to keep in the back pocket

the_Grinch

Sweet, will definitely keep that in mind for next time.

crrussell3

The MSI Cleanup Utility is great for removing failed install/uninstall reg keys so you can reinstall. Its from Microsoft and its actually what Java says to use for failed uninstalls.