How to uninstall a program that was originally installed on a different drive?

Question

I have a C: drive where I have Windows 7 64 bit installed and I used to have a D: drive on which I installed Paint.NET. This D: drive doesn't exist any longer. When I go to Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features I still see the entry for Paint.NET, but I get an error after attempting to uninstall it: "The folder path contains an invalid character." I'm assuming that his is the result of the D: drive not existing any longer.

The reason I'm asking this question is because I get a fatal error when trying to install the newest version of Paint.NET.

How can I uninstall the registry entries (and other residual files) of the previous instance of Paint.NET without using any untrusted 3rd party tool?

Solution

I know you aren't inclined to try a 3rd party tool, but, I'd give Revo Uninstaller a try. It's pretty widely used and reliable. If you're still adverse to using a tool, you should proceed lightly because what I will list has some risks.

• Use Regedit to make a backup of your registry.
• Search for instances of "Paint.NET" in the registry. This could be keys or values. Delete any that you find.
• Try to install new version.

Again, I would recommend you use Revo because there's less opportunity for errors.

Comments

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

"How can I uninstall the registry entries (and other residual files) of the previous instance of Paint.NET without using any untrusted 3rd party tool?" Do it manually (make backups first). If you don't know what you're looking for, then you must trust a 3rd party (program or professional PC technician).

[Wuschelbeutel Kartoffelhuhn]

Thanks. I'll give REVO a shot. I've seen other guides on the web which reference an uninstaller from a blacklisted website. That previous question may be more general than the one I'm asking here because of my hanging pointers to an old disk.

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

Since you're now willing to try a 3rd party utility, then this is definitely a duplicate.