Roxio Article 000127CR “Clean Install Instructions for Creator 9 on Windows Vista” (will refer to it as “Article” in the balance of this message.) may work for Vista 32 bit, but is fatally flawed for Vista 64 bit. Along with many others, I have found that EMC 9.0 has serious flaws when attempting to use it in Vista. I have made three attempts to install and use EMC 9.0 in Vista 64 bit. The second and third attempts followed the Article instructions. In order to help Roxio improve its product, I will document the problems I found with the Article.
Step1
The Article states that Roxio and Sonic programs should be removed by using "Add or remove programs" in Control Panel. This did not remove the programs. The article says, if the programs were not removed, use Windows Installer Clean Up Utility to remove EMC9 from the list of installed programs, but it does not remove the program either.
Discussion: The default location for the program is folder “Program files(x86)”, but Clean Up does not recognize this. Another post on your forum suggested this is a problem with Windows Installer and Clean Up Utility and not Roxio’s problem. However, Roxio has created the Article that says to use this utility.
Step 2 Works OK
Step 3
Does remove Roxio in folder C:\Program files, but does not remove Roxio in folder C:\Program files(x86). Roxio must be removed from this folder. Does remove Roxio Shared in folder C:\Program\Common files, does not remove Roxio Shared in folder C:\Program files(x86) \Common files. Roxio must be removed from this folder. There are also Roxio files in the following folders: Windows, Windows\System32, Windows\System32\DLA, Windows\System32\SysWOW64 and maybe others. For a “Clean Install”, I assume these files also need to be deleted.
Discussion: After completing the three steps in the Article, the program is still installed on the computer and some of the functions still work.
Step 4
After completing this step there are approximately 4,800 Roxio items and 800 Sonic items still remaining in registry. For a “Clean Install” these items also need to be removed.
Discussion: The first time I used the Article I did not document the time involved, or the number of registry entries that had to be removed for a “Clean Install”. I do remember that it took many hours to remove Roxio entries in the registry. With my experience in problem solving as a professional engineer, I developed a plan to document the problems with the process. I created a keyboard macro that semi-automated the remove of each Roxio entry. It also worked to remove Sonic. I timed the removal of a single entry. It took only 2 seconds. I then removed entries over a timed interval and learned that the average was about 3 seconds per entry removed. That equates to 20 entries per minute. It took 4 hours (in two 2 hours sessions) to remove all of the Roxio entries, and 40 minutes to remove all of the Sonic entries. While one might challenge the total numbers of entries removed, the fact remains that it took 4 hours and 40 minutes to complete the “uninstall” after following all of the steps in the Article.
Tom I urge you to immediately change the Article and state that it will not work with Vista 64 bit. (Based on what was removed from the registry in step 4, I doubt that it works with Vista 32 bit, also.)
Your tech support people advise your customers having problems with EMC to uninstall and do a “clean install” per the Article. It is likely that the Windows Installer and Windows Installer Clean Up Utility is flawed. If Roxio expects people to install the EMC 6.1 patch, or the full version of 6.1 over 6.0, it is essential that Roxio provides an “Uninstall Utility” that works for both Vista 32 bit and Vista 64 bit. Relying on Windows Installer Clean Up does not appear to be part of the solution. Your software developers know every Roxio entry in the registry. They also know where files are located in the folders. They should be able to develop an Uninstall Utility that removes every Roxio entry and file. I know that a few years ago Symantec did provide that kind of utility for their products.
Keith Goodwin, P.E.
Update on August 15
After one week, the Article is unchanged.
Update August 23
On August 8 Tom posted the following: "I work in Product Management. The article was written by our Customer Care department. I'll ask the appropriate people to review this article and your findings. Thanks for your detailed feedback."
I first alerted Roxio Customer Care in June that the instructions do not work for Vista 64 bit. Guess they don't listen to Tom either.
Question
Goodwin
Tom,
Roxio Article 000127CR “Clean Install Instructions for Creator 9 on Windows Vista” (will refer to it as “Article” in the balance of this message.) may work for Vista 32 bit, but is fatally flawed for Vista 64 bit. Along with many others, I have found that EMC 9.0 has serious flaws when attempting to use it in Vista. I have made three attempts to install and use EMC 9.0 in Vista 64 bit. The second and third attempts followed the Article instructions. In order to help Roxio improve its product, I will document the problems I found with the Article.
Step1
The Article states that Roxio and Sonic programs should be removed by using "Add or remove programs" in Control Panel. This did not remove the programs. The article says, if the programs were not removed, use Windows Installer Clean Up Utility to remove EMC9 from the list of installed programs, but it does not remove the program either.
Discussion: The default location for the program is folder “Program files(x86)”, but Clean Up does not recognize this. Another post on your forum suggested this is a problem with Windows Installer and Clean Up Utility and not Roxio’s problem. However, Roxio has created the Article that says to use this utility.
Step 2 Works OK
Step 3
Does remove Roxio in folder C:\Program files, but does not remove Roxio in folder C:\Program files(x86). Roxio must be removed from this folder. Does remove Roxio Shared in folder C:\Program\Common files, does not remove Roxio Shared in folder C:\Program files(x86) \Common files. Roxio must be removed from this folder. There are also Roxio files in the following folders: Windows, Windows\System32, Windows\System32\DLA, Windows\System32\SysWOW64 and maybe others. For a “Clean Install”, I assume these files also need to be deleted.
Discussion: After completing the three steps in the Article, the program is still installed on the computer and some of the functions still work.
Step 4
After completing this step there are approximately 4,800 Roxio items and 800 Sonic items still remaining in registry. For a “Clean Install” these items also need to be removed.
Discussion: The first time I used the Article I did not document the time involved, or the number of registry entries that had to be removed for a “Clean Install”. I do remember that it took many hours to remove Roxio entries in the registry. With my experience in problem solving as a professional engineer, I developed a plan to document the problems with the process. I created a keyboard macro that semi-automated the remove of each Roxio entry. It also worked to remove Sonic. I timed the removal of a single entry. It took only 2 seconds. I then removed entries over a timed interval and learned that the average was about 3 seconds per entry removed. That equates to 20 entries per minute. It took 4 hours (in two 2 hours sessions) to remove all of the Roxio entries, and 40 minutes to remove all of the Sonic entries. While one might challenge the total numbers of entries removed, the fact remains that it took 4 hours and 40 minutes to complete the “uninstall” after following all of the steps in the Article.
Tom I urge you to immediately change the Article and state that it will not work with Vista 64 bit. (Based on what was removed from the registry in step 4, I doubt that it works with Vista 32 bit, also.)
Your tech support people advise your customers having problems with EMC to uninstall and do a “clean install” per the Article. It is likely that the Windows Installer and Windows Installer Clean Up Utility is flawed. If Roxio expects people to install the EMC 6.1 patch, or the full version of 6.1 over 6.0, it is essential that Roxio provides an “Uninstall Utility” that works for both Vista 32 bit and Vista 64 bit. Relying on Windows Installer Clean Up does not appear to be part of the solution. Your software developers know every Roxio entry in the registry. They also know where files are located in the folders. They should be able to develop an Uninstall Utility that removes every Roxio entry and file. I know that a few years ago Symantec did provide that kind of utility for their products.
Keith Goodwin, P.E.
Update on August 15
After one week, the Article is unchanged.
Update August 23
On August 8 Tom posted the following: "I work in Product Management. The article was written by our Customer Care department. I'll ask the appropriate people to review this article and your findings. Thanks for your detailed feedback."
I first alerted Roxio Customer Care in June that the instructions do not work for Vista 64 bit. Guess they don't listen to Tom either.
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