Running the Uninstall Software action

Uninstall Software is an action you can run from a Windows computer's Lansweeper webpage and that allows you to remotely uninstall software from the machine. The Uninstall Software tool does not require any Lansweeper software to be installed on the target computer you're removing applications from.

The Uninstall Software tool is free and no longer requires a license. If you are getting an error that you have an unregistered version of the tool and are limited to 60 seconds of use, download the latest version of Uninstall Software, which does not require a license.
Uninstall Software has become obsolete since the arrival of Lansweeper 5.2, which includes software deployment features. As deployment packages can uninstall software as well, the Uninstall Software tool will no longer be updated or supported.

Uninstall Software requirements

To use the Uninstall Software tool, the following requirements must be met:

  • The machine initiating the session and the target must be in trusted domains.
  • The user running the Uninstall Software executable or clicking the Uninstall Software action must have administrative privileges on the target machine. To run Uninstall Software under a different user, follow these instructions. Scanning credentials submitted in the web console are *not* used to run the Uninstall Software tool or other actions.
  • The Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service, found in Windows Services, must be started on the target machine.
    Scanning credentials submitted in the web console are *not* used to run the Uninstall Software tool or other actions. The user account your web browser is running under is used to run actions. In most cases, this is the account you logged into Windows with. To run Uninstall Software or other actions as a different user, follow the instructions in this knowledge base article.

Setting up the Uninstall Software action

To set up the Uninstall Software action, do the following:

  1. Add the RemoteUninst executable to the Action Path folder listed in the web console under Configuration\Asset Pages. Your Action Path indicates where the web console tries to locate your action scripts and executables. By default, the Lansweeper installer shares the following folder on your Lansweeper server as lansweeper$ and uses that as the Action Path: Program Files (x86)\Lansweeper\Actions
    RemoteUninst.exe in the Actions folder
  2. Add the action below to the Configuration\Asset Pages section of the web console. {smartname} is a placeholder for the computer's FQDN or NetBIOS name.
    {actionpath}RemoteUninst.exe {smartname}
    Asset Pages menu
    adding an asset action
    setting up the Uninstall Software action
  3. Make sure your browser is properly configured to run asset actions.
    - Configuration instructions for Internet Explorer can be found in this knowledge base article.
    - Configuration instructions for Mozilla Firefox can be found in this knowledge base article.
    - Configuration instructions for Google Chrome can be found in this knowledge base article.

Running the Uninstall Software action

Once you've verified that your machines and Lansweeper installation are configured correctly, do the following to run the Uninstall Software tool:

  1. Browse to a Windows computer's Lansweeper page.
    accessing a Windows computer webpage
  2. Hit the Uninstall Software button under Advanced actions and then hit Yes if you are prompted to confirm.
    running the Uninstall Software action
  3. The Uninstall Software window opens. There are 3 types of software packages:
    software packages in Uninstall Software
    MSI package MSI packages: these packages follow Microsoft standards for (un)installation and can be uninstalled using the MSIexec command. Adding the /QN /NORESTART parameters to the command makes the uninstall invisible to the target machine. When you select an MSI package and hit Uninstall Selected, the uninstall command is automatically formed. You can then simply hit Uninstall to proceed.
    custom, non-MSI package Custom packages: these packages do not follow Microsoft standards for (un)installation and require additional parameters in order to be uninstalled silently. You must consult the software publisher's documentation to see if any parameters are available. When you select a custom package and hit the Uninstall Selected button, you are prompted to add parameters to the uninstall command.
    locked package Locked packages: these packages cannot be uninstalled. Some software publishers do not allow their software to be uninstalled, as doing so might break Windows functionality.

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