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Q240350: HOWTO: Manually Uninstall the MSDN Library

Article: Q240350
Product(s): Microsoft Developer Network
Version(s): 
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbHTMLHelp kbMSDN kbDSupport kbGrpDSTools
Last Modified: 03-JUL-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) 
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IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you 
modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore 
the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the 
registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SUMMARY
=======

This article describes procedures for manually removing the MSDN Library as well
as any other HTML Help collections installed on the system.

NOTE: Only use these steps as a last resort. When possible, the MSDN Library
should be removed and/or reinstalled using Control Panel's Add/Remove
application.

MORE INFORMATION
================

WARNING: These steps will remove all HTML Help collections from the system. This
includes but is not limited to the MSDN Library installations and the Platform
SDK Documentation. All customizations for these collections will be lost.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems
that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot
guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor
incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

If the operating system is Windows 2000, first change the settings to view all
the hidden files and folders on the system:

1. Open Windows Explorer.

2. From the Tools menu, choose Folder Options.

3. Choose the View tab in the Folder Options dialog box.

4. Under Advanced settings, select the Show hidden files and folders option.

The following steps will completely remove all HTML Help collections from the
system:

1. Use Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel to uninstall all MSDN Library
  installations listed.

2. Use Add/Remove Programs to uninstall any other HTML Help collections, such as
  the Platform SDK Documentation.

3. On the Start menu, point to Find, and click Files or Folders.

4. Search for and delete all occurrences of the following files on your hard
  disk:

Hhcolreg.dat
Hh.dat

5. Delete the installation folders for any MSDN Libraries. The default folders
  are as follows:

Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\MSDN98 (for the MSDN Library for Visual Studio 6.0)
Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\MSDN (for the MSDN Quarterly Library releases)

6. Search for "MSDN*" (without the quotation marks) on your hard disk, and then
  delete all instances of files or folders that are found.

7. Use Regedit.exe to delete any instance of the key for MSDN Library under the
  following key:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

  WARNING - Do not delete the entire key, only those subkeys for MSDN, such as:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\MSDN
  Library - January 2000)

8. Use Regedit.exe to delete the following registry key if it exists:

  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTML Help Collections

9. Manually uninstall and update HTML Help. The MSDN Library is dependent on
  HTML Help for its functionality.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q201420 HOWTO: Manually Uninstall and Update HTML Help

On Windows 2000, the above steps can cause problems for the Administrative Tools
(Microsoft Management Console [MMC], Services, Event Viewer, and so forth). The
Help files for these tools may not work. To fix this, you must also do the
following on Windows 2000:

1. Locate the path containing user profiles. By default this is located at
  C:\Documents and Settings. For an upgrade it may be located under <Windows
  Directory>\Profiles.

2. For each user, go to <User Profile Directory>\Local Settings\Temp.

3. Delete all collection files (.col) from this directory.

REFERENCES
==========

  Q216109 HOWTO: Troubleshoot MSDN Library Run-Time/Install/Uninstall Problems

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbHTMLHelp kbMSDN kbDSupport kbGrpDSTools 
Technology        : kbMSDNSearch kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : :
Issue type        : kbhowto

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