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I often get a problem with Windows Installer trying to uninstall a package, but it complains that:

The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable.

Is there a known means of uninstalling such packages when the original MSI is simply not available?

Peter Mortensen
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ProfK
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    See [**this answer**](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/450027/uninstalling-an-msi-file-from-the-command-line-without-using-msiexec/1055933#1055933) for a list of ways to uninstall MSI packages. – Stein Åsmul Oct 01 '14 at 14:33
  • See [**this answer**](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/208530/why-does-msi-require-the-original-msi-file-to-proceed-with-an-uninstall/1189524#1189524) for a **comprehensive explanation** of the cause of the problem (see the answer below too). – Stein Åsmul May 06 '15 at 08:24

7 Answers7

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Please note that Microsoft has now released an official tool to resolve these issues, without the problems that previously existed with MSIZAP.

saschabeaumont
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    since then it became deprecated – n611x007 Apr 23 '15 at 15:19
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    This works great. Lists a huge raft of 'old' apps that are clearly still handing around on your system. It does work. – adudley Jan 18 '17 at 16:17
  • For those who try this tool, please report back here whether it actually worked or not. – Stein Åsmul Jul 28 '17 at 02:35
  • @SteinÅsmul yep, works great. It allow me to uninstall jetbrains tray notifier tool which hasn't msi installer – chromigo Aug 03 '17 at 08:55
  • After Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, I could not install a newer version of Futuremark SystemInfo (comes with 3DMark) because it was failing on uninstalling the previous one, because the .msi was missing. This application fixed the issue. Thanks a lot. – Maxim Egorushkin Nov 02 '17 at 18:29
  • This tool did a great job, however, it can only repair one product at a time, and it takes a while. I have the problem that I have several corrupted installations, is there a batch-version available? – Erik Mar 19 '18 at 12:48
  • Worked on Windows 10 where CCleaner has failed. – Henrique de Sousa Mar 27 '19 at 22:00
  • The link above failed for me but googling "Microsoft Fixit" led to the uninstall helper/fixit tool. – Rich Apr 23 '19 at 14:00
  • the MS fixer works, it does takes time though, about 10-15 minutes!! – Arjan May 20 '19 at 13:57
  • this works! managed to install Microsoft.Azure.Compute.Emulator.Exe 2.9.5.2 – Aralox Jul 22 '19 at 02:57
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Take a look at a tool called MSIZap released by Microsoft.

UPDATE:

MsiZap.exe has been deprecated for quite some time. Its use is unsupported on all recent versions of Windows, and it is considered a very unsafe tool to use.

I added a link to a newer Microsoft support tool designed to clean out installations, but this tool also appears deprecated at this point. I have removed the link from the comments section.

Perhaps try the tool linked to in saschabeaumont's answer below.

Stein Åsmul
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Nick Kavadias
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    MSIZAP === BAD! See http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2009/3/6/More-on-Haacks-Troubleshooting-Windows-MSI-Installers for more information on why . – saschabeaumont Jun 30 '09 at 13:02
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    Unfortunately this tool is no longer available from Microsoft. Saying 'MSIZAP == BAD' is all very well but that hardly solves the problem, does it? It's just unhelpful to say something is bad without providing an alternative. – Tim Long Oct 12 '11 at 23:08
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    The new tool is not supported by Windows 8. – tofutim Feb 27 '14 at 17:55
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FYI, this post explains the root problem https://superuser.com/q/293542/245923

You can uninstall it using the product code:

msiexec.exe /x {your-product-code-guid}

You would obtain this code from the MSI itself, or whatever tool you are using to build the MSI.

Note that when you uninstall a product, it uses a cached MSI, since only the original MSI knows how to uninstall itself. When you use the product code, it uses the cached MSI from C:\WINDOWS\Installer.

Community
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AnneTheAgile
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4

Update, Stein Åsmul: There is a whole list of cleanup approaches here (recommended).

UPDATE:

This newer support tool can be tried on recent Windows versions if you have defunct MSI packages needing uninstall. This new tool appears to have been deprecated as well.

Perhaps try the tool linked to in saschabeaumont's answer.

It is not normal or standard MSI behavior to ask for the original source media - it indicates a badly designed MSI package. If you experience this with a vendor MSI it is highly recommended that you report the problem to their support team. Here is a more comprehensive explanation of the problem: Why does MSI require the original .msi file to proceed with an uninstall?

In most cases MSI packages can be uninstalled from add/remove programs from the control panel even if you don't have the original installation database for the MSI - the uninstall is run from a cached copy of the original MSI in the system folder %SystemRoot%\Windows\Installer (in some cases this cached MSI could be missing, see section 12 here for potential causes).

Earlier versions of MSI tended to trigger this problem (asking for the original installation media) more often (Office back in the day), and legacy MSI files can still cause uninstall problems that can only be solved using the msizap.exe tool (this tool is deprecated, outdated and no longer supported). This command line tool (msizap.exe) also had a GUI available (MSICUU2.exe), both tools are deprectated (try the link to the new cleanup tool listed above).

Just for the record: If you have access to the original MSI that was actually used to install the product, you can use this to run the uninstall. It must be the exact MSI that was used, and not just a similar one. There is a unique package guid assigned to each MSI file, so Windows will know if it is the right one.

Related answers:

Stein Åsmul
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You didn't do something crazy like go to C:\Windows\Installer\ and delete the files in there did you?

One drawback of MSI files is you need the complete MSI file in order to uninstall or repair the application. Windows loves to store a copy of the MSI. It also renames the MSI file from a common name to a GUID with no table (that I can find) to map original names (example: Office2010.msi) to the new GUID so you have a PC with many GBs of wasted space that you can't delete. A machine that's not even 1 year old can easily hit 8 GB (example: mine).

Peter Mortensen
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TravisO
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    Incorrect, the MSI database itself it usually only a few MB at most once embedded CAB files are extracted. Only the MSI without the CAB files is usually cached on the system – saschabeaumont Jun 30 '09 at 13:04
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    I second sascha here, the MSI cached in C:\Windows\Installer is a stripped down version of the installer MSI without CABS. This cached copy is used for repair / uninstall after installation. The source media is only needed if the repair needs to reinstall files or if the MSI is badly designed and runs operations that "asks for" the original source. As far as I understand future versions of MSI will cache the entire MSI before installation occurs. – Stein Åsmul Jun 30 '09 at 14:03
  • @SteinÅsmul why not remove one of the duplicated comments – n611x007 Apr 23 '15 at 15:07
  • Even if the MSI files are gutted, they still occupy 4GB of data as is, and another 3GB was in my "$PatchCache" folder, which you can safely flush (unless you ever plan on removing a patch, which never happens). It's not like I have hundreds of programs installed. Despite this cache is massive and a waste of HD. – TravisO Apr 28 '15 at 18:47
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    There has been a change in how MSI files are cached, starting with Windows 7 (MSI version 5) the MSI files are now cached full size to avoid breaking the file signature that affects the UAC prompt on setup launch (a known Vista problem). This may cause a tremendous increase in disk space consumption (several gigabytes for some systems). – Stein Åsmul Aug 03 '17 at 12:27
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There is an MSI cleanup utility from Microsoft, Windows Installer Cleanup Utility (deprecated tool, unsupported and unsafe to use - perhaps try this answer instead: Uninstall without an MSI file).

Or CCleaner can usually do this

Stein Åsmul
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Martin Beckett
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    no no no no no ... it leaves your system in a dirty state. See http://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2009/3/6/More-on-Haacks-Troubleshooting-Windows-MSI-Installers for more info. – saschabeaumont Jun 30 '09 at 13:03
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    That post doesn't explain what to do if you didn't leave multiple Gb of MSI output in some GUID labeled folder on your machine. – Martin Beckett Jun 30 '09 at 13:14
  • Here is the corrected link for the Rob Mensching blog post. https://robmensching.com/blog/posts/2009/3/6/more-on-haacks-troubleshooting-windows-msi-installers/ – Herb F Aug 10 '22 at 17:14
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Control Panel --> Add/Remove programs?

EDIT: Your post mentions nothing about using add remove programs to uninstall the app, you said the "Windows Installer" (MSIEXEC - see the link below), which is not the same thing.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa367988(VS.85).aspx

StingyJack
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