How to uninstall Netbeans 6.9 on Windows 7?

Question

I try to uninstall the Netbeans IDE. for some reason it refuses to uninstall.

When I run the uninstaller from the control panel, I get a message saying:

the installer lock file exists at c:\users\user.nbi.nbilock"

When I remove the file I get a message saying:

the specified target component -nb- base/6.9.0.0.0 was not found in the registry. the installer can continue as if the targer component was not specified. click Yes to continue, No to exit the installer"

When I click Yes it finishes very quickly and nothing really gets uninstalled.

In general when I try to run NetBeans it says:

cannot locate Java installation in specified jdkhome
c:\program files (x86)\ java jdk1.6.0_20
do you want to try to use default version?"

Once again yes or no. Yes will open the IDE normally.

Answer 1

I had the exact same thing happen to me. I put a co-workers image on my PC (same hardware) that contained a baseline suite of applications, including Netbeans. I actually happened to have Netbeans 6.9 and Windows 7 too, but that has nothing to do with it.

I deleted my co-workers profile, and that is why I got the error you speak of. Some needed files are contained in C:\Users\JohnB\. Here are the folders that Netbeans installs in your user profile folder:

I simply had my co-worker copy and send them to me, I put them in the profile they got deleted from, then the uninstall process worked perfectly.

Here's the post that pointed me in the right direction:

• cannot uninstall Netbeans 6.7 Beta

Here's a related post that explains how to clean up after incomplete installations, but I did not have these rogue registry entries on my PC:

• Cleaning Up After Incomplete Installations