Uninstalling Oracle from a Windows XP Machine with a P4 Processor:

 

 

Note:   The Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) will not work for uninstalling oracle in this environment.

 

1.         Start your computer in safe mode:

Goto: Start – Run – msconfig – OK.

The System Configuration Utility box opens up.

Click on the BOOT.INI tab and check □ /SAFEBOOT – Minimal from Boot Options. Click Apply and OK to save your changes. Restart your computer; It will now start in safe mode.

 

 

2.         Delete all Oracle related files and folders:

Goto: C:\ and select all the files/folders you had copied from the Oracle CD for the installation process and delete them by pressing shift+delete.

            Similarly delete any files/folders that you had copied from the Forms & Reports 6i CD and the extra folder named “Oradev”, which the oracle installation process creates within the same folder, by pressing shift+delete.

            Goto:  C:\Windows\Temp. Delete the directory “Install Guide” and “OraInstall”
if either one of them exists.

 

Note: There will be two additional folders, both called “Oracle”, one in C:\ (or in the folder where you had copied all the folders from the Oracle CD) and one in C:\Program Files. Delete these two files in the same manner as above.

 

 

3.         Restart your computer in Normal mode:

            Goto: Start – Run – msconfig – ok

            The System Configuration Utility box opens up.

Check on normal startup in the General tab.

Click on the BOOT.INI tab and uncheck /SAFEBOOT – Minimal from the Boot Options.

Click Apply and OK to save your changes. Restart your computer. It will now start in normal mode.

HELP?:  Windows XP does not give you the Run option in safe mode.

Goto: C:\Windows\Pchelp\Helpctr\Binaries\ and run the msconfig.exe file by double-clicking on it.

 

 

 

4.         Delete all oracle Shortcuts:

Goto: Start -- Programs
Right click on each Oracle related shortcut from the menu and choose delete.

 

5.         Remove all Oracle related entries from your registry:

Goto: Start -- Run – regedit -- OK

The Registry Editor box opens up.
a.  Goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE – SOFTWARE

     Highlight and delete the folder “ORACLE” if it exists.

b. Goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE – SOFTWARE -- Apache Group – Apache

    -- 1.X.X. Verify if the “Server Root” path points to an existing

     ORACLE_HOME. If it does, then delete the top level folder, “Apache Group”. 

c.  Goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE –SOFTWARE -- Classes.

     Scroll down and delete any folders that start with “Ora” or “Orcl” if they exist.

 

d.  Goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE –SOFTWARE – ODBC – 

     ODBCINST.INI . Delete the “Oracle ODBC Driver” folder.

     Do NOT remove  any other ODBC folders.

e.  Goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SYSTEM – CurentControlSet – Services.

Scroll down and delete any service folders that start with “Ora”  or “Orcl” if  any exist.

 

f.   Goto: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SYSTEM –ControlSet001 –Services.

     Scroll down and delete any service folders that start with “Ora” or “Orcl” if  any exist.  Repeat these steps for ControlSet002, ControlSet003...........e.t.c. if they exist in your system.

g.  HKEY_CURRENT_USER -- SOFTWARE, highlight and delete the folder

     “ORACLE” if it exists.

h.  HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, scroll down and delete all folders starting with

     “Ora” or “ORCL” if they exist.

 

i.   Goto: Edit – Find and enter “ora” in the “Find What” box.  Make sure that only “Keys” is checked under “Look at” and “Match whole string only” is not checked.  Delete any key starting  with ora if found.

      Goto: Edit – Find next (or press the F3 key on your keyboard) and delete any key starting with ora if found.  Repeat this process till you see the “Finished searching through Registry” box pop up.

 

j.   Goto: Edit – Find and enter “orcl” in the “Find What” box.  Make sure that only “Keys” is checked under “Look at” and “Match whole string only” is not checked.  Delete any key starting with orcl if found.

      Goto: Edit – Find next (or press the F3 key on your keyboard) and delete any key starting with orcl if found.  Repeat this process till you see the “Finished searching through Registry” box pop up.

    

6.         Modify the Environment settings:

Goto:  Start – Control Panel – System.

The System Properties box opens up. Click on the Advanced tab and then on Environment Variables and delete these variables if any of them exist:

            a. DISCO_JRE
b. DISCO_VBROKER
c. VBROKER_JAVAVM
d. VBROKER_TAG
e. WV_GATEWAY_CFG  (This is the variable that is most likely to exist)

 

Edit the Path variable:
Delete any string fragments that lead to ORACLE or ORADEV homes.

Example:

Your Path variable may look like this:
E:\oracle\dcpc817\bin;E:\oracle\dcpc817\Apache\Perl\5.00503\bin\mswin32-x86;C:\Program\Files\Oracle\jre\1.1.7\bin;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;C:\Oradev\win32\jdkav\bin;

Delete ONLY the underlined portion, as shown below:

E:\oracle\dcpc817\bin;E:\oracle\dcpc817\Apache\Perl\5.00503\bin\mswin32-x86;C:\Program\Files\Oracle\jre\1.1.7\bin;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;C:\Oradev\win32\jdkav\bin;

So that the path looks like the original windows path:

%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%

 

            Note: Your Oracle modified string may not look exactly like the one above.

 

 

7.         Modify the autoexec.bat file:

Goto: Start – Run – sysedit.exe – OK

A number of windows will open up. Choose the autoexec.bat window and delete any portion of the PATH string which starts with C:\Oracle or C:\Oradev if it exists.

Example:

Your path may look like this:

PATH C:\Oradev\win32\jdkv\bin%Path%C:\ProgramFiles\Oracle\jre

Delete ONLY the underlined portion, as shown below:

PATH C:\Oradev\win32\jdkv\bin%Path%C:\ProgramFiles\Oracle\jre

So that the path looks like:

PATH %Path%

Close the window and click on OK to save these changes.

 

Note: Your Oracle modified string may not look exactly like the one above.

 

 

8.         Reboot:

Choose Start -- Shutdown -- Restart and reboot the operating system.