Patch Uninstallation

InstallShield 2019 Express Edition

Project • This information applies to QuickPatch projects.

Windows Installer 3.0 or later supports the uninstallation of patches for small updates and minor upgrades; the patches to be uninstalled must have been installed with Windows Installer 3.0 or later. When a patch is uninstalled, the product is returned to the state it was in before the patch was uninstalled. With earlier versions of Windows Installer, an end user who wants to remove a patch needs to uninstall the patched product and then reinstall the product without applying the patch. In this case, any patches that should not be removed must be reapplied.

End users can uninstall patches through Add or Remove Programs on systems running Windows XP SP2 and later. For systems running Windows Installer 3.0 or later with earlier versions of Windows, patches must be uninstalled from the command line. For more information, see Uninstalling Patches in the Windows Installer Help Library.

The uninstallation of patches is not enabled by default because not all patches can be uninstalled. For example, a major upgrade packaged as a patch cannot be uninstalled. It is recommended that you thoroughly test the uninstallation of your patch before deploying it to your end users. To learn more about patches that are not uninstallable, see Uninstallable Patches in the Windows Installer Help Library.

See Also

Enabling the Uninstallation of a QuickPatch

Open topic with navigation