Manually uninstall VBox 4.3.20 from Win7 x64

[spkay31]

I realize there were issues with Microsoft patches, etc. that caused problems with 4.3.20. I looked and didn't see the specific patch identified on my system and the MS removal tool that was listed in the 4.3.20 thread didn't do anything (assuming I didn't have anything to remove). But my installed doesn't work trying to start up the WinXP x64 guest OS with the error dialog "WinXP x64: Starting VM" -> Creating process for virtual machine "WinXP x64" (GUI/Qt) ...(1/2) 0%. I hit the red "x" and it says "Cancelling..." but simply hangs indefinitely after that.

So anyway I decided to simply uninstall it but no luck either with the uninstall which run for a very long time with nothing to show for it (eventually error or I shutdown OS).

So my preference is simply to uninstall this manually and cleanup directories and registry as needed. I love VBox and have used it a lot in the past but I'll wait until the dust settles with Microsoft before trying another release. BTW I'm running Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1.5 (12.1 RU5) build 5337 (12.1.5337.5000) and it's centrally managed so I can't completely disable, etc. for testing or temp config changes.

Thanks,
-Scott

[spkay31]

Just more info:

After the attempt to start WinXP x64 VM fails the error dialog shows:

"VirtualBox - Error in supR3HardNtChildWaitFor"
X Timed out after 60001 ms waiting for child request #1 (CloseEvents). (rc=258)

If that is of any help.

[socratis]

Take a look at the discussion: Windows 4.3.20 specifically for errors due to security. You might find some newer test builds and/or other helpful hints. Here is one hint; it's not just that KB that people have been sidetracked by. It's a lot of things (antivirus, firewalls, debuggers, emulators, theme changers, etc). Here's another hint; try 4.3.12.

[spkay31]

Thanks for the reply and help socratis.

I will definitely go back through the thread and read more thoroughly looking at some of the details aside from the KB update issues. But I would really like a manual uninstall procedure to simply allow me to remove and clean up all of the installation changes from 4.3.20. I'd rather have some guidance about manual removal than simply try to brute force it myself and miss some system level DLL's, virtual network adapter changes, etc. Not being able to uninstall a piece of software that I installed is never a good sign and something that I hope I can find some assistance with here or through Oracle support.

[mpack]

There's no trick to it. Just run the uninstaller, then follow that up by deleting the "c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox" folder, then delete any registry key which references VirtualBox. Finally delete all "VBox*.sys" files from \Windows\System32\Drivers (exact location may depend on Windows and VBox versions). Do all of this at your own risk.

Any problems with the Windows Installer should really be brought to the attention of Microsoft.