# Cannot uninstall skype!....



## carriejahnke (Jul 14, 2004)

Operating System: Windows 7 32 bit
Ram: 2gb
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5300 @ 1.73GHz 1.73 GHz

Hello,
I have been having this problem for maybe 2-3 months now.
Back then, Skype started giving me a problem where it would freeze my computer every time I opened the program. This actually started happening when I was fixing something else on my computer. My "Public Folders" were appearing just as simple yellow folders. I did some googling on this problem and found a fix-it site that had me replace the desktop.ini files in each folder in order to make the "public folders" have the standard icons that they are supposed to have. 
This was the website I used to do this: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/172301-public-folder-icons-restore-default-icon.html
However...this is for Windows Vista, and I have windows 7...so I am not sure if I messed something up, but like I said, around this time is when my Skype stopped working.

So...my first thought was just to uninstall, and reinstall it. However, I ran into a bumpy road with this. I cannot get it to uninstall!
When I go to unistall it, it says that it cannot find the "skype.msi" file to continue the uninstallation.
I have searched online and found other people dealing with this problem.
I have tried deleting every possible file on my computer having to do with skype, but it still shows up on my uninstall list, as well as my start menu.

To do that, I went to RUN, and typed %AppData% 
then, I deleted the skype folder from there
Next, I used RegSeeker 1.55 to search my computer for anything in the registry containing the word "skype" and then deleted what it found.

I just want to get this program off of my computer, and would be glad if anyone could offer some help.


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

You need to avoid registry cleaners/optimizers/boosters like the plague. They do nothing to improve speed or performance. What they do is break certain programs and damage the operating system.

*RegSeeker 1.55* is a very outdated registry "cleaner" and is well known for breaking Microsoft-named programs.

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Try using *Revo Uninstaller 1.85* to get rid of Skype.

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## carriejahnke (Jul 14, 2004)

Sorry, I got that information from a skype help forum: 
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=98006


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

carriejahnke said:


> Sorry, I got that information from a skype help forum:
> http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=98006


If you look at the date of that forum thread, it's about 2-1/2 years old.

Have you gone to the Skype home page and looked for a support or troubleshooting section?

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## carriejahnke (Jul 14, 2004)

there isn't really anything related to uninstalling skype that is very recent. But, I had an older version of skype (skype 3.6) so that is why I was referring to that older post.
I hope I haven't done too much damage to my computer after doing that registry thing.


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

Get rid of *RegSeeker* and avoid cleaner/optimizer/booster/tuneup type programs in the future.

Since you've already manually deleted folders for *Skype*, you're probably going to have trouble uninstalling or reinstalling it. The remnants of it need to be manually deleted from the file system and the registry, but you need to know what you're doing to do that. And I'm not about to try to walk you through it, especially since I've never used Windows 7.

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## carriejahnke (Jul 14, 2004)

Actually all of the files are back...because it doesn't fully delete it like restores it's files everytime I restart. However, I still cannot uninstall it the regular way. It says it is missing the skype.msi file


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

Do a search for *skype.msi* and see if it's in your computer somewhere.

If it's not, and you can't uninstall it with *Revo Uninstaller 1.85*, I don't know what else to tell you.

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## carriejahnke (Jul 14, 2004)

I tried using that Revo Uninstaller 1.85, and it also did not work because it said it can't find the skype.msi file.
I searched my computer, and I do not have a skype.msi file


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

Skype can be gotten rid of manually by nuking its files and registry entries, but I'm not going to try to walk you through it with Windows 7 - which I've never used.

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## carriejahnke (Jul 14, 2004)

Do you think I should re-post this in the Windows 7 Forum?


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## LauraMJ (Mar 18, 2004)

From what I understand, the .msi file is for the Skype toolbar that integrates with the MS Office products.

So, first, I'd try downloading a fresh installation of Skype and safe it to your computer. Try to install it. It may very well just install overtop of the existing corrupted one, and replace any files or fix any corruption. If so, then you will be able to uninstall it.

If that does not work, then try using Windows Installer Cleanup Utility.

1 - Download Microsoft Windows Installer Cleanup Utility

2 - Run downloaded utility from Start -> All Programs

3 - Select (All users)Skype (whatever your version is) and then 'Remove'

4 - Download and install latest version of Skype if you want (I think the newest is version (4.1) which has had this problem patched, I have heard.


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## WarByrd (Mar 19, 2010)

from now on only use windows add/remove programs for uninstalling, it will remove your programs better than just using the uninstall feature of most programs.


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

LauraMJ:

Thanks for jumping in. I'm not a Skype nor a Windows 7 user. Hopefully, the Windows installer cleanup utility will do the trick.

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## WarByrd (Mar 19, 2010)

you can loose extra needed drivers using that utility.... you run it and it can erase much desired drivers....


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