# Steam and Uninstalling hassles aaarrrggghhh!!!



## machv (May 23, 2009)

I bought a new system sorry a used system from someone and it came with the OS intact along with all of the old users programs still installed etc... So during cleaning up the system and uninstalling the things I didn't want there was a copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on the computer. I cannot play the game because I don't have the login credentials obviously as the game wasn't part of the sale. So I tried to uninstall the game via add remove programs and found that I can't do that because I couldn't login so I tried to create a new Steam account then do it that way and that also didn't work so I tried to uninstall Steam first and now I get a message that I don't have the correct privileges to do that and that I should contact myself (as I am the system Administrator) and I tried that too lol but I haven't a clue. So how can I uninstall the dang thing? Either manually via deleting files and folders and then removing the correct registry keys so I don't get any future conflicts etc... or via some tweak that lets me do it through the regular uninstall process? I could if all else fails contact the guy I got it from and ask him for the login details so I can do it that way then he can later change his password, but that is a last resort if nothing else can be done or if I can't get a full list of the correct keys to remove from the registry etc... Thanks for your time and have a great day


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## DawnS (Apr 9, 2008)

It sounds to me like you need to do a manual uninstall of Steam and then do a fresh install.

This is Steams answer to manually uninstalling their product:


Manually Removing Steam
Warning:

Dealing with your registry requires extreme care. Do not delete anything in your Windows registry that you are unsure about. For this reason, we suggest you only use this option as a last resort.

1. Exit Steam.
2. Navigate to your Steam directory. (Typically C:\Program Files\Steam or C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam
* If you wish to save your game files for a future installation of Steam, copy your steamapps folder outside of your Steam directory.
3. Delete all of the contents of your Steam directory.
4. Go to Start > Run and type in regedit.
5. For 32-bit operating systems:
In the left-hand column of your registry editor, navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Valve\. 

Right-click on Valve and select Delete.

For 64-bit operating systems:
In the left-hand column of your registry editor, navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Valve\. 

Right-click on Valve and select Delete.
6. In the left-hand column of your registry editor, navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Valve\Steam.
7. Right-click on Valve select Delete.
8. Close your Registry Editor.


I hope that helps!


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## machv (May 23, 2009)

reinstalling steam does not do anything because of the login issue. if you don't login with credentials that have that game on file then it doesn't work because the game isn't listed.


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## KalosK (Nov 30, 2010)

It's a security thing so if there are multiple accounts on the same computer, one person can't remove another's game files. The only way to do it the "normal" way would be to have the person who's Steam Account it is login and then uninstall the game that way. If that's not feasible, you can delete the game data (in Program Files/Steam/Steamapps... by default) then you can either remove the registry keys yourself or use a program like CCleaner to do it (CCleaner should recognize that the registries reference files that no longer exist and ask if you want to delete them).

I can understand your frustration, Steam can be something of a gigantic pain.


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## machv (May 23, 2009)

Here's an odd development. I contacted steam via email and I told them of my problem and they said that unless I had the login credentials I would have to delete the files and folders etc... and then the reg keys like you suggested. Here's the odd thing though the folders were gone for that game and they were no longer displayed in the "add remove programs" list of installed software and the entries in my start menu were also gone. I checked the registry and they were also not listed in there anymore either. So either the tech at steam that was working on my query got into my system and removed the game or someone else got into my system and did it. Or I am completely insane and I just hallucinated the whole thing. Very odd turn of events that has me more than a little worried. Also my firewall reported a connection attempt from explorer.exe that was probably a buffer overflow attack. The cruddy thing about having to format and reinstall my OS from scratch is that I am having problems finding a driver that I can use alongside an XP installation that will work with my Promise SATA card. I tried to use the driver I got online which I put on to a floppy disk but because it didn't have the exact filename etc... that XP said it should have it wouldn't use it. If you have the answer to that it would be very appreciated and if these two technically separate problems I'm having should be in their own threads then let me know and I will start them. The SATA card I have is a "Promise SATA300 tx4" I have the driver they gave me for XP but it won't work when I try to install it during a fresh install which I guess I said already anywho thanks for your help.


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