MSFN Forum: Silent removal of the Google and Yahoo! Toolbars - MSFN Forum

Jump to content



Unattended CD/DVD Guide Homepage · MSFN Forum Rules

Welcome to the Applications Installs forum. Make sure you read the forum rules before you start posting.

Links/Requests to warez and/or any illegal material (porn, cracks, serials, etc..) will not be tolerated. Discussion of circumventing WGA/activation/timebombs/keygens or any other illegal activity will also not be tolerated.

We try our best to keep this forum clean of illegal content. If you see any illegal activity use the "report" button you find in every post to report the specific post to the moderators. If you ignore any of the rules you will be banned without notice.

Read Forum Rules
Page 1 of 1
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic

Silent removal of the Google and Yahoo! Toolbars Rate Topic: -----

#1 User is offline   Plamdi 

  • Junior
  • Pip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 82
  • Joined: 22-March 06

Posted 23 October 2006 - 09:14 PM

Another first, from yours truly. I prefer to use the original installation files using official switches and then to move the icons and make other changes manually. Some programs, such as CCleaner install the Yahoo Toolbar when run silently. You can use these scripts to silently remove the toolbars. 7 lines of script (awwe :) ), errorlevel returned when used with cscript (of course, you can use either CSCRIPT or WSCRIPT with this one).

Do you need any other silent un-installations? Just LMK!

Available combined into one file, or as seperate files:

' (c) 2006 Plamdi.com. This file silently uninstalls the Google and Yahoo! Toolbars.
Option Explicit:On Error Resume Next
Dim WshShell,a,i:i=0:Set WshShell=WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
a=WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F}\UninstallString")
If a<>"" Then WshShell.Run(a&" /S"),1,True:i=i+1
a=WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Yahoo! Companion\UninstallString")
If a<>"" Then WshShell.Run(""""&a&""" /S"),1,True:i=i+1
WshShell=Nothing:Wscript.Quit(i)
Save as REMTOOLB.VBS

' (c) 2006 Plamdi.com. This file silently uninstalls the Yahoo! Toolbar.
Option Explicit:On Error Resume Next
Dim WshShell,a,i:i=0:Set WshShell=WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
a=WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Yahoo! Companion\UninstallString")
If a<>"" Then WshShell.Run(""""&a&""" /S"),1,True:i=1
WshShell=Nothing:Wscript.Quit(i)
Save as REMYAHOO.VBS

' (c) 2006 Plamdi.com. This file silently uninstalls the Google Toolbar.
Option Explicit:On Error Resume Next
Dim WshShell,a,i:i=0:Set WshShell=WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
a=WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F}\UninstallString")
If a<>"" Then WshShell.Run(a&" /S"),1,True:i=1
WshShell=Nothing:Wscript.Quit(i)
Save as REMGOOGLE.VBS

And here's a tip - if you plan on running this file from the HDD rather than the CD/DVD, you could add these lines:
Dim fso:Set fso=CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
fso.DeleteFile(WScript.ScriptFullName)
and script would automatically self-destruct. You would add the lines anywhere after the first line (of code) and before the last line.

* Slight modification, the script now waits for the uninstaller to complete before terminating - which is probably better if you're going to use cscript as the uninstaller will finish before processing the next command.

This post has been edited by Plamdi: 23 October 2006 - 11:26 PM



#2 User is offline   EchoNoise 

  • Defender of the Penguin
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 933
  • Joined: 10-April 05

Posted 23 October 2006 - 10:37 PM

Can you do one for Google Toolbar aswell :)

Great Work! :D :hello:

#3 User is offline   Plamdi 

  • Junior
  • Pip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 82
  • Joined: 22-March 06

Posted 23 October 2006 - 11:25 PM

View PostEchoNoise, on Oct 24 2006, 02:37 PM, said:

Can you do one for Google Toolbar aswell :)
Done. The Google toolbar's uninstaller actually already has the silent switch in it, but it doesn't hurt to add it again, just to be sure ;)

#4 User is offline   chrismholmes 

  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 2
  • Joined: 01-November 07

  Posted 01 November 2007 - 04:38 PM

Plamdi Thank you for the information. This was very useful, due to the issues we were having I used alot of your ideas to expand this to include Ask Toolbar, Ask toolbar (ASKPBAR one I think), Weather Channel, and the Aol Toolbar. Here is my modified verision. Please be nice, this was my very first vb script:
'This file silently uninstalls the Google, Yahoo!, Ask, and AOL Toolbars. This also removes Weather Channel Desktop.
'Option Explicit
Set Shell=WScript.CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Shell.MinimizeAll
On Error Resume Next
Dim WshShell,a,i
i=0
Set WshShell=WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set Shell=WScript.CreateObject("Shell.Application")
'Begin Script
'This Removes the Google ToolBar
a=WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F}\UninstallString")
If a<>"" Then
WshShell.Run(a&" /S"),1,True
i=i+1
end if
'This Removes the Yahoo Toolbar
a=WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Yahoo! Companion\UninstallString")
If a<>"" Then
WshShell.Run(""""&a&""" /S"),1,True
i=i+1
end if
'This Removes the bundled Ask ToolBar
a=WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AskPBar Uninstall\UninstallString")
If a<>"" Then
WshShell.Run(a),1,False
i=i+1
Wscript.sleep 3000 'pause for 3 seconds
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "%Y"
Wscript.sleep 1000
WshShell.SendKeys "{ENTER}"
end if
'This Removes the Weather Channel Desktop
a=WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\The Weather Channel Desktop\uninstallstring")
If a<>"" Then
WshShell.Run(""""&a&""" /S"),1,False
i=i+1
Wscript.sleep 5000 'pause for 5 seconds
WshShell.SendKeys "{DOWN}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{DOWN}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{DOWN}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{ENTER}"
Wscript.sleep 2000
WshShell.AppActivate "Parature Header - Microsoft Internet Explorer"
WshShell.SendKeys "%F"
WshShell.SendKeys "C"
end if
'This Removes the AOL Toolbar
a=WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AOL Toolbar\Uninstallstring")
If a<>"" Then
WshShell.Run(a&" /S"),1,True
i=i+1
end if
'This removes the Ask Toolbar
a=WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Ask Toolbar for Internet Explorer_is1\uninstallString")
If a<>"" Then
WshShell.Run(a&" /SILENT"),1,True
i=i+1
end if
Wscript.sleep 15000
'This Ends the Script
WshShell=Nothing:Wscript.Quit(i)

This post has been edited by chrismholmes: 01 November 2007 - 04:39 PM


#5 User is offline   Plamdi 

  • Junior
  • Pip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 82
  • Joined: 22-March 06

Posted 18 February 2008 - 09:53 PM

Thanks for the contribution, chrismholmes, however I don't reccomend simpkly using sendkeys and sleep the way you have. 9 times out of 10 it'll probably work fine, however I have written a far better program for this purpose that works on a far better level. It is called OEM Installer, and you'll find it amung my recent post that includes all of my VBS contributions to date! It is still VBS based, but is much easier to add programs to, and is much less prone to errors. You could piggy-back the programs, if you wanted to, by writing (for instance) adding the remove weather channel check into the REMTOOLB.VBS file in the way you have, except instead of then running its own little script using send keys it launches OEM Installer to do the automated-uninstall-script.

Here's pseudocode to illistrate what I mean:
<REMTOOLB.VBS>
	<IF GOOGLE TOOLBAR INSTALLED> - Launch google toolbar uninstaller using silent switch.
	<IF YAHOO TOOLBAR INSTALLED> - Launch yahoo toolbar uninstaller using silent switch.
	<IF AOL TOOLBAR INSTALLED> - Launch aol toolbar uninstaller using silent switch.
	<IF ASK TOOLBAR INSTALLED> - Launch ask toolbar uninstaller using silent switch.
	<IF Weather Channel Desktop INSTALLED> - Lauch OEM Installer to uninstall program.
		<OEM INSTALLER>
			Check what program I run from commandline.
			Open INI file to see how I run this program.
			Run program and automate the process as layed out in INI file.
			Terminate when my program has terminated, or script instructs me to.


The post with OEM Installer is here, I suggest giving it a go it's really easy, and there are even some working examples in there to get you started.

This post has been edited by Plamdi: 18 February 2008 - 09:54 PM


#6 User is offline   ajua 

  • Custom Installer Maker
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 1,260
  • Joined: 16-April 05

Posted 19 February 2008 - 10:09 PM

i just want to point out that some programs can be downloaded without any toolbars. CCleaner has another installer without additional languages and without the yahoo toolbar, look at the "Other build" links in their download page.

If i ever need to remove a toolbar, i will look at this scripts. thanks.

#7 User is offline   badrad600 

  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 5
  • Joined: 18-September 07

Posted 26 June 2008 - 06:38 AM

Thank you, all of you guy for the tips. I tried a number of solutions for a silent uninstall of Google toolbar, but none did a truly silent (hidden) uninstall for me. After a bit of poking around, I found this command removes the Google Toolbar properly and quickly, and is completely silent and hidden:

MsiExec.exe /X{DBEA1034-5882-4A88-8033-81C4EF0CFA29} /qn

Have any of you tried it?

This post has been edited by badrad600: 26 June 2008 - 06:40 AM


#8 User is offline   jcwoltz 

  • Group: Members
  • Posts: 1
  • Joined: 03-October 08

Posted 03 January 2009 - 01:04 PM

View Postbadrad600, on Jun 26 2008, 07:38 AM, said:

Thank you, all of you guy for the tips. I tried a number of solutions for a silent uninstall of Google toolbar, but none did a truly silent (hidden) uninstall for me. After a bit of poking around, I found this command removes the Google Toolbar properly and quickly, and is completely silent and hidden:

MsiExec.exe /X{DBEA1034-5882-4A88-8033-81C4EF0CFA29} /qn

Have any of you tried it?



This is using a product code to remove Google toolbar. Each version will have a different product code. Unfortunately I don't think google sets a registry key like yahoo does for any version. You will need to know the product key for each version of the google toolbar you want to remove.

Share this topic:


Page 1 of 1
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic

1 User(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users



All trademarks mentioned on this page are the property of their respective owners
Copyright © 2001 - 2011 msfn.org
Privacy Policy