WARNING - Uninstalling Aerosoft Split X 1.41 might put you in a very bad situation

[WebMaximus 372]

Today I learned that uninstalling Aerosoft Split X version 1.41 using the included uninstaller will corrupt the list of installed programs in Windows leaving you with a list where only a fraction of your installed programs will show up.

 

I'm still hoping to find a way to rebuild the list but right now it doesn't look very promising leaving me in a situation where I might end up having to do a complete reinstall on my computer including Windows and thus P3D including all my addons.

 

I'm not sure if this is only true for version 1.41 or also for version 1.42. The most current version is 1.43. Also I'm using Windows 10 and I'm not sure if this issue only shows itself on a Windows 10 based computer or also on computers running other versions of Windows.

 

This problem was reported to Aerosoft Wednesday this week and after it was discovered the uninstallation program for Split X version 1.41 was the culprit Aerosoft interestingly enough considered the question/issue was answered and chose to close the topic marked as 'Solved' the day after. This obviously leaves me wondering if Aerosoft really considers having their customers do a complete reinstall of their computers as a result of uninstalling one of Aerosoft products should really be considered a solution.

 

I asked Aerosoft this question earlier today and I'm still waiting for a response...

[pmb 5,137]

The issue was first discovered by Rob Ainscough and reported to Aerosoft who confirmed and resolved it and released an updated installer within a day. However, I agree this is a REALLY serious issue which just shouldn't happen. I can't understand if NO ONE tested the Installer/Uninstaller before release.

 

I don't own SplitX, however, if I would I would be upset as well. 

 

Kind regards, Michael

[edpatino 1,964]

What I don't like from Aerosoft is that they use third-party scenery developers who have its installation methods on their own and don't follow a standard or regular procedure, thus modifying key files like DLL.xml, EXE.xml, scenery.cfg, etc., possibly conflicting with existing entries from different add-ons. I noticed that in Bonaire scenery, in which case its installer deleted other existing entries in the EXE.xml file. I reported this issue to AS, but never got an answer.

Hope you don't have to reinstall everything just for a simple add-on.

Cheers, Ed

[WebMaximus 372]

Good to hear the problem has been fixed but unfortunately the first step installing a new version is uninstalling the current version and if that version happens to be 1.41... Of course maybe you can then do some kind of manual uninstall without using the uninstaller that comes with 1.41 but nothing of this helps anyone who already used the uninstaller.

 

What makes this even more annoying in my case is I always keep a fresh backup image I can easily revert to should I need to but since you won't realize you've been bitten by this snake until you check your list of installed programs next time it might take a while and during that time I already refreshed my backup image a couple of times meaning it already includes the issue meaning it's worthless.

 

As said above I too find this a really serious issue. When you have a product that might not install correctly or even cause issues with other already installed products that is one thing. However when you as in this case have a product that will corrupt one of the main components in Windows where the only way out of the problem is to perform a reinstallation of your computer I find it very disrespectful to not even send out an email to your customers with a warning.

 

I'm still hoping for another solution other than a complete reinstallation of my PC but if there isn't one I have a couple of days up to one week of work ahead of me...thanks a lot Aerosoft...

[FS++ 708]

Good to hear the problem has been fixed but unfortunately the first step installing a new version is uninstalling the current version and if that version happens to be 1.41... Of course maybe you can then do some kind of manual uninstall without using the uninstaller that comes with 1.41 but nothing of this helps anyone who already used the uninstaller.

 

What makes this even more annoying in my case is I always keep a fresh backup image I can easily revert to should I need to but since you won't realize you've been bitten by this snake until you check your list of installed programs next time it might take a while and during that time I already refreshed my backup image a couple of times meaning it already includes the issue meaning it's worthless.

 

As said above I too find this a really serious issue. When you have a product that might not install correctly or even cause issues with other already installed products that is one thing. However when you as in this case have a product that will corrupt one of the main components in Windows where the only way out of the problem is to perform a reinstallation of your computer I find it very disrespectful to not even send out an email to your customers with a warning.

 

I'm still hoping for another solution other than a complete reinstallation of my PC but if there isn't one I have a couple of days up to one week of work ahead of me...thanks a lot Aerosoft...

 

Try the Windows built-in "System Restore" (assuming it's not disabled) and go back in time to before installing the add-on.

[WebMaximus 372]

I'm using a more advanced 3rd party imaging software meaning the built-in system restore feature is disabled and as I said in my previous post it was a long time since I uninstalled Split X 1.41 only I didn't realize what happened until now so even if I would have had a backup taken before this happened I'm not sure I would have wanted to use it considering all that happened on my system since I uninstalled 1.41.