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988
August 6th, 2021 11:00
How to forcibly remove PCDoctor???
Dell / VMware / Carbon Black properly identified the problem with PC Doctor on my systems. I didn't ask for that garbage but it is there anyway. Full disclosure, it was garbage before Dell decided to silently package it with their support software. Not happy.
Mistakes happen. Unfortunately, I cannot upgrade and apparently cannot remove it either. Removing both the Dell Support Assistant and Dell Support Center left the orphan behind. That's a sign of really sloppy installation code. Great. I didn't invite it and it won't leave.
I'm ready to re-image the machine. That's not a huge problem. On the other hand, I'm not thrilled about doing that 500 more times.
DELL-Cares
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August 7th, 2021 05:00
We tried reaching you on a private message asking for the Service Tag number to ascertain the warranty but did not receive a response. Please feel free to reply to the private message whenever you are available.
RoHe
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45.2K Posts
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August 7th, 2021 17:00
@FR8dawg This isn't a mistake. PC Doctor is installed as a standard part of Dell's SupportAssist app.
Where are you seeing that PC Doctor is still installed? And what do you mean you "cannot upgrade"?
You could try running Revo Uninstaller (free) and assuming it sees PC Doctor, it should be able to remove it completely.
A clean install using an ISO file from Microsoft would certainly get rid of it, but that takes time and effort because you'd have to back up your personal files first, if they're on the boot drive, and then reinstall all your apps again after the clean install...
And image the drive after the clean install for any future needs. You can use Macrium Reflect (free) or similar backup software and save the image file on an external USB HDD.
FR8dawg
3 Posts
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August 12th, 2021 11:00
We image with SCCM.
PC Doctor folders and files are still installed. Dell / VMware / Carbon Black knows it is present (and active). Shortly after the vulnerability announcement, CB has been blocking me from upgrading Support Assist.
I've been working in IT almost four decades. You see a lot of products come and go. Was never a fan of PC Doctor. Many previous encounters made me a lot of money but caused havoc for customers. Won't go into all of the details here. When I found out it had been installed with Support Assist, I just about blew a gasket. It will be gone even if we have to reimage 500 machines.
Good suggestion on trying Revo. I will give that a shot.