If you already have Pulsonix installed, when you come to install the next major version, you have a choice about where to install it. If like most people you choose to install it over the top of the existing installation, that works fine, but if you later check the 'Add/Remove Programs' listing in the Windows Control Panel you will find the older version is still listed there.
Sadly, because of the way that the Windows 'add/remove programs' works, there is no easy way for us to get this set up so everyone has the choice about how they work. When we install a new version, we could call it the same thing and overwrite the entry in the control panel, but this would stop anyone being able to install the new version in a different folder to the old version so they can run both.
So, we give each main release a new 'code' number so you can choose where to install it. But this means each one gets its own entry in the control panel list, even if you choose to install it over the top of the current version.
Because there is no documented method of programmatically altering the control panel information, we cannot 'take away' older entries if you do choose to install on top of the previous version. So, you are left with a list of older versions that are no longer applicable.
Important: if you have indeed installed your new version over the top of the existing one, don't be tempted to go and Uninstall the old one. There is no simple way of identifying to the system that both versions reference the same folder, so uninstalling the old version will simply remove all the files you've just installed for the new version!
How to remove older entries
The simplest way we have found to remove older entries from your control panel listing is to use the tool that Microsoft themselves supply to 'clean up'. This is called the 'Windows Installer Cleanup Utility', which can be downloaded from various locations on the Internet. This tool allows you to remove the references to software that is no longer installed or has been overwritten.
If you are brave you can also remove the control panel references to the installed programs by deleting entries from your system Registry. These references are stored in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE section, under Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Uninstall. Search through the list of keys (GUIDs) listed there, until you find the reference to the program you want to remove from the list, then delete that GUID key and all its values. However, as is always the case when working in the Registry, great care should be taken when deleting entries as it is quite possible to stop your whole system from working if you accidentally delete the wrong thing.
Posted - 19 Aug 2013 : 09:21:29
