When attempting to uninstall Metasploit, your get an error "uninstall.exe is not a valid Win32 application"?
If you are here because you can’t uninstall Metasploit either ’cause of other unknown issues or of personal software experience, please stop what you are trying and read on this how-to troubleshootying solution. Well, such uninstall troubles can be started with corrupted or incomplete installation, therefore the normal uninstall, Windows (XP’s) "Add/Remove Programs" or (8/7/Vista’s) "Programs and Features", is completely non-interactive. Meanwhile, some CNET Download.com user also wish to uninstall Metasploit due to the limited "Community Edition" then use other better port scanning utilities such as the Nmap from Insecure.Org (aka, nmap.org), Famatech’s Advanced Port Scanner and more other brands. Now you may re-try performing the installation stages WITHOUT any 3rd party Antivirus program/suite or (Windows’ built-in) firewall software so that you will have another chance to successfully uninstall Metasploit. Additionally, we’re suggesting you follow the below step-by-step directions on WindowsUninstaller.org and manually remove your Metasploit product. If any outlined step does not apply, we too highly recommend the following uninstaller software Pro for your uninstall/install problems on your Windows.
Metasploit Install Review…
- "Welcome to the Metasploit Setup Wizard."
- "You must accept the terms of this agreement before continuing with the installation."
- "Installation folder… C:\metasploit" (Tip Add this folder to this recocommended uninstall tool to forcibly and cleanly uninstall Metasploit for your system.)
- (IMPORTANT!) "Disable Anti-Virus and Firewall. This product is not compatible with common anti-virus solutions … firewall applications. …"
- "Metasploit Service"
- "Generate an SSL Certificate. Please provide the fully qualified domain name…"
- "Ready to Install…"
- "Installing VC++ 8 runtime"
- "Setup has finished installing Metasploit on your computer. …"
How can I manually uninstall Metasploit?
NOTE The following uninstall steps deal with modifying Windows files system and Registry Editor. Hence it’s best to back up everything that matters before changing any Windows-related items. To securely and effectively remove everything that has Metasploit or is Rapid7 related, save, install and run the suggested uninstall program above.
- To smoothly uninstall Metasploit, I first close the following "Welcome to Metasploit" file.
- Then I open Computer Management then disable Metasploit Pro Service, Metasploit Thin Service, Metasploit Worker and metasploitPostgreSQL from running automatically.
- And I save my work then reload my W7 system in its Admin mode.
- Afterwards, I have 3 options to uninstall Metasploit:
Option One (7 Steps)
- Hit Windows key on my keyboard, choose "All Programs".
- Click the listing Metasploit file folder, run the original "Uninstall Metasploit" application.
- Choose Yes from below UAC to let Windows run the said "uninstall.exe".
- To proceed to uninstall Metasploit, I answer Yes to the below Question window.
- I need to wait for few minutes while the following Setup application helps uninstall Metasploit silently.
- Then Setup tells me that "Uninstallation completed", I hit OK to exit that Info box.
- And then I manually restart my computer again.
Option Two (via Windows Control Panel)
- Double click Control Panel on desktop >> enter Uninstall a program.
- Locate the target item Metasploit (577 MB; v4.7.2), launch Uninstall/Change option.
- I minimize the "Uninstall or change a program" list then repeat the above Step 4 – 7 to complete the express uninstall of Metasploit.
- Plus, I need to remove the unused WinPcap 4.1.2 later so that I can fully uninstall Metasploit.
Option Three
- Go to the aforementioned metasploit folder >> use Admin rights to run the following uninstall application so that I can successfully uninstall Metasploit.
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