7 replies to this topic

[Rick Brewster]

Edit by Rick on 2007-08-10: Made title ALL CAPS because people still completely miss this post even though it always, always solves their problem.

I've collected some of the problems and solutions for installation and uninstallation here.

1) NOTE: Uninstaller requires that .NET Framework is installed!

If you uninstall the .NET Framework, and then try to uninstall Paint.NET, it won't work. This is because part of our installation and uninstallation is .NET based. So if you have uninstalled .NET before Paint.NET, you will need to install .NET again before you can uninstall Paint.NET. You can download .NET Framework here: http://www.microsoft... ... laylang=en

2) "An error occurred during installation of the assembly ...", along with an icon of a computer monitor with a moon on it.

On Windows Vista (and Windows 7, and Server 2008/2008 R2), your "Windows Modules Installer" service must not be set to Disabled. To ensure that it is set to Manual, do the following: 1) click on the start menu (Windows pearl logo) and type "services.msc" and then press Enter. (you may have to click through a UAC consent dialog) 2) In the "Services" program, scroll near the bottom to find "Windows Modules Installer" and then double click it, 3) if "Startup type:" is Disabled, then set it to Manual and click OK, and lastly 4) rerun Paint.NET installer.

Note that this will be automatically taken care of in an upcoming Paint.NET update. See here: http://blog.getpaint... ... s-enabled/

3) Uninstallation failure, or installation failure after a previous installation or uninstallation failure.

There are a variety of problems that have cropped up when trying to uninstall, or when trying to install after a previous failure while installing or uninstalling. Many of these are fixed with Paint.NET v2.6, however that doesn't fix that the older version still on your system is still having trouble removing itself! Try following the instructions listed in the next post (originally from this thread: http://paintdotnet.1... ... ght=spooky ) . Then try installing the latest version of Paint.NET.

4) Error number "80040005", or other errors that display before you see the setup wizard with the Paint.NET logo

We've seen some systems that have fixed this by doing a "repair" of .NET itself. To do this, go to the Add/Remove Programs control panel. Find "Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0" in the list, and click on it. Next, click on the "Change / Remove" button that is now shown. Then click on the "Repair" radio button, and then click Next and follow any other directions that come up. Lastly, try installing Paint.NET again.

[Rick Brewster]

People are adding on to the thread mentioned in (2) above, so I'll quote the pertinent post here for clarity:

John, I finally found the utility I was looking for: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301
http://majorgeeks.com/Windows_Installer_CleanUp_Utility_d4459.html

It's called the Windows Installer CleanUp utility. What you want to do is install it, and then run the program from the Start menu. Select the item in the list that says "(All Users) Paint.NET ..." (the ... will be whatever version you're trying to, erm, eradicate). BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS UTILITY -- make sure to only select Paint.NET!. Once you have selected it, click Remove. Once finished with the utility, manually delete the directory that Paint.NET was installed to.

Next, you should be able to install the new version of Paint.NET just fine.

As for an explanation ... installation and setup is a rather complicated process for any application that requires more than just "xcopy deployment." Windows Installer (MSI files) is a technology that is used to standardize the way in which this stuff is done. Sometimes system settings or configuration gets changed and the MSI needs to ensure that things are in a state that it is comfortable with. This requires access to the original installation files.

Now, for v2.5, I have implemented a system that always keeps a copy of the original installation files (you'll see those "Staging" files with the random numbers on them). This should eliminate this type of problem going forward, but as you can see it can still be a problem for people upgrading from older versions.

Anyway tell me if that utility works for you.

[Rick Brewster]

Another thing that helps:

5) .NET Framework itself may need to be repaired

This is a different symptom than what is listed for (4) above, but the solution is the same. This is worth attempting as a troubleshooting step as well -- sometimes, for whatever reason, .NET itself becomes corrupt or damaged and a simple "Repair" often fixes things right up. You can do this from the Add/Remove Programs control panel in Windows XP, or the Programs and Features control panel in Windows Vista.

Here are some other resources that can help in this case, and which may be worth trying as a matter of standard troubleshooting if nothing else seems to work:

A ) What to do if other .NET Framework setup troubleshooting steps do not help, http://blogs.msdn.co...07/8108332.aspx

B ) .NET Framework Cleanup Tool User's Guide (and link to the tool), http://blogs.msdn.co...28/8904493.aspx

[Rick Brewster]

6) Paint.NET Repair Utility -- Paint.NET 3.0 and new come with a program called PdnRepair which might fix things for you. It was originally written to automatically fix certain problems related to missing files, but it can sometimes help outside of the scenarios that are auto-detected.

Simply navigate to where your Paint.NET is installed (usually C:/Program Files/Paint.NET) and then double-click on "PdnRepair".

[Rick Brewster]

7) Paint.NET doesn't like to be "moved" after installation.

For example, if you installed to the default location of C:/Program Files/Paint.NET and then moved it to, say, D:/Paint.NET or over to D:/Apps/Paint.NET (or wherever), then the updater will become horribly confused.

The solution is to move Paint.NET back to where it was originally installed, then then perform the uninstall or update. If you want to move Paint.NET, then please run the installer and choose "Custom" and then when it gets to the page where it asks you the installation directory then just tell it where you want it to go.

[pyrochild]

8) Installations on Windows XP must be done on an Administrator account.

No Run As. It won't work.

Log in as an admin
Install
???
PROFIT

[pyrochild]

9) Disable your antivirus

Some antivirus or "internet security" software may interfere with software installations, including Paint.NET's. If you have problems, try turning off your AV software.

Don't forget to turn it back on once Paint.NET is installed!

[Rick Brewster]

10) "1603" error during install/update
Loki has found what we believe is a fix for this, detailed at http://forums.getpai...error-1603-fix/