1.13.3 General procedure for uninstalling software

(1) Checking the installation status of the software that needs to be uninstalled

Check the installation status of the software that needs to be uninstalled, such as software unnecessary for business operation and software prohibited from being used in your organization.

To check the software installation status, display the Software Inventory view of the Inventory module. By selecting the software in this view, you can check the computers on which the selected software has been installed in the Installed Computers tab at the bottom of the information area.

To check whether any software that is unnecessary for the business operation has been installed on the computers, review the software list. To check whether any software that is prohibited from being used has been installed on the computers, in the software list of the Software Inventory view, find the software with a checkmark in the corresponding Unauthorized column.

Tip

By using the Installed Computers tab, you can uninstall the software from the computers listed in that tab.

Tip

You can also set automatic enforcement in such a way as to automatically uninstall any unauthorized software when it is detected on a computer to which a security policy is applied.

When you find a computer with any unnecessary or unauthorized software installed, check with the user of that computer about the usage status and intended use, and then uninstall it as appropriate.

Related Topics:

• 1.7.1 Setting a security policy

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(2) General procedure for creating a software uninstallation plan

Create a software uninstallation plan before you begin the procedure. Also notify the users in advance of the details of the uninstallation plan.

1. Create a software uninstallation plan.

Consider the following items included in the software uninstallation plan:

• Computers from which the software is to be uninstalled

• Date and time on which the software is to be uninstalled

  When you set the date and time on which the software is to be uninstalled, you need to consider the impact on the business operation. For example, you can schedule the uninstallation during night to avoid business hours, or divide the target computers into groups to perform uninstallation over several days.

Also, you need to do some preparation before you use the distribution function.

Tip

Before you start the uninstallation procedure, we recommend that you make sure that the software is successfully uninstalled by using the computer for testing.

2. Notify the users of the details of the software uninstallation plan.

Notify the users in advance of the details of the uninstallation plan to successfully uninstall the software as scheduled and to avoid confusion among the users. For example, notify the users of the following information:

• Software name

• Software version

• Reason of uninstallation

• Date and time of the uninstallation

• Cautions

Now the preparation for the software uninstallation is complete.

Related Topics:

• 12.3 Uninstalling software from a computer

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(3) Uninstalling software from a computer

You can uninstall software from a user computer by using the Uninstall Software wizard.

The Uninstall Software wizard creates tasks to uninstall software. After the completion of the wizard, the uninstallation tasks are executed according to the specified schedule.

To uninstall software from a computer:

1. Display the Distribution (ITDM-compatible) module.

2. In the menu area, select Packages and then Package List.

3. To start the wizard, in the information area, select Launch Uninstall Wizard from Action.

4. In the What is this Wizard? view, check the wizard procedure, and then click the Next button.

5. In the Create Uninstallation Task view, specify information about the software to be uninstalled and the task execution schedule, and then click the Next button.

   To specify the time at which to execute the uninstallation or messages to be sent to the user, click Execute Option.

   Only the software that completely matches the software name and version specified in the above view will be uninstalled.

6. In the Select Target Computers view, click the Change button.

7. In the Change Applicable Computers dialog box, specify the computer from which you want to uninstall software, and then click OK.

8. Click the Next button.

9. In the Confirm Settings view, check the settings, and then click the Complete button.

10. In the Complete view, click the Close button.

Software is uninstalled from the specified computer according to the scheduled tasks that were created. You can check the status of task execution in the Task List view of the Distribution (ITDM-compatible) module.

Tip

You can postpone software uninstallation to avoid executing it during urgent or important jobs. For details, see 12.6 Postponing downloads and installation as a user.

Important

You can register tasks to uninstall Windows Store apps, but uninstallation will not actually be performed. To uninstall a Windows Store apps, you will need to perform uninstallation on each target computer.

Related Topics:

• 12.5.5 Stopping tasks

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(4) Reviewing the results of the task execution

You can review the task execution status in the Tasks view of the Distribution (ITDM-compatible) module.

We recommend that you check the task execution status on regular basis until the task is complete. If a failure occurs on the computer during the task execution, find the cause of the failure to solve the problem, and then re-execute the task.

Tip

You can also configure JP1/IT Desktop Management 2 to automatically send an email when a distribution management event occurs (such as task completion and task failure).

1. Review the execution status of the task.

In the Tasks view of the Distribution (ITDM-compatible) module, select a task to view its execution status. After you select a task, the detailed information of the task is displayed in the tab at the bottom of the information area. In the Task Information tab, select Task Status Details and then Progress (Completed/Total) to check whether the task has been completed successfully.

Tip

In the following cases, task information will be automatically deleted from the task list:

Tasks executed by the administrator:

- When 30 days have passed after the completion of distribution.

- When the number of devices subject to the task becomes 0.

Tasks executed by automatic countermeasure:

- When 7 days have passed after the completion of distribution.

- When the number of devices subject to the task becomes 0.

- Unset the Automatic Enforcement of Security Policy (Windows Update or Software Use).

2. Find the cause of the task failure, and then solve the problem.

If a failure occurred on the computer during the task execution, click the Failed link in the Task Information tab. The Task Status tab opens with a list of computers on which the task has failed.

Click the link in Task Status to display a dialog box showing the details of the task status. Find the cause of the task failure, and then solve the problem.

3. Re-execute the task.

When the problem has been resolved, re-execute the task.

If you re-execute the task with the same settings:

You can just re-execute the task with the same settings as the previous execution.

If you re-execute the task with different settings:

If you need to change the settings such as execution schedule or target computer, edit or copy the settings, and then re-execute the task.

Now the task will be re-executed on the target computers.

Tip

In Distribution (ITDM-compatible) - Tasks - Task List, the time displayed for Elapsed Time indicates the time that has elapsed since the starting time of the task, if the task status is In Progress. So it may be different from the actualtask completion time.

Related Topics:

• 15.7.1 Specifying settings for event notification

• 12.5.6 Re-executing tasks

• 12.5.2 Editing tasks

• 12.5.3 Copying tasks

• 12.5.5 Stopping tasks

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