How do I uninstall software that Windows will not completely uninstall? On a Windows 98 machine I installed a D-Link wireless PCI adapter and the associated software and driver. The setup worked fine for awhile but later began having problems ? losing connection, weak signal, device missing, etc. Per suggestion from D-Link Support, I attempted to update the driver with the newest available for my hardware. I soon found that I needed to completely uninstall the existing D-Link software before a new install would work.
I turned off the machine & physically removed the PCI card; brought the machine up & uninstalled the hardware using device manager; uninstalled the software from the control panel; rebooted & in safe mode removed the device again in device manager. Finally I went back into Control Panel ?Change or Remove Programs? and the D-Link software was still there. I have since tried again and again and also with the actions in slightly different order, but always the D-Link stuff remains. And always the driver update fails.
When I attempt to install the newer rev, the installation asks me if I want to remove the existing software completely. I answer yes, of course, but then it flashes 100% for a split second then stops but the old software is still there. It appears that I simply must have the old D-Link S/W completely off the system to successfully upgrade. Is a reformat of the HD the only way to do this?