How to manually remove all of WSUS

NOTE: This article is out of date and no longer applies. We are researching alternaitves and will post them here when available.

=====

Hey, let's face it, bad luck can strike the best of us, so if you find yourself in a position where your WSUS box is corrupt beyond repair, the regular uninstall isn't working and you have no choice but to do a complete removal and reinstallation then maybe these steps by Ellis George will help you get through it a little easier. These are specific to the SP1 version but should be OK for others as well.  Keep in mind that this is a measure of last resort and should only be used if you have no choice but to manually remove WSUS.  This will also remove WIDS so when you're done you'll be able to reinstall and start from scratch.

WARNING: Do Not Do This if you are running WSUS on SBS 2008!   SBS 2008 installs Sharepoint and WSUS on the same server and both applications store their database in Windows Internal Database. Removing Windows Internal Database (MICROSOFT##SSEE) using steps 6-8 will break Sharepoint and anything else you may have installed that relies on Windows Internal Database.

========

1. Please download and install the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility.  To install it simply run msicuu2.exe.

2. Once it is installed go to Start>All Programs>Windows Install Clean Up

3. Scroll through the options and highlight Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP1 (3.1.6001.65)

clip_image002

4. Click remove

5. Open a command prompt and run the following commands:

net stop wsusservice

net stop wsuscertserver

sc delete wsusservice

sc delete wsuscertserver

6. When complete, go back to the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility and highlight Windows Internal Database (MICROSOFT##SSEE) and click remove.

7. Go back to the command line and run the following commands

net stop mssql$microsoft##ssee

sc delete mssql$microsoft##ssee

8. Delete or edit the associated reg keys as noted below:

a. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server and edit the "InstalledInstances" value and remove "MICROSOFT##SSEE"

b. Remove the "MICROSOFT##SSEE" subkey under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server

c. Remove the "MSSQL.2005" subkey under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server

d. Rename the following folder:

\%Windir%\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data

to

\%Windir%\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data.old

At the completion of this you should be at a point where you can reinstall WSUS from scratch if you like.

========

Thanks Ellis!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer