Originally posted by Cats4U
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No other way to say it, this is coding laziness and lack of foresight, nothing more. Back when I was coding (many many moons ago) when I sent out an update the installer AUTOMATICALLY created a backup of the user's complete working configuration then removed everything including registry entries (with the option to save simple preferences where applicable) before installing the new version.
If there was a problem the user could "backdate" to their original working configuration until the unforeseen/unanticipated problem could be resolved. This circumvents the possibility an irreversible "update" presents more problems than it solves with no recourse. Sound familiar? Otherwise we essentially left the customers stranded without a solution. Somehow that last statement also has a familiar ring to it but I can't quite put my finger on it.
There are two main steps to preemptive coding: 1. What can possibly go wrong? and 2. Trap it and prevent it. You can never prevent it all but it does leverage the odds in your favor and eliminates many possible issues. In particular this would include conflicts/issues with previous versions of the same program.
If any program's uninstaller cannot do a clean uninstall of its own program then the uninstaller NEEDS WORK and is incomplete. If an installer does not at least offer the option to create a backup of the existing configuration before wiping it out it is incomplete and lacks foresight. Disk space is no longer at a premium so there is no excuse.
Sadly in today's corner cutting world this is the norm, not the exception. Why else would there be a need for 3rd party uninstallers? Even then they still can't anticipate every coding/installation faux pas. Although it fails more often than succeeds this was the primary objective behind "Restore Points."
The fact I would have to pay to access previous versions to backdate in the event of an "update fiasco" also infuriates me. Had I been warned ahead of time I would have grabbed the standalone installer for every release before updating, especially in light of the current situation.
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