How to uninstall the Novell Client 2 for Windows "silently"

  • 7009974
  • 10-Jan-2012
  • 28-Aug-2019

Environment

Novell Client 2 for Windows Vista/2008
Novell Client 2 SP1 for Windows Vista
Novell Client 2 SP1 for Windows Server 2008
Novell Client 2 SP1 for Windows 7
Novell Client 2 SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2
Novell Client 2 SP2 for Windows Vista
Novell Client 2 SP2 for Windows Server 2008
Novell Client 2 SP2 for Windows 7
Novell Client 2 SP2 for Windows Server 2008 R2

Situation

The Novell Client can be uninstalled by invoking the "uninstall or change a program" tool (appwiz.cpl). In some cases, it may be desirable to script or otherwise programmatically invoke the Novell Client's "Add/Remove Programs" entry without prompting the user (silently). However, with the Novell Client 2 SP2 for Windows, this is not possible, as the user is prompted "Are you sure you want to uninstall the Novell Client for Windows?"

Resolution

Beginning with Novell Client 2 SP2 for Windows (IR1), the option to uninstall silently is available. Open an elevated command prompt (right click and choose "Run as Adminstrator"), then run the following command:

%SystemRoot%\System32\rundll32 "C:\Program Files\Novell\Client\ncsetup.dll" NWUninstallClient /s

Uninstallation will start without any user prompt.

Note: This procedure will uninstall Client for Open Enterprise, but will not uninstall NICI or NMAS.