Using the Notes Install Cleanup Utility (NICE) tool

You can use the supplied Notes® Install Cleanup Executable (NICE) tool to clean up a failed install, failed uninstall, or failed upgrade. You can also use the tool to uninstall an existing version of Notes, and clean up extraneous files, before performing an upgrade installation. The tool is available for Notes on supported Windows™ platforms only, and must be run by an administrator.

About this task

The NICE tool (nice.exe) is supplied in the Utility subdirectory in the Notes install kit. It can be run on all Notes releases 6.5 and newer.

Note: Before running the NICE tool, consider backing up the Notes client. For details, see the wiki article in the related topics on backing up and restoring data.

The tool removes various files and settings, including registry setting values, program files, and Notes user data files. It obtains the location of applicable files and folders by searching the registry for settings that contain a "xpdInstallLocation" or "XPD_INSTALL_LOCATION" value, such as the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[UpgradeCode]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[UpgradeCode]
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[UpgradeCode]
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[TARGETUPGRADECODE1]
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[TARGETUPGRADECODE2]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[TARGETUPGRADECODE3]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[TARGETUPGRADECODE3]
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[TARGETUPGRADECODE3]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[TARGETUPGRADECODE1]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[TARGETUPGRADECODE1]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[TARGETUPGRADECODE2]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\IBM\Lotus\Expeditor\[TARGETUPGRADECODE2]

The tool checks to see if Notes processes and services are running.

If NICE detects certain processes, you are instructed to shut down; NICE does not close these processes for you. The list includes the following:
  • notes2.exe
  • ntaskldr.exe
  • notes.exe
  • nlnotes.exe
  • sametime75.exe
  • nminder.exe
  • soffice.bin
  • soffice.exe
If NICE detects certain services, it will stop them. The service list includes the following:
  • Notes Diagnostics
  • Multi-user Cleanup Service
  • Notes Single Logon
  • Notes Smart Upgrade Service
NICE then removes the following items:
  • Shared DLL files based on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDlls registry setting
  • Notes workspace directory (for release 8.0 and newer) -- User's Data Directory/workspace
  • Program files (if the Remove all program files check box or command line option is enabled) -- All \Program Files\IBM\Notes directory contents are removed except the \Program Files\IBM\Notes\Data subdirectory.
    Note: For NICE to remove the preceding items, Remove Data Files must be disabled.
  • Desktop shortcuts -- Notes, Domino® Designer, Domino Administrator desktop shortcuts are removed, as are applicable Start > Programs menu shortcuts.
  • Notes data files (if the Remove all data files check box or command line option is enabled) -- The Notes data directory, as specified in the registry, is deleted.
Note: NICE uses registry key HKLM\Lotus\Notes\Path to determine where Notes is installed. It also checks for the Expeditor location in case it was installed to a different location than the Notes program files.
Consider running NICE in the following situations:
  • Clean install -- Remove the existing Notes installation, and clean the registry, to prepare for a clean install.
  • Failed install -- Detect the install version (release) from the registry and clean up registry settings and files on the system to prepare for a clean install of the same release.
  • Failed upgrade -- Detect the install version (release) from the registry and clean up registry settings and files on the system to prepare for a clean install or the upgrade release.
  • Failed uninstall -- Detect the version (release) from the registry and clean up registry settings and files on the system to prepare for a clean install.

For all situations, the following occurs:

If a Notes version is not detected in the registry but files exist in the default location , you are prompted to remove those files from disk.

For example, if there is no entry for Notes in the Add/Remove Programs dialog box, NICE detects whether there is a key in registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Lotus\Notes, gets the PROGDIR and DATADIR information from the registry, and does the deletion. If there is no key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Lotus\Notes, NICE does nothing.

If there is no Add/Remove Programs entry for Notes, but there are registry keys in either HKCU\Software\Lotus\Notes\Installer or HKLM\Software\Lotus\Notes, you can remove those registry settings. For example, if there is no Add/Remove Programs entry for Notes, NICE gets the PROGDIR and DATADIR information from HKLM\Software\Lotus\Notes and continues to remove program files, remove shortcuts, and clean the registry.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the Windows operating system as an administrative user and ensure that Notes is not running.
  2. Locate and run the NICE tool; double-click the nice.exe executable from the Notes install kit's Utility subdirectory or run nice.exe from a command line.
    The tool checks for an existing Notes installation, informs you what version is installed, and enables you to specify removal options.
  3. Optional: Enable Remove all program files to remove applicable files and folders in the \Program Files\IBM\Notes directory.
    Note: All \Program Files\IBM\Notes directory contents are removed except the \Program Files\IBM\Notes\Data subdirectory.
  4. Optional: Enable Remove all data files to remove the user's data directory, as specified in the registry.
    Note: The Remove all data files check box is disabled when Notes is installed in multi user mode.
  5. Click Remove to delete the files specified by the selected options.
    Note: If neither option is enabled, the tool removes only the registry entries, stops services, and leaves all the files on disk.
  6. Respond to any confirmation prompts.
  7. A progress bar indicates the progress of the cleanup process. When cleanup is complete, the NICE user interface closes.