5 Removing Oracle Database Client Software

Guidelines for Removing Oracle Database Client with Oracle Universal Installer

Follow these guidelines:

• Do not manually remove Oracle Database Client components without first deinstalling with Oracle Universal Installer. An exception is if, during an installation, you exit Oracle Universal Installer using any of the following methods:

  • Clicking Cancel

  • Turning off the computer

  • If the installation does not complete (that is, all required configuration tools do not run at the end)

  In these cases, Oracle Universal Installer does not register the installation in its inventory. However, it may have copied files to your Oracle home. Remove these files manually and restart the installation.

• If you need to remove an Oracle home manually, first remove the Oracle components with Oracle Universal Installer. An example of removing the Oracle home manually would be by deleting the directory structure with Windows Explorer or the command prompt.

  You should not remove the Oracle home manually first because their components remain registered in the Oracle Universal Installer inventory. If you subsequently try to install Oracle in the same home, some or all of the components selected may not be installed, since Oracle Universal Installer will determine the components are already installed.

Procedure for Removing Oracle Database Client with Oracle Universal Installer

Oracle Universal Installer creates Windows services for Oracle components during installation. However, Oracle Universal Installer does not delete all the services created by Oracle Net Configuration Assistant.

To remove components on a Windows computer with Oracle Universal Installer:

1. Ensure that you first follow the instructions in "Stopping Oracle Services on Windows".

2. Start Oracle Universal Installer. The start procedure depends on which version of Oracle Database Client you installed.

   1. If you installed the Administrator, Runtime, or Custom versions of Oracle Database Client, then Oracle Universal Installer was also installed. From the Start menu, choose Programs, then Oracle - HOME_NAME, then Oracle Installation Products, then Universal Installer. The Welcome window for Oracle Universal Installer appears.

   2. If you installed the Instant Client version of Oracle Database Client, Oracle Universal Installer was not installed. Instead, run it from your installation media or the installation directory you created for downloaded or copied installation files.

      To do so, insert Oracle Database installation media and navigate to the client directory. Alternatively, navigate to the directory where you downloaded or copied the installation files. Then double-click setup.exe to start Oracle Universal Installer. In the Welcome window, choose Install/Deinstall Products.

3. Click the Deinstall Products button.

   The Inventory window appears.

4. Select the Oracle home you wish to remove. Expand the tree of installed components only if you want to remove selected components of an Oracle home.

   For example, if you installed Oracle Database Client with the Runtime option and later installed additional components with the Custom option, then expand the Oracle home component to display all the components installed in the Oracle home.

5. Check the boxes of components to remove.

6. Click Remove.

   The Confirmation window appears.

7. Click Yes to remove the selected components.

   Note:

   A message may appear indicating that removing some components may cause other components to not function properly.

   After the components are removed from your computer, the Inventory window appears without the removed components.

8. Click Close to close the Inventory window.

9. Click Cancel to exit Oracle Universal Installer.

10. Click Yes to confirm that you want to exit.

11. After Oracle Universal Installer exits, go to the next section to remove the remaining Oracle Database Client components.

Removing Oracle Keys from the Registry Editor on Windows

Oracle Universal Installer does not delete all services created by Oracle Net Configuration Assistant. In addition, it does not delete several other registry keys. You must remove any existing registry keys manually by following the instructions in one of the following sections:

• Removing Only the Oracle Net Service Registry Key

• Removing All Oracle Registry Keys

Updating the PATH Environment Variable Path

Check the PATH environment variable and remove any Oracle entries.

1. Display System in the Control Panel.

2. Select the Advanced tab and then click Environment Variables.

3. Select the system variable PATH and edit it to remove any Oracle entries.

   For example, remove Oracle entries that contain ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME in the Path variable. You may see a Path variable that contains entries similar to the following:

   ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\bin;ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\jre\1.4.2\bin\client;
   ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\jre\1.4.2\bin
   

4. Save any changes and exit System.

Removing Oracle Database Client from the Start Menu

Check the Start menu for any Oracle Database Client entries and remove them.

Follow these steps:

1. Select Start, then Programs, then Oracle - HOME_NAME.

2. Right-click Oracle - HOME_NAME, and from the menu, select Delete.

You can also remove Oracle Database Client menu entries by using the following method:

1. Right click the Start button to display the pop-up menu.

2. Select the Explore All Users option.

3. Under Documents and Settings, expand the \Start Menu\Programs folder.

4. Right-click and delete the Oracle - HOME_NAME folder.

Removing Oracle Database Client Directories

After removing all Oracle Database Client registry keys and restarting the computer, delete any existing Oracle Database Client directories and files.

1. Using My Computer or Windows Explorer, delete the SYSTEM_DRIVE:\program files\oracle directory.

2. Using My Computer or Windows Explorer, delete all ORACLE_BASE directories on your hard drive.