I would like to remove IncrediMail from the computer and return to using Outlook Express. When I attempt to uninstall IncrediMail through the ‘Add/Remove Programs’ control panel a message appears saying ‘Invalid INSTALL.LOG file’ and the program will not uninstall. The IncrediMail program is big, so I would rather remove the program than have it lying around.

It seems the uninstaller does not like the INSTALL.LOG file which is provided. Since it cannot read the INSTALL.LOG file correctly, the uninstaller does not know what to remove (since the INSTALL.LOG file contains a log of the installation, such as all the files which were copied). So, the program cannot be uninstalled. In this situation, we have two options. The end result of both options will result in the destruction/removal of the IncrediMail data, so make certain you do not wish to keep anything within IncrediMail (in particular, email messages) before continuing. If you want to export your email from IncrediMail to Outlook Express, have a look at email.about.com/cs/incredimailtips/qt/et012403.htm for a tutorial and free program (IncrediConvert) for this purpose.

Once you have backed-up anything you wish to keep in IncrediMail, we can first try reinstalling IncrediMail. In theory, this should overwrite the existing IncrediMail files and create a new INSTALL.LOG file, which you can then use to uninstall the application. If you have the original IncrediMail installer handy, run the installer and install the program into the same directory to which IncrediMail is currently installed (essentially installing IncrediMail over the top of itself). If you don’t have the original installer, you can download the latest installer from www.incredimail.com/english/download.asp (I recommend downloading the ‘full setup’ since when installing this will not require internet access). Once this has completed, restart the computer (in case any files require a restart). Then, go back into the ‘Add/Remove Programs’ control panel and try uninstalling the program. If the program uninstaller completes successfully, go into Windows Explorer and check whether the C:Program FilesIncrediMail directory exists. Sometimes the program directory remains because the uninstaller does not remove any modified or custom files which are present in the directory, since these were not included in the install. If the directory is present, check the contents and if there is nothing you wish to keep you can delete the directory.

Should the uninstallation still not work, you may need to manually remove IncrediMail. This is a tricky process and manual installations should never be attempted unless the normal uninstall method has failed, since manual uninstallations may not remove all the necessary files. You should only proceed if you are confident performing this procedure, and confident in editing the Windows registry. Should you wish to proceed, first make sure IncrediMail is completely closed. When testing this procedure, I noticed IncrediMail keeps a system tray application running to monitor for new messages. Make sure the program itself and this monitoring process is closed. Now, delete the IncrediMail directory. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to:
C:Program FilesIncrediMail
Look inside the directory and if there is nothing you wish to keep, delete the directory. Next, we need to remove the registry entries for IncrediMail. Go to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Run’ and type ‘regedit’ (without the quotes) and click OK. Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareIncrediMail
Delete the ‘IncrediMail’ registry key (i.e. folder). Next, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREIncrediMail
Delete the ‘IncrediMail’ registry key located in this location. Finally, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows CurrentVersionUninstallIncrediMail
Delete the ‘IncrediMail’ registry key. This will remove the IncrediMail entry from the Add/Remove Programs control panel. Next, go into Windows Explorer and navigate to:
C:Documents and SettingsYour User NameLocal SettingsTemp.
If present, delete the folders name ‘ImInstall’ and ‘Incredimail’. Be aware, you will need to enable the viewing of hidden files and folders (through the ‘Tools’ menu > ‘Folder Options’ > ‘View’ tab) to see this folder. Finally, delete any IncrediMail shortcuts you have on the computer, such as in the Start menu and Desktop. Once this is done, restart the computer and IncrediMail should be removed.