Summary
Product: FreeProxy Internet Suite
Versions: all
Note: 2068
Date reported: 2 April 2008
Key Words: Service Not Installed, Installed but Stopped, Plugin, uninstall, Installed but Stopped.
Issue Detail
Upgrading FreeProxy sometimes causes a problem. In the main, uninstalling FreeProxy or simply installing the new version does not have an issue and the process works well. However there are occasions where, for whatever reason, the install or uninstall does not work correctly and requires some manual intervention. This techincal note describes how to manually completely remove FreeProxy from your system after which you can re-install a later version if that is your want. If you have previously installed a plug-in for version 3.9x, the uninstall does not remove these registry settings and later installed versions stop with the error Plugin Error : H:01360 F:'main' T:'A problem was encountered loading Plugin details.' Another possibility is the service not starting correctly.
CAUTION: THIS TECHNICAL NOTE SUGGESTS CHANGING FREEPROXY RELATED REGISTRY SETTINGS. BE CAREFUL AS MISTAKES MAY RENDER YOUR SYSTEM UNUSABLE. PLEASE REFER TO THE FOLLOWING MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE ARTICLE ON THE SUBJECT, TAKING NOTE OF HOW TO BACKUP AND RESTORE THE REGISTRY: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986. DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU ARE UNSURE.
Solution Stop the FreeProxy Service
If you are able to, stop the FreeProxy service from the FreeProxy Control Centre if it is running.
If you are unable to stop the service from the Freeproxy Control Centre then do the following:
Stop the service from Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services. If this does not work, continue with removing the registry key anyway.
Remove the service registry setting. Delete the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/FreeProxy. As a double-check before deleting this service, make sure the word Freeproxy is highlighted before pressing the delete key.
Restart your system.
After your system restarts, FreeProxy will not be running as a service.
Save Files
If you intend reinstalling FreeProxy, save the files you may need. If you have used the default.cfg configuration file, then copy it to a folder other than the default install directory (usually C:\Program Files\Hand-Crafted Software\FreeProxy). Its a better practise anyway, to save this file in a different folder using a different name. Config files do not have to be named Default.cfg. If you have used cache and log files and they are stored in the default install directory, then move these files as well.
Uninstall FreeProxy
It is worthwhile running the uninstall if its available. If the uninstall does not work, you can continue with the next step. This can be done in one of two ways. Either
Start -> All Programs -> FreeProxy -> Uninstall FreeProxy, or;
Start -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs -> FreeProxy version x.xx.
Whether this works or not, continue to the next step anyway.
Delete files
Files will be removed by the uninstall if it worked successfully.
Delete the folder, C:\Program Files\Hand-Crafted Software\FreeProxy. This will be different if you have selected a different install folder or different drive. If you have used the above folder name, then delete all files from ....\Hand-Crafted Software\FreeProxy including the two folders "FreeProxy" and "Hand-Crafted Software".
In C:\Windows\System32 remove any file with the name like FreeProxyDLLxxx.dll where xxx is the version number.
Delete Registry Keys
All application keys are kept in 2 hives. These keys are typically removed by the uninstall, if it worked successfully.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Hand-Crafted Software/FreeProxy: Click on "FreeProxy" and make sure it is highlighted before pressing the delete key. Check the entry for "Hand-Crafted Software". If there are no sub-keys under this key, then click on "Hand-Crafted Software", make sure it is highlighted and press the delete key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Hand-Crafted Software/FreeProxy: Click on "FreeProxy" and make sure it is highlighted before pressing the delete key. Check the entry for "Hand-Crafted Software". If there are no sub-keys under this key, then click on "Hand-Crafted Software", make sure it is highlighted and press the delete key.
Restart your system.
Cleanup
If you were using logs and caches, you can now delete any files from these file systems as you require. Its not necessary to delete these files if you intend re-installing FreeProxy.
Install Freeproxy
Install FreeProxy in the usual manner. Note that version 3 config files are not compatible with Version 4. Now load the config file you saved before the uninstall. If you were previously using Caching, and you had to move the cache files to a different folder, then set this up in the cache options; version 3 and 4 cache files are compatible. Likewise check the log file directory is still correct.
Problem with the service starting
If after uninstalling and re-installing, you continue to get the error and it is related to stopping and starting the service, do the following:
Check the Event Viewer. This may show the cause of the error.
Check the FreeProxy logs. If you have not defined a log file, the default log file will be located in the install directory (usually C:Program FilesHand-Crafted SoftwareFreeProxy).
Stop FreeProxy manually from the command line. In the following commands <install> means the FreeProxy install directory.
Code:
cd <install>
freeproxy -remove
Now try and restart FreeProxy from the Control Centre.
