In some cases, you may encounter difficulties during the installation of a Native Instruments product on Windows, because the installer is not able to uninstall the previous version. This usually happens if a product installation has been interrupted before being completed.
In this case, the following issues may appear:
- The NI product installation fails.
- The NI drivers will not install.
- The NI products are not displayed under Uninstall Programs in the Windows Control Panel.
- The component you want to install in a NI installer is marked with a red cross.
- The NI installer announces 0 Mb required installation space and refuses to proceed.
- NI installer asks you to uninstall first before installing, although the program has been uninstalled.
In order to solve the issue, you must use a Microsoft tool called Troubleshooter. This way, you will be able to remove any trace of the previous installation.
Note: This procedure requires the installer for your Native Instruments product. Find more information about obtaining the installer for your product in the articles linked under Related Articles at the bottom of this page.
To uninstall a Native Instruments product using Microsoft's Troubleshooter, please follow these steps:
- Go to the Fix problems that block programs from being installed or removed page on the Microsoft Support website.
- Press the Download button and choose your Download folder in order to download the Troubleshooter application.
- Now the Troubleshooter application is located in your download folder. Double-click the file MicrosoftProgram_Install_and_Uninstall.meta.diagcab to launch the application.
- If you receive an User Account Control Warning, press the Yes button to proceed:
- On the start screen, click Next to proceed:
- On the next screen, define your issue by choosing Uninstalling:
- Select the program you want to uninstall and press Next to proceed. In this example, we are uninstalling the Native Instruments Scarbee Vintage Keys KONTAKT Library.
- When asked if you want to uninstall and cleanup the selected Native Instruments product, click the Yes, try uninstall area.
- The application will try to resolve the issue and uninstall the NI product you have chosen. This can take several minutes.
- The final screen reports that Troubleshooting has completed.
- Now, keep the Troubleshooter running and try to install your Native Instruments product again.
- If the issue has been solved, click the Close the troubleshooter area.
- If the problem has not been fixed, click the Explore additional options field. This will open the Microsoft support window with several options. This is necessary since the issue is likely to be rooted in your Windows system.