Uninstall Applications from PDQ Inventory

4/26/2018 5060 Contributors

Uninstall Feature (Pro mode only)

PDQ Inventory 1.1 Release 3 and higher provide the ability to initiate uninstalls via the Remote Command feature. The necessary Uninstall string is extracted from the registry. The image below shows an example of attempting an uninstall of Java 6 Update 31 (x64). Just right-click on the Application (row) and select Uninstall.



This will cause a Remote Command window to open and the Uninstall string will be passed to the Command field. Verify that your Timeout is set appropriately (some apps may take a while to uninstall and you don't want to prematurely time out). Make any changes necessary to ensure that the uninstall will be performed silently. If the command is part of MsiExec.exe then PDQ Inventory has taken basic steps to ensure the proper uninstall parameters are supplied. (We replace any /i with a /X and we add /qn). 



Limitations to the Uninstall Feature:

***Note - This issue has been resolved. PDQ Inventory will enclose the path in double quotes if a space is detected *** Some uninstall strings may not be enclosed in double quotes. This can cause a problem if the path to the uninstall files contain spaces. If you see a path that should have double quotes you should enter them. Be sure to only enclose the Path in quotes. For example, the Uninstall string for Mozilla Firefox was


When I attempted to Uninstall this app I received this error:


However by simply adding the quotes AND the appropriate parameter to make the Uninstall run silent. (in the case of Mozilla Firefox the correct uninstall parameter is /S)


Some uninstall strings are not properly written to run silently. You may need to perform some due diligence to determine what they are. In a future release of PDQ Inventory we will attempt to provide the appropriate uninstall strings for common programs. A great way to find the appropriate silent parameters is to google something like:

silent uninstall firefox

The first hit for me was this page: 


I found the silent uninstall info almost immediately.

To Uninstall an application from multiple computers just copy the Uninstall string. Select your multiple computers or your Inventory Collection and go to Tools > Remote Command. Paste the Uninstall string in the Command window.

In order for the application (which has been uninstalled) to be removed from the target computers a new Inventory scan will be needed.