Sophos Removal Script

[FN-GM]

Hi

 

Does anyone have a script that will rip out Sophos version 9 completely please? I have an old one for version 6 and it doesnt seem to work.

 

I have a perfect image ready to go and stupid sophos wont go.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

Thanks

[steve]

The last I heard, there isn't one. Our Network Manager spent days trying to remove v9 from a PC to reinstall it. (Couldn't just re-image due to licensed software package)

[FN-GM]

Blast, god i hate this software at times!

[6Foot2]

I think I have a method that works [for removal of Sophos] It might seem a bit convoluted but as I say I think it does the job.

 

1. Uninstall Sophos components [sophos Anti-Virus, Sophos Auto Update and Sophos Remote Management System]

 

2. Restart as required.

 

3. Perform file and folder search for Sophos remnants [sophosNoUpgrade.txt, Sophos AutoUpdate install log.txt etc] and delete files found.

 

4. Use Registry Distiller to remove any Registry fragments left behind by the uninstall routine]

 

[Please test on a machine that you are happy to re-image/re-build before testing on your 'target' machine]

 

Registry Distiller Link: Registry Distiller - Download

 

[Can be downloaded using other URLs]

 

Hope this helps.

[FN-GM]

The problem is it wont let me uninstall something is corrupt.

[6Foot2]

Ah. Hadn't realised that.

 

MS Clean up utility and then use the method indicated above? [still using the practise machine first]

 

Of course the uninstall of components will not work.

[Sophos-Support-6]

Hi,

 

Although there is not a simple 'script' to remove the later versions of Sophos there are many other ways of removing it depending on what the actual issue is.

 

From your initial description I would have thought a simple re-install to resolve the 'corrupt' message and then add/remove programs would remove it - However I'd suggest contacting support (details on the support section of the Sophos homepage)

 

We can then work out the best way in your case to remove it.

 

Regards,

 

Sophos Support

[5tu]

Although FN-GM's request was for a v9 removal script (which I don't have) I thought I'd post what I believe is the latest version of the removal script in case it helps anyone.

 

It says it is for versions up to and including 7.x. Not tried it on later versions but you never know....

 

Remsav_all.txt - rename to .bat

[Sophos-Support-6]

Hi gybe78,

 

Although in some circumstances a simple script to remove / reinstall is useful we would generally suggest that a clean removal using add/remove programs is the best way to remove our software.

 

Also (if you have the time / resources to investigate) we would prefer to look closer at uninstall problems rather than simply strip it all out and start again.

 

Regards,

 

Sophos Support

[Cache]

@FN-GM I had trouble upgrading a couple of Sophos Clients to the new end point protection because something was corrupt in the local install so wouldn't uninstall.

 

The quick fix in the end was to copy the files from the sophos installpoint into the program files directory which then allowed the uninstall to take place, don't know if that will help or not.

[Sheridan]

The last time I ran the script to remove buggy installation of Sophos it left bits behind. I used the MS cleanup tool to get rid of it, then a quick registry search-and-delete to clear anything left other.

[ricki]

Hi

 

Contact sophos and they will send you a script and tell you to download the microsoft clean up tool and install it before running the script twice with a reboot inbetween.

 

Richard

[jhuroleye]

gybe78 you are a life saver!!!! script worked great! i had a user try to delete sophos and screwed it all up.. removed the uninstall msi file... script took care of everything allowing me to install 7 if i wanted but i went to 9.5...

[mac_shinobi]

Using the removal script posted above by gybe78, I have had to do the following ( not sure if this is just on our network )

 

1. Remove any local sophos user accounts

2. Ensure the enviroment variable is set back to the default which is something along the lines of

 

C:\Windows\System32\;C:\Windows\;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem

 

3. Empty the temp directory here ( c:\windows\temp ) - I normally use the command prompt in combination with the del *.* command which removes everything aside from any files that are in use.

 

4. Ensure that any software wise that has exe's that run in the background such as windows defender, spybot search and destroy ( as if setup to it will obviously run teatimer.exe ) which will stop registry changes being made etc are removed ( add / remove programs ), same goes for windows search ref removing it.

 

A reboot will be required for the environment variable to take effect

[contink]

Having suffered from a situation that required Sophos be removed from a large number of machines today here's the latest solution with a bit of extra jiggery pokery to help make it more painless...

 

You will need the latest version of Sophos uninstall script... 2.1.2 (although internally the version number is out of date for some reason???) and the MSI Cleanup utility (which has been deprecated btw).

 

Setup is:

- MSICUU extracted to \\school\apps\msicuu and the MsiZapU.exe renamed to MsiZap.exe

- remsav-all-212.bat copied to "\\SCHOOL\NETLOGON\maintenance\uninstall-sophos"

 

Obviously edit paths accordingly but here's the script:

 

REM This script will install msicuu and then run the uninstall script
REM to remove Sophos from the current machine

@echo off
c:
cd "%programfiles%"
if not exist "Windows Installer Clean Up" goto notthere
echo WICUU Already installed
goto end

:notthere
Echo Install the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility
mkdir "c:Windows Installer Clean Up"
cd "Windows Installer Clean Up"
copy /Y "\\school\apps\msicuu-util\*" c:


:end
echo Uninstall Sophos Now


net use z: "\\SCHOOL\NETLOGON\maintenance\uninstall-sophos" /P:No

cd z:
z:
START "Remove Sophos version 2.1.2" /WAIT "remsav-all-212.bat"

net use z: /DELETE /Y 

 

NB: I've removed all PAUSE commands in this and my version of the sophos 2.1.2 script so it will potentially run as a startup script so some adjustment may be in order if you want to troubleshoot.