Labview Install error

[LD2023]

I recently successfully installed labview on my computer, and then used the NI package manager to uninstall everything it could. 

When I went to re-install labview for a class, I was immediately met with this error. 

An error occurred while installing a package: ni-metauninstaller (22.0.0.49152-0+f0)

Additional error information:
An error occurred while installing the MSI at 'MU\MetaUninstaller.msi'. The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2705.

I have tried restarting my computer, uninstalling and reinstalling the NI package manager as an administrator, and cleaning my registry.

Does anyone know how to fix this? I assume something got corrupted in the previous installation/removal and is preventing it from being installed again. 

[Bob_Schor]

Ouch!  You were (possibly) fine until you "cleaned the Registry" (you might still be fine, but you might be looking at a reinstallation of Windows, in the worst possible case that I encountered twice in 2017).

Since 2017, LabVIEW can only be safely installed with NIPM, and can (probably also "only") be safely uninstalled with NIPM.  Once NIPM is done uninstalling everything else that it can find, it will allow you to use it to uninstall itself.  Once this is done, you should be able to reinstall NIPM and reinstall LabVIEW.

Both "Control Panel" and "Settings, Apps & features" should show you two settings under NI -- NI Package Manager and NI Software.  To add/install Software, click NI Package Manager and choose "Modify".  To uninstall Software, first go to NI Software and choose "Uninstall".  Reboot, make sure NI Software is gone (it might take more than one pass), and once it is, click NI Package Manager and do another Uninstall.  You should get a warning -- if you're going to re-install LabVIEW, you could consider leaving NIPM in place, since you'll need to install it (again) to install LabVIEW.

Based on my experience (> 100 LabVIEW installations going back at least 15 years), messing with NI Registry entries can render a PC "LabVIEW-Proof", requiring a new PC (or at least a reinstallation of Windows and everything else).

Bob Schor

[Scott_Richardson]

When you say you are uninstalling and reinstalling NIPM, what version are you using?

[LD2023]

I was using the latest NIPM from the NI website. 23.5.0 

"Included Versions

17.0.0, 17.5.0, 17.5.1, 18.0.0, 18.0.1, 18.0.2, 18.5.0, 18.5.1, 19.0.0, 19.5.0, 19.5.1, 19.6.0, 20.0.0, 20.1.0, 20.5.0, 20.6.0, 20.7.0, 20.7.1, 21.0.0, 21.3.0, 21.8.0, 2022 Q3, 2022 Q4, 2023 Q1, 2023 Q2, 2023 Q3"

When I had the original installation I clicked "check all" to uninstall all of the NI software, then tried to uninstall NIPM with itself but the option was greyed out. Then I uninstalled it from the windows "add or remove programs" since there didn't seem to be any a option. I don't remember exactly, but I might have still seen NI folders after this point and manually deleted them.

A few weeks later I needed to reinstall Labview for a class and redownloaded Labview from the website. 

I then got the NIPM error and looked around other community posts, tried everything that was suggested including clearing out registry errors. I did not manually do this, but I had an antivirus software run it's automatic "registry checker" to look for and resolve issues. 

[billko]

---

@LD2023 wrote:

I was using the latest NIPM from the NI website. 23.5.0 

"Included Versions

17.0.0, 17.5.0, 17.5.1, 18.0.0, 18.0.1, 18.0.2, 18.5.0, 18.5.1, 19.0.0, 19.5.0, 19.5.1, 19.6.0, 20.0.0, 20.1.0, 20.5.0, 20.6.0, 20.7.0, 20.7.1, 21.0.0, 21.3.0, 21.8.0, 2022 Q3, 2022 Q4, 2023 Q1, 2023 Q2, 2023 Q3"

When I had the original installation I clicked "check all" to uninstall all of the NI software, then tried to uninstall NIPM with itself but the option was greyed out. Then I uninstalled it from the windows "add or remove programs" since there didn't seem to be any a option. I don't remember exactly, but I might have still seen NI folders after this point and manually deleted them.

A few weeks later I needed to reinstall Labview for a class and redownloaded Labview from the website. 

I then got the NIPM error and looked around other community posts, tried everything that was suggested including clearing out registry errors. I did not manually do this, but I had an antivirus software run it's automatic "registry checker" to look for and resolve issues. 

---

OMG an antivirus registry cleaner???  I'm surprised your computer runs after that, honestly.

[Scott_Richardson · Accepted solution]

Hi Jake, there may be some steps that you can take to manually bypass the error you are seeing, but it might take some back and forth to achieve it. I am not an advocate of reinstalling an OS unless it is really necessary and it is something that will not heavily impact you, but that is your call. I will contact you offline to discuss this more.

[Scott_Richardson]

FWIW, Jake resolved this by installing LabVIEW on a different computer.