Cutepdf Silent Install Ps2pdfwr
Stack Exchange network consists of 175 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Silently Install CutePDF Writer and Ghostscript I was quite recently looking to find a way to install CutePDF Writer silently (like most corporate setups) as to keep user interaction to a minimum. Getting CutePDF Writer fully installed consists of intsalling both the writer itself, as well as the GPL Ghostscript. I’ve been working on developing a paperless workflow. I want to save my digital files in PDF/A format, specially designed for archiving. (In particular, I want to create PDF/A-1b documents.) An important part of this workflow is the ability to print documents and emails to PDF/A. I found that with some tweaking, I can use CutePDF to do so.
I have been struggling for a week to come up with a way to uninstall CutePDF silently. Everything I tried did not work. there is no silent uninstall switch. No MSI. Repackers didn't work.
I had 30 machines I needed to remove it from. I was not going to walk to each machine and uninstall it. I Emailed CutePDF and they told me I could buy full version which has a silent uninstaller.
So for any of you struggling with the same issue I wrote a quick vbs script.
Set KillShell = WScript.CreateObject('WScript.Shell')
Set CuteShell = WScript.CreateObject('WScript.Shell')
KillShell.Run 'Taskkill /f /IM Setup64.exe'
WScript.Sleep 500
CuteShell.Run ''c:Program Files (x86)Acro SoftwareCutePDF WriterSetup64.exe' /uninstall', 9
WScript.Sleep 500
CuteShell.SendKeys '{ENTER}'
WScript.Sleep 500
CuteShell.SendKeys '{ENTER}'
This VBS script will start the uninstall, a dialog box will appear asking if you would like to uninstall. The script will hit the enter button for you. Users will see a pop up for a second but then after that, CutePDF is gone.
I used PSEXEC to deploy this with the -i option for interactive to make sure it ran on the users desktop. It will not work if the screen is locked or if no user is logged on.Probably would be best used in a start up script.
Enjoy
The Problem:
I am trying to perform an unattended, silent uninstall of the CutePDF Writer 3.0, via command line. Every available source I have found points me to these two commands:
Sample sources: source #1 (v3.0), source #2 (v2.8), source #3 (v2.8)
Yet this doesn't work for me. Every time I try I get a message box I must click:
I have tried it many times with both clear installs and multiple installs/reinstalls on VirtualBox on following systems:
- Windows XP
- Windows 7 32-bit
- Windows 7 64-bit
The problem replicates every single time. I also tried other popular switches like /silent, /verysilent, /S, even the SUPRESSMSGBOX which was once said to be working with the older installer of Writer. Nothing worked.
I have filed an issue at CutePDF website, but it's free software and not their support priority.
The Question:
Since multiple sources point to this method, I am kind of lost. Could they all be wrong, or is something wrong with my environment? Perhaps it's locale-specific?
I'd be thankful for anyone to check if the same problem occurs on other machines, especially on Windows locale different than PL (1045).
Perhaps someone knows some better way to perform an unattended uninstall of this product?
3 Answers
The matter is solved. Unfortunately, Acro Software Inc. removed this feature. Purposefully.
I received a following response:
...for which I asked if it is a planned behaviour, eg. they're planning to keep it that way, or will it be fixed in the next release? The response was short:
I have asked them then if they could be in any way more specific, yet...
Time to get reacquainted with other, comparable products :)
An alternative deployment workaround available is to use AutoIT with the following script:
(note the parentheses, they are important!)
Note that when using Wpkg, Wpkg-GP or other software deployment system running as SYSTEM user during startup, you need to make sure the service runs in desktop-interactive mode, otherwise AutoIT won't work properly.
Cutepdf Silent Install Ps2pdfwr Windows
It supports silent uninstall.
Try the below switches which worked successfully for me.
- 32-bit -
'%ProgramFiles%Acro SoftwareCutePDF Writeruninscpw.exe' /s - 64-bit -
'%ProgramFiles(x86)%Acro SoftwareCutePDF Writersetup64.exe' /uninstall /s
I can confirm that unless you do as the OP suggested (using AutoIT), silent uninstall is not possible.
To make matters worse, when you attempt to use the provided command line of '%ProgramFiles(x86)%Acro SoftwareCutePDF Writersetup64.exe' /uninstall /s, you're still prompted, and then the 'setup64.exe' never again functions properly. Even after manual uninstall and reinstall the 'setup64.exe' no longer functions.
This is just not an enterprise product, simple as that.
My testing was done on Win10 build 1803.
