Uninstalling LM

You are in the right place if you wish to permanently uninstall LM. You belong on the troubleshooting page if you think the program is damaged and wish to uninstall it only to prepare for a fresh reinstallation.

IMPORTANT: Your data is of little use without the program. But, you may be able to view the database's DB and MB files in some other program. So, if you wish to keep them, create a backup ZIP archive and save a copy in another folder.

To uninstall LM:

1. Press the Windows Start button and choose Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.

2. On the Install/Uninstall tab, scroll down through the list of programs on your computer and select The Literary Machine Professional Edition. Press the OK button.

3. The uninstaller will not get rid of files created after the program was installed, you must manually delete the LM program directory and anything left in it.

What about the Borland Database Engine?

The Borland Database Engine (BDE) is part of the LM database system. If the BDE did not already exist on your machine when you installed LM, LM installed it.

Uninstalling LM will not uninstall the BDE.

Here's why: Many programs rely on the BDE and install it with themselves if it does not already exist on your machine. So, uninstalling LM does not necessarily mean that you don't still need the BDE. For example, if you remove it, Corel programs like WordPerfect™ and Draw™ will not work.

There is a use count in the Windows Registry that should tell the uninstaller when the BDE is no longer used. However, it is not reliable. That's because reinstallations increase the UseCount, so it is often greater than the number of programs that use the BDE. Result: even after you uninstall every program that uses the BDE, its UseCount is greater than 0.

That said, if you are sure no other program needs the BDE and Windows has not uninstalled it, you can remove it through one of the methods below.

1st Method

The BDE database program can be uninstalled by removing its files and the directory they are contained in. The directory is usually called "BDE". To find out where the BDE is installed, follow the instruction below.

To find the BDE directory, click Start > Find > Files or Folders... and type IDAPI32.DLL in the text entry box. If you don't find any such file, search for ID*.DLL. If you don't find that either, search for BDEADMIN.EXE. Delete the folder that contain these files. On most systems you will find them in "C:\Program Files\Borland\Common Files\BDE\" or in "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Borland Shared\BDE".

Note: If you find the BDE within some other program's folders, you can be sure that other program needs it! (In fact, programs not following standard rules for BDE installation can cause problems for LM and other BDE programs.)

Note: The acronym "BDE" is not necessarilly unique to the Borland Database Engine. So, make sure that the program you find is the one described here. See the ReadMe_LMP.txt file for a list of the files in the Borland Database Engine.

Unless you are very concerned about not having any loose ends in your Windows Registry, you are through by having deleted the BDE folder.

2nd Method

Uninstall the BDE by following the instructions on the BDE Support Web site at http://www.bdesupport.com/deploy.htm#uninstall.

Caution: The instructions above tell you to clean the Registry by deleting the BDE's Registry Keys. If you do not know how to edit the Registry, and if all you care about is recovering space wasted by an unneeded BDE, our experience indicates that you cause no real problems if you just delete the BDE directory. Doing so removes the bulk of the program, leaving behind only its registry keys. The BDE will probably install correctly if you ever need it again.