Dave, I have the same problem and, sadly, SCS support is clueless. And no, it is not possible to reinstall Beta 2.

So, can someone suggest a different NDE since I cannot install Vegas?

Can you delete the uninstall info from your hard drive? Then it may not think it's installed any more.

Doing a little research on the web indicates that it might be a problem with the VBScript Engine not being registered or the registry entry that points to the VBScript engine may be damaged. The following is a link to a Yahoo Answers topic that explains how to re-register the DLL. Note that the article is talking about installing Skype, but it appears that this same error code pops up for quite a few application install / un-install issues.

The article also discribes a method that directy edits the registry, as always when making system edits -- proceed cautiously and at your own risk...

How do I solve error code 2738

You may have to to a registry tweak:
https://www.custcenter.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4844/kw/clean%20uninstall%20of%20vegas%20pro

Outside shot, you might try uninstalling from a program like CCleaner if you have it installed.

I had already deleted all those entries from my registry. It still does not help.

OK, I just downloaded, installed and ran CCleaner. Still no good.

I don't know if this will help

http://www.wiki-errors.com/err.php?wiki=2738


Dave T2

Use IOBIT Uninstaller. It is free. Not only does it run the uninstaller, it will trawl your hard drive and registry for remnants of the programs.

It WILL fail to uninstall Vegas for you - it simply runs the uninstaller - but it will delete all the other bits, after which you should be able to install the purchased version.

This utility has never let me down.

Thanks, everyone, still no go. Since I had already deleted all the registry entries by hand, IOBIT could not help either because it does not even know Vegas Pro 12 Beta has ever been installed here (though it did help me with another program). But it might help Jøran who started this thread.

I tried the method in the link posted by jdw, with no success.

I will not delete anything in the registry. Revo uninstaller has a Forced uninstall option, but I will not try this because I do not know the consequences.

The problem seems to be related to the file "C:\Windows\Installer\3a3a3.msi" from Sony Creative Software. I wish SCS could come up with a solution. Otherwise I have to reinstall Windows 7.

Thanks to all of you,
Jøran

Did you try (re)registering the VBScript Engine DLL using the above mentioned technique?

jdw, I did this:

The solution for a Windows Vista or Windows 7 64bit:
- Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories
- Right click “Command Promt” and click on “Run as administrator”
- Write “cd %windir%\syswow64” and hit Enter
- Write “regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll” and hit Enter
- You should now get a message that says: “DllRegisterServer in vbscript.dll succeeded.”
- Click “OK”

Restarted my computer. Tried to uninstall Vegas 12 Beta, but I got the same error message.

Jøran

I've used Revo Uninstaller. I was very unimpressed.

IOBIT also has a 'force uninstall' facility. Shame the program didn't work for you... Hope you do find a solution.

Jøran, the SCS support has just requested my install logs. I sent them the latest. Apparently, after having deleted all the pertinent registry entries I could find, the installer is still thinking I have the latest version installed. So it quits without doing anything.

I am hoping that this latest communication with SCS will result in a solution for me. I suggest you contact them if you have not done so yet. It takes a while of back-and-forth messaging, but at this point I am confident they will be able to help me.

Clearly, this has something to do with the subtleties of their install software, something that most of us would not really know what to do about. But SCS support does.

I have to say they have been very professional with me. At one point I was really venting about how I volunteered for their beta for free and now that I paid for it I cannot install it. I know of at least one major software company that, in the past, told me that if I cannot work with them, they will not work with me and that was it (and I was stuck). Not SCS. They have not let my frustration get to them but just keep working with me until we find the solution. I am quite confident of that now.

The install logs on my system are in C:\Users\Adam\AppData\Roaming\Sony. In yours the Adam part will be whatever your user name is on your computer. You may want to wade through those logs and send them to SCS when you contact them.

Adam

Thank you, Adam!

And please keep us informed if you get new information from SCS.

Jøran

Just a thought - if you can locate the .msi installer, you could right-click and choose to repair the installation...

Did you use CCleaner's Uninstaller or the registry cleaner? If the program executable file has been deleted and everything else in the install directory, can you run the registry tools in CCleaner and see if any registry entries show up as orphans to Vegas?

atom, if you asked me, I used the uninstaller i Control Panel and have not used any registry cleaner. I can locate the msi-file, but have not tried the right click repaire option.

Jøran

@Joran, this was directed to any who had trouble uninstalling. If you ran Windows uninstaller from the control panel, check to see if the Vegas.exe file and the other associated files were indeed deleted from your system. And of course the following suggestion comes with every possible disclaimer - have your system backed up, registry backed up, etc before doing anything to the registry -

If the program files are indeed deleted, run CCleaner's registry tools to see if there are any broken links to the registry that are associated with Vegas12Beta. If so, allow it to fix them (read:delete the keys). For safety, I would only fix the entries that are associated with Vegas. I have done this with every reinstall of Vegas, and even after following Sony's guide on registry keys to remove for a complete uninstall, it usually finds at least one that remained.

This may or may not solve your issue. The Beta version may have keys associated with system clock (because of the time limited functionality) or other system functions that aren't directly connected to the executable file. I'm not smart enough to know if that's the case or not.

Purely FWIW...

Background...
Sony Creative devs use the Windows Installer. Avery wrote about one of the weaknesses of the Windows Installer a while back at his virtualdub.org, linking to some relevant posts at microsoft.com. A [over] simplified summary: it's easy to write a bad .msi installer, screwing up the Windows Installer database etc. in Windows. Once that happens the app whose install routine was at fault may be screwed up, or it may instead screw up one or more other apps that used or use Windows Installer.

Fix.
It may only be possible to do a *complete* fix if you have complete install records of the offending app, & then remove/reverse those changes, or preferably restore a complete disk/partition image backup created before the offending app was installed. [I use Regshot2 to record registry changes during an install & store those records with the app, or several uninstaller apps will let you record all changes. I also regularly use Paragon backup software.]

Workaround.
Microsoft released the "Windows Install Clean Up" app that was then pulled because in some circumstances it could cause problems in win7. If you can find & install it, it lets you delete the Windows Installer records for any app installed using .msi setup files. In Jøran's case [or anyone suffering similar], deleting the records for the VP 12 beta would allow 1) the release version to be installed on top of it, or if you preferred, reinstall the beta, optionally recording the install, & see if uninstall worked then. However, while VP msi files have been screwed up in the past, there was only one incident I can verify long ago -- there's a chance the beta's msi file is fine, that the culprit is elsewhere, & in that case clearing the VP 12 beta's msi data will only allow the release version to install & won't otherwise fix anything, so the original problem of no uninstall could persist.

As an afterthought I wanted to add a quick note re: uninstaller apps... The only way to know the complete list of changes made during an install is to record that install. Some apps [the ATI driver removal tools come to mind] include this info -- the app's devs have already done that recording. To remove an app by reversing all changes BTW you also must account for any shared files added or updated -- removing them may break something, though that may also be unavoidable. An uninstaller app without records of an install can only search for references to an app's name, the name of the .exe file etc. -- for the registry it's the same as if you searched yourself in Regedit. Not everything added by an install always bears the app's name, so uninstaller apps can often fail if/when you didn't record the install.