How to uninstall Oracle ODBC Client completely

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Product: Voyager

Question

How to completely & cleanly uninstall the Oracle ODBC client package

Answer

Always take great care when editing the Registry. Always back up your Registry first in case of problems (the following instructions include a step for doing that).

Reboot the PC and then login with an account that has full administrative rights on the local PC. Avoid opening any unnecessary applications (email/etc.).
Delete any Oracle folders in the PC's C:\ drive (i.e. C:\Oracle, C:\Oracle10g, C:\Oracle9i)
Open Windows Registry by typing regedit in the Start menu's Search box
When the Registry Editor opens, back it up by clicking File > Export... and save the file to a safe location just in case you need to restore your Registry after doing the following.
Locate the following registry entries via regedit (note that some of these may not exist, but check them all):
1. in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI\, delete VGER folder
2. in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI\ODBC Data Sources, delete VGER REG_SZ entry¹
3. in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Oracle\, delete KEY_OraClient10g_home folder
4. in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBC.INI, delete everything EXCEPT ODBC Data Sources
5. in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBC.INI\ODBC Data Sources, delete all entries except (Default)
6. in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ODBC\ODBC.INI\ODBC Data Sources, delete VGER REG_SZ entry
7. in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ODBC\ODBC.INI\, delete VGER folder
Reboot the PC

¹Note that some customers report this entry cannot be deleted. If you find this to be the situation, leave it as it is and continue with the uninstall steps.

Article last edited: 27-Sep-2019