Impulse and Uninstalls

from Sins Forums

Hi there,

I just moved my Sins install from one laptop to a different one.  When I went to uninstall it from the original laptop, I started by uninstalling the Impulse client, and then went to uninstall the game itself.  I got a message that "Impulse is Required for Uninstall".

No problem -- I can download the impulse client and uninstall the game.  This raises a question, though.  When I uninstall through impulse, is there an "install count" being decremented somewhere?  In the future, if I decide to reformat a machine, should I uninstall via impulse first (if possible) to avoid activation problems in the future?  If not, then why is Impulse required for uninstall? 

I know that Stardock is unlikely to actually lock me out of a game I've bought, but if I can avoid a call to customer service, it saves us both some trouble. 

Thanks! 

technical
3,773 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

This raises a question, though. When I uninstall through impulse, is there an "install count" being decremented somewhere?
End of quote

No, it's just a matter of if Impulse installed it, Impulse needs to uninstall it. It's similar if you install something using InstallAware, for example, it'll use an InstallAware uninstaller; if you deleted all traces of InstallAware from your system, you'd find yourself unable to use the uninstall.

Add/Remove Programs in windows does not actually do anything itself, it's basically just an easy access list to the various uninstallers (whatever method they use) on your machine. So whether or not it's on the list, there's still an app (be it Impulse, InstallAware, etc) that needs to handle it and the uninstall can't be done without one.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Makes perfect sense.  Thanks for the answer.  I certainly am not bothered at the minimal copy protections that you guys impose, but it's nice to stay aware of what is operating to avoid problems. 

I'm impressed with Impulse, btw.  It's the most user friendly commercial software distribution mechanism I've seen.

I only feel compelled to post this because I just got done reading multiple DRM flame wars on this forum... thought you guys would like to know that some of your users are quite happy with the situation and appreciate the work you are doing.

 

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