As you should already know, having a UPS (uninterruptible  power supply)  for your server is VERY important.  What you may not know is that having software configured properly to handle a power outage is equally important.  If the computer on the UPS is not configured to shutdown properly, then the UPS will provide no additional support for the server during an extended power outage.

We recently started servicing a new customer who was using a standard Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Small Business Server (SBS) Edition, and during our audit process, I found out that not only was the software not configured properly, but the “Server Agent” part of APC’s PowerChute Business Edition, which is installed as a service, was not running, and could not be started, even with restarting the server.  Noting that there was a more recent version of the software, I attempted to run the new install to upgrade the currently installed version.

After trying to upgrade to the latest PowerChute Business Edition software, the PowerChute BE Server service still would not start, even after restarting the server again. Then I decided to try to uninstall the software, but running the uninstaller would flag an error saying the uninstall files could not be found.

After searching the internet, I found the correct files, folders and registry keys that needed to be removed in order to do a clean install of the PowerChute BE Server service here: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/11/01/remove-and-uninstall-apc-powerchute-business-edition-agent-server-and-console-manually/.  Please be aware that this page includes a PG-13 ad on it, so proceed with caution

Since I tried to uninstall the softwarefirst, some of the folders and registry keys listed below were not there. Just delete the ones you see. If you don’t see it, don’t worry about it. Also, on some of the registry keys, it would not let me completely delete the key. In that case, expand the keys fully, and try to delete each sub-key as well. The key may not go away, but you will notice that all of the values in the right side pane will disappear, and this will be enough.

These are the folders you need to delete to remove PowerChute BE Server from your computer. User windows explorer for this bi clicking START, then RUN, and typing EXPLORER. Navigate to the following folders:

C:\Program Files\APC\PowerChute Business Edition\server

C:\Program Files\Common Files\APC

C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{A6491A4A-AAA0-4892-BFEF-ECD6CECE2FF3}

Next, you need to remove some registry keys. To do this, launch the Registry Editor by clicking START, then RUN, and type REGEDIT. Browse to keys listed below, highlight them, and press Delete. You can also right click on the key and choose Delete from there.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{A6491A4A-AAA0-4892-BFEF-ECD6CECE2FF3}

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\Root\LEGACY_APCPBESERVER

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\APCPBEServer

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_APCPBESERVER

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\APCPBEServer

The following is the set of folders and registry keys associated with the 2 other parts of APC PowerChute Business Edition installation:

Agent:

C:\Program Files\APC\PowerChute Business Edition\agent (or any other install path specified during installation)

C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{BCE9F441-9027-4911-82E0-5FB28057897D}

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\APC\PowerChute Business Edition

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppPaths\v:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{BCE9F441-9027-4911-82E0-5FB28057897D}

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\Root\LEGACY_APCPBEAGENT

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\APCPBEAgent

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Eventlog\Application\APCPBEAgent

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_APCPBEAGENT

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\APCPBEAgent

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\Application\APCPBEAgent

Console:

C:\Program Files\APC\PowerChute Business Edition\console

C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{0F86FD09-BA63-4E45-A70B-604C1106C2F2}

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\APC\PowerChuteBusinessEdition\console

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\console.exe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{0F86FD09-BA63-4E45-A70B-604C1106C2F2}