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When installing WinPcap 4.1.2 on Windows 7 I receive the following message

"A previous version of WinPcap has been detected on this system and cannot be
 removed because in use by another application.  Please close all the
 WinPcap-based applications and run the installer again."

I've installed and uninstalled the program several times. According to the WinPcap FAQ I need to delete packet.* and wpcap.dll as well as npf.sys. Done. Additionally, I've removed the Network Packet Filter 'device' using the device manager.

I also did a search in the registry for winpcap with no results. I searched for wpcap and found only one entry - a header file in an include directory. I renamed it to .old with no success.

Further, I downloaded the source code and searched for part of the message above hoping to find how it checks for previous versions. That string (version of WinPcap) was not found in the source code (using grep in cygwin).

Finally, I emailed the two people who are listed as contacts for the program.

I also tried installing the program as an Administrator.

No luck. You all are my last hope. :)

The question is as above - I want to remove the old version of WinPcap. But other questions that could help me are, how does a program check for previous versions? Is there something else I should be searching for in the registry? Is there a way to find out which program is using winpcap? Is there a way to see if any programs have a dependency on winpcap? Any leads would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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Why do you have a "Windows 8 include directory" in Win7? – Karan Jan 3 at 19:55
Are you using Windows 7 or Windows 8? This is important information. Please remove any reference to the version of Windows your not using. – Ramhound Jan 3 at 19:59
Karan, The Windows 8 include directory I mentioned is likely there due to using Visual Studio 2012 which has Windows 8 functionality. Ramhound, as noted in the first sentence - I am using Windows 7. As to why I mentioned it, I was trying to ensure everyone had as much information as possible. I was not trying to confuse anyone but I clearly did. Apologies. Do you have any suggestions I might try? – CramerTV Jan 3 at 21:30

2 Answers

up vote 0 down vote

After the package removal, a reboot should be done before attempting to reinstall the package.

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Thanks mdpc - rebooting is always good advice when finding strange problems but this time it has not helped. This is actually a very long standing problem for me. I first attempted using WinPcap (via Wireshark) 3 months ago and have simply been doing without it. I tried again yesterday with the same results but now I cannot just 'do without' anymore. – CramerTV Jan 3 at 21:25
up vote 0 down vote

While I never found a way to remove the old WinpCap my colleague suggested I boot up in safe mode in order to stop the mystery program from using it. Although I still got a warning that an old version was unable to be removed (and do I want to continue with the install?) the installation this time was successful.

So if you find yourself in this dilemma a possible workaround is to boot up in safe mode and install from there.

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