On my Windows 7 (64bit) machine, there are 3 Python installations that I want to completely purge from my system (so I can begin from scratch). The environments/setups have been split between Admin accounts and User accounts.
The problem is that I did not manage these installations, the environment, or configuration very well at all. Registry settings were mangled by hand (by me of course!), environment settings are excessively customized, global and user site-package locations are scattered, intermixed. Build directories and caches are all over my home directory. Non-standard PYTHONHOME locations.
I want to remove all of this cruft and rebuild my environments from a clean slate. Normally this is when I would reinstall Windows, but there are too many custom business applications installed and configured.
I plan to start by using built-in Uninstall procedures, but I am quite sure I will need to clean several things manually. Here is what I am worried about, and where I could use any advice you might have to offer. I am trying to avoid a week of downtime due to mysterious application conflicts.
- Windows Registry Keys/Groups that may clobber a new installation if not deleted/reset.
- User site-package locations where any cached files/builds/binaries might be laying around
- Binary executable PATHS that may have been located outside of PYTHONBASE directories.
If I can get my Admin environment clean, I may just abandon my user profile and start with a fresh account. Any personal experiences or expert insight on Python administration under Windows will go a long way. I appreciate whatever you might be willing to share.