If you want to reinstall novaPDF Server from the client computers and from the server itself too, there are a couple of steps you should follow to make sure you succeed with the reinstallations, including making sure you first remove all the previous installations / versions completely.
- if you have public profiles configured, export them in a file using the Export profiles feature from novaPDF's Profiles page.
- uninstall novaPDF from the server by running its uninstaller (or remove it from Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs).
- install novaPDF Server using its setup and make sure to use the same printer name as you had before. Normally, the installation does not require a computer restart. But in some situations, when the driver files from the previous installations could not be removed because they were loaded in some programs, the installation will require a computer restart. In this case, a restart is necessary, otherwise the new driver will not be loaded.
- after the installation (and restart if asked) check the novaPDF version on the About page to make sure it's the one you installed.
- import profiles that you saved from previous installation by using the Import profiles feature from novaPDF's Profiles page.
- the client computers take automatically the new driver from the server when the client computer restarts or the user logs off/on (this is done by the Point and Print Windows technology).
- after you log off/on or restarted the client computer, check the novaPDF version on the client computers too by going to the About page.
If for some reason the above steps didn't work (you still show an older version of novaPDF Server after reinstalling a newer version, or there's a problem with the printing), then another solution would be to perform a total uninstall of novaPDF Server and reinstalling it after. In order to do so, follow the steps below:
Reinstalling novaPDF Server on the Server computer
- Uninstall all novaPDF versions from your server computer (don't just delete them from Printers and Faxes, but uninstall from Control Panel\Add or Remove Programs)
- Restart the server computer and log on with an user that has administrative privileges
- Manually delete the following files (if any):
- nova*.exe
- nova*.dll
- nvactx*.dll
- nvimg*.dll
- nova*.clg
- nova*.chm
- nova*.ctm
- nova*.lng
- nova*.nvp
- nova*.licfrom all these folders:
- C:\WINDOWS\system32\
- C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86 (for 32-bit systems) or C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\x64\ (for 64-bit systems)
- C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3 (for 32-bit systems) or C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\x64\3\ (for 64-bit systems)Now novaPDF is completely removed from your computer. If for some reason you see that novaPDF doesn't get removed from the list of printers, you can perform the above mentioned steps (to completely uninstall it) in Safe Mode.
- Install novaPDF Server again (and share it if your users connect to it as a shared network printer)
On the Client computers (in case your users connect to the novaPDF server as a shared network printer)
- Delete the novaPDF network printer from Printers and Faxes
- Restart the client computer and log on with an user that has administrative privileges
- Manually delete the following files (if any):
- nova*.exe
- nova*.dll
- nvactx*.dll
- nvimg*.dll
- nova*.clg
- nova*.chm
- nova*.ctm
- nova*.lng
- nova*.nvp
- nova*.licfrom all these folders:
- C:\WINDOWS\system32\
- C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86 (for 32-bit systems) or C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\x64\ (for 64-bit systems)
- C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3 (for 32-bit systems) or C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\x64\3\ (for 64-bit systems)Now novaPDF should be completely removed from the client computer.
- Add a printer connection to the newly installed shared novaPDF printer on the server.
Note: After the printer connection is added, open "Printing Preferences" for the novaPDF printer and check the version and build number on the About page. There should be the same version and build number on the server and on the client.
If removing/uninstalling the printer does not work from the server/client computer, there is a way you can force it by removing the printer driver from the command line. The script below is an example on how to remove the printer driver called "novaPDF Pro Server 7 Printer Driver". This script does the following: it restarts the printspooler service, it deletes the printer and the printer driver, it stops the printspooler service and explorer, it removes the driver files, it starts printspooler and installs the printer, last step being the start of explorer. You can copy the code below in a .bat file and after that just double-click it (or you can run the following code directly through command line:
@echo off
echo restart printspooler...
net stop spooler&net start spooler
echo delete printer...
RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /dn /n "\\\\SERVER2008\\novaPDF Pro Server v7"
echo delete printerdriver...
RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /dd /m "novaPDF Pro Server 7 Printer Driver" /h "x86" /v "Type 3 - User Mode"
echo stop printspooler...
net stop spooler
echo stop explorer...
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
echo delete driver files...
del /q c:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\spool\\drivers\\w32x86\\3\\nova\*.\*
del /q c:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\spool\\drivers\\w32x86\\3\\nvimg\*.\*
del /q c:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\spool\\drivers\\x64\\3\\nova\*.\*
del /q c:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\spool\\drivers\\x64\\3\\nvimg\*.\*
echo start printspooler...
net start spooler
echo install printer...
rundll32 printui.dll PrintUIEntry /in /n "\\\\SERVER2008\\novaPDF Pro Server v7"
echo start explorer...
start explorer.exe
exit