NOTE: This article explains how to remove all traces of NovaBACKUP client software from a computer, for a standard uninstallation of the software please see How To Completely Uninstall NovaBACKUP PC, Server, or Business Essentials
NOTE: Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista are NOT supported by NovaBACKUP version 18 and newer. The software will not be able to install on those OS's.
NOTE: Starting in NovaBACKUP 21.x it no longer has support for x86 (32-bit) Windows OS's, so you will not see (x86) folders or x86 folders in that case.
There are times when only a CLEAN uninstall and removal of the NovaBACKUP software will be able to clear up various issues relating to possibly corrupt configuration data, etc. Even if you think that NovaBACKUP was removed, these clean uninstall steps often need to be utilized to remove all traces of the software.
This is the guide for performing a clean uninstall and reinstall of current NovaBACKUP software including Professional (PC), Server, and Business Essentials.
This guide is required to be used for if you are attempting to install NovaBACKUP current version, such as v19.0, on a computer that has an old version of NovaBACKUP installed that is more than a couple of major versions old. Versions older than v16.5 will not be able to upgrade to the current version of NovaBACKUP directly, and must perform all of the steps in order for the new version to work.
Clean Uninstall Instructions
1. Stop Running Tasks using Task Manager
Press [Ctrl], [Shift], and [Esc] keys simultaneously to open the Task Manager window.
Select Show Processes from all users at the bottom of screen
Verify DRBackup.exe, drdiag.exe, ManagementServer.Agent.Service.exe, NovaBackX.exe, nsCtrl.exe, and nsService.exe processes are not active. Select each of them and select End Process / End Task if they are still active.
2. Use Windows Uninstall option
From Programs and Features (or Add/Remove Programs), select NovaBACKUP from the list and perform an Uninstall; make sure to enable the checkbox to "Remove jobs and data" so that it does not keep the old jobs and configuration data around.
The backup files (.NBD or .NDF files) on your destination storage device will not be removed. If you will be using NovaBACKUP again, Make Sure to NOT CHECK this option.
3. Delete All traces of NovaBACKUP application files
If you will be using NovaBACKUP again, skip any mention of removing C:\ProgramData
On x64 (64-bit) Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016:
C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\ C:\Program Files\NovaStor\
On x86 (32-bit) Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008:
C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\ C:\Program Files (x86)\NovaStor\
On x86 (32-bit) Windows XP and Windows Server 2003:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\NovaStor\C:\Program Files\NovaStor\
Note: Starting in NovaBACKUP 21.x it no longer has support for x86 (32-bit) Windows OS's, so you will not see (x86) folders or x86 folders in that case.
4. Clean up Windows Registry entries that may still exist:
A. Simple Registry Method
Now using your web browser, download the simple registry (.reg file) fix for this installation issue by clicking this link to download the fix, and be sure to take note of where the file is saved to:
Alternatively, you can download the fix in .ZIP format. If you use this method, you may need to extract the .reg file out of the .zip file to continue to the next step:
NOTE: If your real-time protection software or browser blocks .reg files from being saved, you may need to temporarily disable that feature, or download the .zip version.
Now using Windows Explorer locate the NBK_DRDrivers_Remove.reg file and then simply double-click that file. If your user has the required administrator rights, answer Yes to the prompt(s). There may be one or two prompts depending on your system settings.
When successful there will be a confirmation screen that states The keys and
values contained in NBK_DRDrivers_Remove.reg have been successfully added to
the registry., you can click the OK button to complete the fix.
B. Advanced Registry Method
Using the Windows Registry Editor regedit.exe you can remove the root references to NovaBACKUP. If you have not used regedit.exe before, please do not attempt this process, as it can corrupt your Windows Installation. Once the Registry Editor program is loaded you will delete these particular registry keys:
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Backup Client Agent Service' 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NsService' 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NovaStor' 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\NovaStor'
5. Delete the NovaBACKUP license and activation files used by every version of NovaBACKUP that has been installed.
First, exit out of the NovaBACKUP client application. Then stop the "NovaBACKUP Backup/Copy Engine" service via Windows Services (services.msc command via the Start > Run As menu). You don't want either item to be running during these steps. That service will start back up by itself at the end when you do start the NovaBACKUP client app again, just keep in mind.
In order to see this hidden folder named C:\ProgramData you will have to enable "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" option, and in order to see the .lic and .act files you will need to enable the "Show Protected Files" option (for a how-to read this guide) in Windows Explorer or just paste directly in to Windows Explorer as the path C:\ProgramData
If the operating system is Windows Vista/ 7/ 8/ 10 / 11, Windows Server 2008/ 2008 R2/ 2012/ 2016/ 2019, navigate via Windows Explorer to:
C:\ProgramData\
Once inside the C:\ProgramData\ folder: Look for and then delete all of the NovaBACKUP related license files with the file extension *.lic. Next, delete nsActivation.act. Note: If there is no "nsActivation.act" file in place, that just means that the software didn't go through either the activation or the registration stages prior yet, so don't worry about if you can't locate that file to delete it in that case, at least you made sure that it does not exist.
If your operating system is Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 (for legacy / old versions of NovaBACKUP only, prior to 20.0.x, back when the client could be installed on those old OS's) then the instructions differ and the folder structure to navigate to via Windows Explorer will be:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\
Once inside the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ folder: Look for and then delete all of the NovaBACKUP related license files with the file extension *.lic. Next, delete nsActivation.act. Note: If there is no "nsActivation.act" file in place, that just means that the software didn't go through either the activation or the registration stages prior yet, so don't worry about if you can't locate that file to delete it in that case, at least you made sure that it does not exist.
6. Uninstall Disaster Recovery Imaging via Windows Uninstall (if it exists)
Go to your Programs and Features (or Add/Remove Programs) area of Windows and then look or search for the item "Disaster Recovery Drivers", and right-click on that item and then click Uninstall. (This may or may not exist on all systems)
7. Run a Registry Cleaning utility after modifying the registry
In addition to deleting the old NovaBACKUP registry keys that is instructed in Step 4 you will also run the Registry Clean function of the freeware CCleaner software. CCleaner is a Windows Registry Cleaner and needs to have the Registry Clean function executed three times. Download the freeware program CCleaner at this direct link:
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download/standard
This webpage will show you what you need to click on inside the free CCleaner software to perform the Registry Clean operation: http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/using-ccleaner/registry-cleaning and http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/tour/registry-cleaner
8. Reboot your computer.
This part is very important, if you do not reboot it won't finish the registry clean.
9. Confirm these Windows services are uninstalled:
'Backup Client Agent Service' 'Disaster Recovery Imaging' 'NovaStor NovaBACKUP Backup/Copy Engine (nsService)' 'NovaStor NovaBACKUP Virtual Disk Mount Service (nsMountService)'
If one of these services is visible in services.msc, open an administrative command prompt (right mouse click on cmd icon and "run as administrator") and delete the service with command:
sc delete <name of service>
e.g.
sc delete "Backup Client Agent Service" sc delete "Disaster Recovery Service" sc delete nsMountService sc delete nsService
Reboot your computer again in case you had to delete any services!
Re-Install Instructions
10. Stop Active Protection Software
Stop any running Anti-Virus software and stop any firewall process including Windows Firewall or the firewall component built in to your Anti-Virus software such as McAfee and Symantec.
11. Install NovaBACKUP latest version (linked below).
Here are the Direct Download Links to the Current NovaBACKUP version to match your product type (always available at novabackup.com/downloads):
- http://filestore.novastor.com/Downloads/NovaBACKUP/Current/Setup-NB-PC.exe
- http://filestore.novastor.com/Downloads/NovaBACKUP/Current/Setup-NB-Server.exe
- http://filestore.novastor.com/Downloads/NovaBACKUP/Current/Setup-NB-BE.exe
12. Run the downloaded Setup File
Install NovaBACKUP latest build mentioned above and after a successful installation, do the following:
13. Reboot the computer.
14. Launch NovaBACKUP
Log on to the computer and launch the NovaBACKUP software via the desktop shortcut and test out creating a manual backup job to see if the error still occurs.
15. Still having trouble? Submit a Support Ticket.
If the same installation or upgrade error occurs and you have a valid support contract, submit a ticket in our ticket system with the screenshot of the error or all of the logs. The NovaStor Logging Application to gather all of your logs is available for download here, including the instructions on how to utilize it.
16. For Advanced Users only:
NOTE: If you are uncomfortable making changes to the Windows Registry, please skip this step and see Step 17 below.
If you still cannot get NovaBACKUP software to install or upgrade, meaning you cannot proceed beyond Step 12, then you can perform the following Windows Registry searches to remove the leftover registry entries that CCleaner could not locate and remove for you in Step 7.
- Run regedit.exe.
- Once the Registry Editor loads, navigate to (highlight) the root level "Computer".
- Open the "Find" dialog (CTRL+F). Make sure to "Look At" Keys, Values & Data and to "Match whole string only". (all check-boxes selected)
- Search for, and remove, any Key with a reference to:
- "NovaBACKUP"
- AND "NovaStor"
- (Helpful hint: F3 is Find Next) You should remove each Key (folder) associated with each value (file).
- Close Registry Editor.
- Reboot the machine to apply registry changes.
Log back in and attempt step 12 again to install NovaBACKUP.
17. Simple registry removal instructions, using a .reg file
This method is in case you are still stuck, or you are not experienced enough with the Windows Registry Editor to attempt Step 16:
Use NBK_NovaBACKUP_x64_Remove.reg to remove known registry entries.
As an alternative to Step 16, and for the less experienced users who are not familiar enough or afraid they may make a mistake utilizing the Windows Registry Editor application, you can try the easy registry removal method detailed here.
You will download and execute a file which will be able to remove all of the NovaBACKUP client related registry keys that are probably the reason at this point in the guide that NovaBACKUP will not install after performing all of the above steps.
This NovaBACKUP registry key removal method will only remove the NovaBACKUP client related items, including any DR Drivers (Disaster Recovery/Image Backup), and will not touch other NovaStor software such as NovaStor CMon (Central Monitoring Console), NovaStor Granular Restore tools, or NovaStor DataCenter.
Currently this .reg fix method will only work on a Windows x64 (64-bit) OS operating system. It also will only work properly if the NovaBACKUP backup client application is installed in "C:\Program Files\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\" (the default). It is not compatible and won't work properly if the NovaBACKUP backup client application is installed at any other hard disk or folder location (and you would need to edit the .reg to perform a search and replace to replace with your custom install paths inside the .reg file if that is the case to make it work properly).
Note: The .reg file that is linked below was updated on 07/11/2023 and then again on 09/21/2023 to include recent changes in NovaBACKUP v20.0 and v20.1, so has been improved; you should overwrite and replace your current version of the same .reg if it already exists and only utilize the new version.
The simple registry removal instructions are as follows:
First, make sure that you are logged in to Windows as a user with Administrator rights. If you are NOT logged in as a user with Administrator rights currently then these instructions will not work because there will not be enough rights to perform the actions necessary.
A. Using your web browser download the simple registry (.reg file) fix for this installation issue by clicking this link to download the fix, and be sure to take note of where the file is saved to:
Alternatively, you can download the fix in .ZIP format. If you use this method, you will need to extract the .reg file out of the .zip file to continue to the next step:
NOTE: If your real-time protection software or browser blocks .reg files from being saved then you may need to temporarily disable that software while you download and run this registry fix. You can re-enable the software after the fix is performed.
B. Using Windows Explorer locate the NBK_NovaBACKUP_x64_Remove.reg file and simply double-click it to merge changes. If your user has the required administrator rights then answer Yes to the prompt(s), there may be one or two prompts.
When successful there will be a confirmation screen that states "The keys and values contained in NBK_NovaBACKUP_x64_Remove.reg have been successfully added to the registry.", you can click the OK button to complete the fix.
C. Reboot the machine to apply registry changes.
D. Log back in and attempt step 12 again to install NovaBACKUP.
18. Install still not working? Try a Command Line Install.
If the installation proceeds to the activation step and displays an error, please follow the instructions on how to perform a command line install found here.