removing robopdf from office applications

[Lem13]

I recently upgraded from Robohelp X5 Office to Robohelp 6. Even though I (theoretically) uninstalled Robopdf, it still shows up in the menus for Word and Excel, as well as being present as an option when you right- click on files. I searched to see if anyone else had this problem, and found a topic which described how to remove Robopdf from the Office menu using "customize" and then deleting it. I tried this and it worked like a charm... until the next time I opened Word or Excel, and Robopdf reappeared in the menu. Sometimes it even shows up multiple times in the menu (perhaps just to taunt me). I attempted to reinstall Robopdf (so that I could then uninstall it again), but when I tried to install it from the disc, that option was not available. Is it possible that Robopdf is still installed on my computer? It doesn't show up in the list of currently installed programs. I have Windows XP Professional and Office 2003, if that helps.

Any assistance anyone can provide will be much appreciated, as this is slowly driving me insane.

Thanks!

[Peter Grainge]

Welcome to the forum.

Take another look at Add / Remove.

Is it right at the beginning as 1 Step...?

[Lem13]

No, it doesn't appear in the Add/Remove list.

Thanks.

[kmaddox1]

this is a long shot, but I had a similar problem when I was evaluating Webworks. Even after I uninstalled it, I still had some annoying remnants of the program showing up in Word. My IT guy suggested the following, which worked for me (maybe for you too?):
"I think Office 2003 added in a Plug-in or Add-in menu. Check the Templates and Add Ins heading under Tools and see if there's something checked that would call the offending program."

[Lem13]

Hmm, I do have a Word add-in called "Robohook.wll." However, even if I un-check it, when I open Word again, it reverts to being checked. I am loathe to delete the .wll file, since it could be part of Robohelp 6. Thanks for your suggestion, Kathy.

[Peter Grainge]

I think I know someone who will have the answer. Hold on. Emailing now.

[Peter Grainge]

My contact has emailed back to say he is on vacation and cannot access his archives until he returns.

I'll post as soon as I hear, or he will.

As this is not a showstopper, hope that is OK.

[Lem13]

Sure, just let me know what's up when your contact gets back. Thanks so much for helping me out with this.

[HKabaker]

I went 'round and 'round on this.

The command menus and toolbars in MS Office applications are defined in several places. You can clean up toolbars in MS Word by opening the Normal.dot template, deleting the RoboPDF icons with the toolbar customizer, and saving the template. Unfortunately, you can't save it as Normal.dot, so call it Normala.dot or something, then remove or delete the original Normal.dot and change the name of the new one.

Menu commands for Word and Excel are littered here and there throughout the Registry. I found a couple of places where it probably was safe to edit, but decided against it. User forums for MS Word sometimes talk about manipulating menu commands if you're willing to go into the Registry.

I'm resigned to seeing "Save as PDF" in the MS Word File menu, even though I uninstalled RoboPDF. It does no harm so long as I don't use it. Similarly, the icons crept back into the toolbars. I just have to remember which are left over from RoboPDF and which are from Adobe PDF Maker or the full Adobe Acrobat.

Now and then I click the wrong one, and a dialog pops up as though a PDF is being created, but we're just spinning our wheels until I abort the process.

Harvey

[HKabaker]

I've also given up on trying to retire Robohook.wll. It may be connected with RH printed documentation.

Harvey

[Lem13]

Harvey,

Thanks for your input. I'm not going to kill myself trying to get rid of the Robopdf menu in Word, since, as you pointed out, it's not that big of a deal. But it is kind of annoying, particularly when you're in a hurry and you accidentally click on Robopdf instead of Adobe PDF. Hopefully Peter's contact will have a solution.

[HKabaker]

After vowing not to become obsessed over this issue, I . . . um, . . . well. . . .

Assuming you have uninstalled RoboPDF, try this:

Open MS Word and close the new blank document.
In the main menu, select Tools > Templates and Add-ins.
Click "Organizer" and the Toolbars tab.
The left-hand pane should be labeled Normal.dot. If you see 1-Step RoboPDF listed, select it and click "Delete."
Close the Organizer.
In the main menu select File > New ... blank document
RoboPDF icons should be gone. If you're lucky, they'll be gone from any existing *.docs based on Normal.dot, or another template based on Normal.dot.

This probably won't get rid of RoboPDF in the main menu (top), and you may see File > "Save as (Robo)PDF." You might even see "Save with RoboPDF and attach to another file / email /."


RoboHook.wll is used by RH for Word.

More later. I need lunch.

Harvey

[HKabaker]

Guess what -- they came back.

Here's another approach.
By the way, I'm running Windows XP with Office 2003, RH 6 installed.

1. In Windows, go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs. Ensure that 1-Step RoboPDF does not appear on the list. If it does, uninstall it.

2. Go to Start > Run > regit. This opens the Registry. (Disclaimer: You can get into a lot of trouble editing in here. These steps worked for me on two PCs with no apparent side effects. Work slowly and think before deleting.)

3. Select Edit > Find. Type in RoboPDF. Check Keys, Values and Data. Click "Find Next."

4. Delete the entry that contains RoboPDF. Find next (F3) and repeat. Continue to the utter end.

Sometimes a folder or key will disappear completely. Some subkeys will revert to (Default) and (value not set), and will remain. Just continue and be sure you delete only the lines or keys that contain RoboPDF.

5. Clean up MS Word templates and other Office app toolbars.

In my case, I had to delete all old Normal.dot templates, even though I had renamed them OLDNormal.dot and saved a revised global template. If you've never replaced the global template and saved backups in the Templates folder, you won't have this problem.

a. Launch MS Word and close the new blank document.
b. In the main menu, select Tools > Templates and Add-ins.
c. Click "Organizer" and the Toolbars tab.
The left-hand pane should be labeled Normal.dot. If you see 1-Step RoboPDF listed, select it and click "Delete."
d. Close the Organizer.
e. Right-click the main toolbar and look for 1-Step RoboPDF. If it's there, select Customize. Highlight it and click Delete.
f. In MS Word, open Normal.dot as a *.dot template, not as Document1.doc.
g. Repeat steps a through e.
h. Exit Word and Restart the PC.

If the PC has more than one user profile, you should do this with each profile. You'll see this in C:\Documents and Settings\Application Data (set folder options to show hidden and system files). You need admin rights on the PC to do this. Restart the PC after each profile (okay, maybe I'm superstitious. I have reason to be.)

If this doesn't work, do it all over again.

Cleaning up the registry might take care of Powerpoint, Excel, and Outlook, but . . . .
a. launch the application and close the new document.
b. Examine Tools > Add-ins
c. Repeat step e above (even if the toolbar doesn't show at first, it may still be listed as an add-in or toolbar option).

In my housekeeping frenzy, I also cleaned out all the "Recent Files" links.

Uninstalling and re-installing RH 6 may not be necessary. If you do this, don't forget the .dll update.

Last but perhaps not least, Adobe is working on the next upgrade for release on a date not yet announced. Maybe this problem will go away.

Harvey

[Bobby_Walker · Accepted solution]

Or...you can simply use the RoboPDF cleanup utility located here:

http://www.adobe.com/support/robopdf/downloads.html


Thanks,

Bobby Walker
Adobe Technical Support

[Lem13]

Bobby,

That did the trick! Thanks so much for your assistance, and have a great week.

Lem

[Chet Zeshonski]

I never use RoboPDF, so I thought I'd uninstall it after reading this thread. My method was simple and direct:

1. I opened Start | Settings | Printers and Faxes.
2. I deleted RoboPDF 1.3. I was presented with a series of prompts about uninstalling the printer, which I followed.
3. I rebooted my PC.

After I followed those steps, RoboPDF 1.3 did not appear on my system or as a printer in any application.

[HKabaker]

Searching the Adobe RH forums General Discussion, WebHelp and Printed Documentation, I find RoboPDFCleanup previously mentioned just once, in June 2006. The .exe was created in October 2003. Odd that there weren't more references.

Bobby,

I can't test this because I already got rid of everything. Will this work for newer versions? Does it report what it finds?

Thanks.

Harvey