Force removal of VMware Tools, Program Files, and Windows Services

Remove_VMwareTools.ps1

# This script will manually rip out all VMware Tools registry entries and files for Windows 2008-2019
# Tested for 2019, 2016, and probably works on 2012 R2 after the 2016 fixes.

# This function pulls out the common ID used for most of the VMware registry entries along with the ID
# associated with the MSI for VMware Tools.
function Get-VMwareToolsInstallerID {
    foreach ($item in $(Get-ChildItem Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products)) {
        If ($item.GetValue('ProductName') -eq 'VMware Tools') {
            return @{
                reg_id = $item.PSChildName;
                msi_id = [Regex]::Match($item.GetValue('ProductIcon'), '(?<={)(.*?)(?=})') | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Value
            }
        }
    }
}

$vmware_tools_ids = Get-VMwareToolsInstallerID

# Targets we can hit with the common registry ID from $vmware_tools_ids.reg_id
$reg_targets = @(
    "Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Features\",
    "Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\",
    "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Features\",
    "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\",
    "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\"
)

$VMware_Tools_Directory = "C:\Program Files\VMware"
$VMware_Common_Directory = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\VMware"

# Create an empty array to hold all the uninstallation targets and compose the entries into the target array
$targets = @()

If ($vmware_tools_ids) {
    foreach ($item in $reg_targets) {
        $targets += $item + $vmware_tools_ids.reg_id
    }
    # Add the MSI installer ID regkey
    $targets += "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{$($vmware_tools_ids.msi_id)}"
}

# This is a bit of a shotgun approach, but if we are at a version less than 2016, add the Uninstaller entries we don't
# try to automatically determine.
If ([Environment]::OSVersion.Version.Major -lt 10) {
    $targets += "HKCR:\CLSID\{D86ADE52-C4D9-4B98-AA0D-9B0C7F1EBBC8}"
    $targets += "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{9709436B-5A41-4946-8BE7-2AA433CAF108}"
    $targets += "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{FE2F6A2C-196E-4210-9C04-2B1BC21F07EF}"
}

# Add the VMware, Inc regkey
If (Test-Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.") {
    $targets += "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc."
}

# Add the VMware Tools directory
If(Test-Path $VMware_Tools_Directory) {
    $targets += $VMware_Tools_Directory
}

# Thanks to @Gadgetgeek2000 for pointing out that the script leaves some 500mb of extra artifacts on disk.
# This blob removes those.
If(Test-Path $VMware_Common_Directory) {
    $targets += $VMware_Common_Directory
}

# Create a list of services to stop and remove
$services = Get-Service -DisplayName "VMware*"
$services += Get-Service -DisplayName "GISvc"

# Warn the user about what is about to happen
# Takes only y for an answer, bails otherwise.
Write-Host "The following registry keys, filesystem folders, and services will be deleted:"
If (!$targets -and !$services ) {
    Write-Host "Nothing to do!"
}
Else {
    $targets
    $services
    $user_confirmed = Read-Host "Continue (y/n)"
    If ($user_confirmed -eq "y") {

    # Stop all running VMware Services
    $services | Stop-Service -Confirm:$false

    # Cover for Remove-Service not existing in PowerShell versions < 6.0
    If (Get-Command Remove-Service -errorAction SilentlyContinue) {
        $services | Remove-Service -Confirm:$false
    }
    Else {
        foreach ($s in $services) {
            sc.exe DELETE $($s.Name)
        }
    }

    # Remove all the files that are listed in $targets
    foreach ($item in $targets) {
        If(Test-Path $item) {
            Remove-Item -Path $item -Recurse
        }
    }
    Write-Host "Done. Reboot to complete removal."
    }
    Else {
        Write-Host "Failed to get user confirmation"
    }
}

Thanks everyone!

We modified the previous versions a bit and added a check to make sure Powershell is run as Administrator (first line) and also close to end of the script there's the check for vmStatsProvider.dll and it tries to unregister it before deleting the stuff.

We used this version just now on about hundred VM's during VMware -> Hyper-V migration and we didn't notice any issues - your mileage might vary of course :)

Few notes / ideas for future improvements (which we didnt have time or skills to implement ourselves):
-Current logic with deleting registry entries doesn't work 100%, perhaps its related to the second Remove-Item? As in some cases it's necessary to have it but it might cause the error messages when the script tries to delete registry paths which have been already deleted?

Here's image showing those deletion errors

- Adding code to optionally delete VMWARE vNIC from Windows so VMXNET3 adapter gets removed which is obviously useless in Hyper-V
- Add if statement below here so it checks first if those services exist, not sure how useful that is in practise? Anyways I think it caused errors if/when those services don't exist

# Create a list of services to stop and remove
$services = Get-Service -DisplayName "VMware*" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$services += Get-Service -DisplayName "GISvc" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

• Adding computer/hostname to prompt where it asks confirmation on deleting the files and registry. Just one extra step to make sure you are deleting the stuff on correct computer. Again usefulness depends how you run the script etc.

Anyways, here's the code we used:

#Requires -RunAsAdministrator

# This script will manually rip out all VMware Tools registry entries and files for Windows 2008-2019
# Tested for 2019, 2016, and probably works on 2012 R2 after the 2016 fixes.

# This function pulls out the common ID used for most of the VMware registry entries along with the ID
# associated with the MSI for VMware Tools.
function Get-VMwareToolsInstallerID {
    foreach ($item in $(Get-ChildItem Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products)) {
        If ($item.GetValue('ProductName') -eq 'VMware Tools') {
            return @{
                reg_id = $item.PSChildName;
                msi_id = [Regex]::Match($item.GetValue('ProductIcon'), '(?<={)(.*?)(?=})') | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Value
            }
        }
    }
}

$vmware_tools_ids = Get-VMwareToolsInstallerID

# Targets we can hit with the common registry ID from $vmware_tools_ids.reg_id
$reg_targets = @(
    "Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Features\",
    "Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\",
    "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Features\",
    "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\",
    "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\"
)

$VMware_Tools_Directory = "C:\Program Files\VMware"
$VMware_Common_Directory = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\VMware"
$VMware_Startmenu_Entry = "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\VMware\"

# Create an empty array to hold all the uninstallation targets and compose the entries into the target array
$targets = @()

If ($vmware_tools_ids) {
    foreach ($item in $reg_targets) {
        $targets += $item + $vmware_tools_ids.reg_id
    }
    # Add the MSI installer ID regkey
    $targets += "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{$($vmware_tools_ids.msi_id)}"
}

# This is a bit of a shotgun approach, but if we are at a version less than 2016, add the Uninstaller entries we don't
# try to automatically determine.
If ([Environment]::OSVersion.Version.Major -lt 10) {
    $targets += "HKCR:\CLSID\{D86ADE52-C4D9-4B98-AA0D-9B0C7F1EBBC8}"
    $targets += "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{9709436B-5A41-4946-8BE7-2AA433CAF108}"
    $targets += "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{FE2F6A2C-196E-4210-9C04-2B1BC21F07EF}"
}

# Add the VMware, Inc regkey
If (Test-Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.") {
    $targets += "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc."
}

# Add the VMware Tools directory
If(Test-Path $VMware_Tools_Directory) {
    $targets += $VMware_Tools_Directory
}

# Thanks to @Gadgetgeek2000 for pointing out that the script leaves some 500mb of extra artifacts on disk.
# This blob removes those.
If(Test-Path $VMware_Common_Directory) {
    $targets += $VMware_Common_Directory
}

If(Test-Path $VMware_Startmenu_Entry) {
    $targets += $VMware_Startmenu_Entry
}

# Create a list of services to stop and remove
$services = Get-Service -DisplayName "VMware*" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$services += Get-Service -DisplayName "GISvc" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Warn the user about what is about to happen
# Takes only y for an answer, bails otherwise.
Write-Host "The following registry keys, filesystem folders, and services will be deleted:"
If (!$targets -and !$services ) {
    Write-Host "Nothing to do!"
}
else {
    $targets
    $services
    $user_confirmed = Read-Host "Continue (y/n)"
    If ($user_confirmed -eq "y") {

    # If vmStatsProvider.dll exists, unregister it first
    $vmStatsProvider = "c:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\vmStatsProvider\win64\vmStatsProvider.dll"
    if (Test-Path $vmStatsProvider) 
    {
    Write-Output "Unregistering the DLL..."
    Regsvr32 /s /u $vmStatsProvider
    }


    # Stop all running VMware Services
    $services | Stop-Service -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

    # Cover for Remove-Service not existing in PowerShell versions < 6.0
    If (Get-Command Remove-Service -errorAction SilentlyContinue) {
        $services | Remove-Service -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
    Else {
        foreach ($s in $services) {
            sc.exe DELETE $($s.Name)
        }
    }
    $dep = Get-Service -Name "EventLog" -DependentServices | Select-Object -Property Name
    Stop-Service -Name "EventLog" -Force
    Stop-Service -Name "wmiApSrv" -Force
    $dep += Get-Service -Name "winmgmt" -DependentServices | Select-Object -Property Name
    Stop-Service -Name "winmgmt" -Force
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 5

    # Remove all the files that are listed in $targets
    foreach ($item in $targets) {
        If(Test-Path $item) {
            Get-Childitem -Path $item -Recurse | Remove-Item -Force -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
            Remove-Item -Path $item -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
        }
    }
    Start-Service -Name "EventLog"
    Start-Service -Name "wmiApSrv"
    Start-Service -Name "winmgmt"
    foreach ($service in $dep) {
        Start-Service $service.Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
    Write-Host "Done. Reboot to complete removal."
    }
    Else {
        Write-Host "Failed to get user confirmation"
    }
}

missing C:\ProgramData\VMware to delete

line 47 missing colon after HKLM

missing C:\ProgramData\VMware to delete

Don't you think it's risky to delete that folder? Like what if the server has some other VMware software installed in addition to VMware Tools and it breaks after you delete the folder?

Don't you think it's risky to delete that folder?

I dont, because I know the purpose of the script

Don't you think it's risky to delete that folder?

I dont, because I know the purpose of the script

What is that supposed to even mean? And you only quoted half of my message.