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robmo's avatar
robmo
Brass Contributor
Jan 25, 2023
Solved

Remove extra set of double quotes in string

Hi, I am writing a PowerShell script that needs to remove Firefox that is less than or equal to a specific version. I have the script working up to where it reads the uninstall string from the regis...
Windows PowerShell
  • robmo's avatar
    robmo
    Jan 30, 2023
    I did some inspection of Firefox installations and it turns out that they use the same uninstall string for every version. The only difference is if helper.exe is in Program Files (x86) or Program Files:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe OR
    C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe

    Since I have this information, I will just set some variables for these strings and then I won't have to deal with string handling when reading from the registry. This will simplify the development of this script.

    Thank you for your help!
Harm_Veenstra's avatar
Harm_Veenstra
MVP
Jan 25, 2023
This should work : $uninstall= $uninstall -replace ('""'),('"')
robmo's avatar
robmo
Brass Contributor
Jan 25, 2023

Harm_Veenstra,
What would be a good way to test if this solution works? I am using the following code but it fails at the initial assignment on Line 1 and throws an error:

$uninstall = ""C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe""
$uninstall = $uninstall -replace('""'),('"')
$uninstall

 

Perhaps I need to use string handling at the time the value is retrieved from the registry?

  • Harm_Veenstra's avatar
    Harm_Veenstra
    MVP
    Jan 25, 2023
    Ah, ok.. You should use $uninstall='"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe"' to escape the double "
    • Harm_Veenstra's avatar
      Harm_Veenstra
      MVP
      Jan 26, 2023
      And how do you retrieve the value, perhaps we can fix that so that it's OK from the start
      • robmo's avatar
        robmo
        Brass Contributor
        Jan 26, 2023

        Harm_Veenstra,

        This is what I have so far. It fails at Line 43 when the double - double quotes are assigned to $uninstall. My debug attempt would be to correct the string from the registry before it is assigned using string manipulation. I will have some time to work on this more in a few hours. We are trying to uninstall Firefox versions less than or equal to 108.0.2 at this time.

         

         

        [CmdletBinding()]
param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    [String]$RemoveVersions
)

Function Test-IfRemovalNeeded() {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    [String]$Version
    )
    #Verify the version provided meets requirements
    #The version given and lower will be uninstalled
    if([version]$Version -le [version]$RemoveVersions) {
        #Version detected must be removed
        return 1
    } else {
        #Version detected is compliant
        return 0
    }
}

    ##########
    ## Main ##
    ##########

    $displayName = "Mozilla Firefox"
    $regPaths = @("HKLM:SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*","HKLM:SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*")

    #Searching for Firefox installations
    foreach($path in $regPaths) {
        #Collect all installed instances of Firefox
        $installed = Get-ItemProperty -Path $path | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -match $displayName}

        if($null -ne $installed) {
            #Firefox was found
            #Test if the version(s) found should be removed
            foreach($item in $installed) {
                if(Test-IfRemovalNeeded -Version $item.DisplayVersion) {
                    Write-Host "#Removal is needed"
                    #Verify the uninstallstring path exists
                    $uninstall = $item.UninstallString
                    if(Test-Path $item.$uninstall) {
                        #The uninstall string path was found
                        $uninstallString = $uninstall + ' /s'
                        Write-Host $uninstallString
                    }
                }
            }
        } else {
            #Firefox is not installed
            QuitNow 0
        }
    }

         

         

        Thank you!

        Rob

         

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