No Vortex uninstall key

[Phrayzur]

I've been getting the warning "No Vortex uninstall key" for a few months now. I thought maybe they'd issue an update that would fix it but not so far. I'm using Vortex 1.9.12. I've completely uninstalled Vortex and reinstalled it. I've deleted just the Vortex directory. Nothing seems to help. It's been so long since this started that I can't remember what games were being modded at the time. Probably No Man's Sky, Beat Saber and Cyberpunk 2077. But as I said, I have no idea.

I've tried everything I can find online but no lucl. Any suggestions would be more than welcome.

[Pickysaurus]

You should be able to fix this by simply reinstalling Vortex over the top of the version you have.

You've most likely (somehow) lost the registry entry. This means Vortex would not be able to uninstall or update itself properly. 

[Phrayzur]

Do I have any other options? I've tried that a few times.

[Pickysaurus]

If Vortex isn't creating the registry key when you run the installer then something on your PC is breaking the install process.

 

It's also possible something on your PC is blocking Vortex from reading the registry to check if the key is there. 

 

If you know how to use RegEdit you can look under "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\57979c68-f490-55b8-8fed-8b017a5af2fe" to see if the Vortex install path is set properly. 

[Phrayzur]

The registry entry was correct. 

Here's what fixed it:

1. Uninstalled Vortex.

2. Removed every entry from the registry for: "57979c68-f490-55b8-8fed-8b017a5af2fe", "Black Tree Gaming Ltd" and "vortex".

3. I selectively removed references in the registry to: "com.nexusmods.vortex" and "Vortex-1-1-9-*.exe".

4. Restarted the computer.

5. Re-installed Vortex.

6. Still gave the same error.

7. Added exceptions to Bitdefender and Windows Defender for "C:\Program Files\Black Tree Gaming Ltd".

8. Still gave the same error.

9. Ran "C:\Program Files\Black Tree Gaming Ltd\Vortex\Vortex.exe" with Admin rights. 

10. That finally worked. (At least so far.)

 

If anyone else is reading this, maybe try running Vortex as Admin first and save yourself some time 

I appreciate your help. What a pain in the ass! Lol!

[showler]

They warn against running Vortex with admin rights.  Nothing it does should require it and it can be a security risk.

[Phrayzur]

I know. But It's that or it doesn't work. I have no idea why.

[Pickysaurus]

If you're forced to run Vortex as admin that likely means that some kind of basic permissions in your Windows install are messed up (quite commonly by third-party AV apps). Running Vortex or any game/modding tool as admin opens your PC up to significant security issues.