Avoiding Error 1325 EsriPyFldr not valid short file name when uninstalling ArcGIS for Desktop?

Question

I am trying to uninstall ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Desktop from Windows 7 SP1 using Uninstall a program and I am receiving an error message (pictured below):

Error 1325. EsriPyFldr is not a valid short file name.

The error message dialog appears just after:

Computing space requirements

seems to complete.

If anyone else has encountered this, then have you been able to find a way to get past it and uninstall ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Desktop?

My machine has what I would call a vanilla install of ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Desktop and ArcGIS Pro 1.1.1 so there are Python versions 2.7.8 and 3.4.1 as a result. ArcGIS Earth Beta is also on the machine.

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I have made a posting on the same issue to https://geonet.esri.com/message/575655#575655

After running this utility (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/mats/program_install_and_uninstall) unsuccessfully (it hung for two hours before I killed it) the error message when trying to uninstall shifted to:

This action is only valid for products that are currently installed

enter image description here

ArcMap 10.3.1 continues to start fine and doing wmic product where "Vendor like '%Environmental Systems Research Institute%'" get Name, Version, InstallDate, InstallLocation in a DOS window (at the suggestion of @MattWilkie) reports only the presence of Python 3.4.1 for ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Earth on my machine.

• Michael Stimson: That sounds somewhat similar to v9 to v9.1/9.2, in the end Esri released an uninstall utility, sort of like the patchfinder, prior to that the only fix started with 'format c:' but that's a little drastic. It might be difficult to remove Pro without taking Desktop with it; you might need to contact Esri directly to get this sorted out. Have you tried running the uninstall from a command window with a modified path?
• PolyGeo: I'm running this utility (support.microsoft.com/en-us/mats/program_install_and_uninstall) at the moment to see how it goes - it is taking a while but seems to still be going.
• matt wilkie: gis.stackexchange.com/q/49290 might help, I'm thinking specifically about the wmic approach. The msiexec one is more straightforward and quicker, but given the screenshot I think will just do the same thing. Other thing to try is removing Python first (using standard uninstaller, not brute force delete)
• PolyGeo: @mattwilkie I just tried wmic product where "name = 'ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Desktop'" call Uninstall but it just reported that there was No Instance(s) Available. I'm a little reluctant to mess with my Python installs because I have 2.7.8 and 3.4.1 working nicely on the same machine with ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Desktop (which continues to work despite claims that it is not on the machine). I think I'll put it formally into local support's court tomorrow if I am still stuck then.
• matt wilkie: Wait and see what Esri comes back with, but when I've encountered blocking install/repair/uninstall problems before with Control Panel uninstall the only cure I found short of nuke and pave was to go through the registry and clear out all references to the software and/or vendor, then install same program and version, then uninstall it. The reason for middle install step in middle is to try and catch all those files that get installed outside the program's folder. Follow up is to clean out all related folders on disk.

Answer 1

I was also getting the error 1325 when trying to uninstall ArcGIS Desktop 10.3.1. The fix was to remove a couple of CD/DVD (virtual) drives from the system. I was led to this solution by the posts above.

Answer 2

The way that I was able to get past this indirectly was by focussing on an error that I received when trying to reinstall 10.3.1 over itself:

Error 1606. Could not access network location
NULLDesktop10.3.

At GeoNet I found a post by Konstantin Glazkov:

Recently I had a same problem. I have removed from the register:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ESRI

аnd it has helped me.

I did the same and then was able to reinstall 10.3.1 over itself.

Answer 3

Actually, it might very well help.

I'm upgrading a lab of 30+ computers from 10.3.1 to 10.4.1, and every single one that has had this issue, I've been able to fix by renaming the CD drive (usually D:) to E:, plugging in a thumb drive, and letting it take D:.

After I do that, even installations that have previously failed (unless fouled by trying another method), have uninstalled cleanly and allowed me to install 10.4.1.

So, it's worth a shot.

Answer 4

After trying various solutions with no success I found some hint that the problem may be the result of changed drive letters. I haven't changed any drive letter, but I did have a malfunctioning SD card in my laptop's built-in reader. I removed the card and I was able to install ArcGIS 10.3.1 again.

• PolyGeo: I don't think this would have applied to my situation.

Answer 5

I remove the drive letter assigned to all of my cdrom drive via diskmgmt.msc and than the error 1325 is gone and I can remove it successfully.

Answer 6

I was having this error from long time. and server guy fixed when he ran setup with his account has admin rights.

• PolyGeo: When I encountered this I would have been using an account with admin rights because I am the sole user of a personal laptop.

Answer 7

Per others comments, changing cd/dvd drive letter via disk management allowed me to repair 10.4.1 installation.

Answer 8

One option is to uninstall using the

Msiexec /x {guid of ArcGIS setup.msi } /qb

to remove the application. Then you can reinstall from the 'new' good location.

• Rich: Note - I had this appear in ArcGIS 10.5.1 after Windows 10 Build 1709 was deployed. Win 10 update messed up the permissions on my external hard drives (i.e., changed folders to read-only).