Remove the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine When Installed With a LabVIEW Application

Issue Details

• I built and compiled a LabVIEW VI into an executable using the LabVIEW Application Builder, and chose the option to Create Installer which includes the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine. After running the installation on the target computer, I do not see the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine listed under Windows Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel of my target computer.
• My program runs fine and works as expected, but the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine is not listed with all the other software installed and so I cannot uninstall it.
• How do I uninstall the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine from a computer that does not have any other NI software, and uses a LabVIEW-built application?

Solution

When an installer is created for a LabVIEW executable, you have the option to include the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine required to run the compiled program.

While the installer does install the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine, it does not create a separate entry within Add/Remove Programs in the Windows' Control Panel. If you need to uninstall the Run-Time Engine, you can do so by uninstalling the entire application that was built, as the application name should still be listed in the Add/Remove Programs list. If the NI Package Manager is installed on your system then it will be shown under the Installed tab and can be uninstalled by clicking on the Remove button. If you uninstall a LabVIEW custom application using the NI Package Manager it will not uninstall the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine, you have to uninstall it individually if you want to remove it from your system.

Note: The LabVIEW Run-Time Engine keeps track of all programs that installed it, so if you ran several installers, you will have to uninstall all of them in order to completely remove the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine from the computer.

Additional Information

If you install the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine separately (downloaded from the National Instruments website, for example) it does appear under Add/Remove Programs. Use the solution in this article just when the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine is installed as part of a deployed application installer.

Note: Uninstalling the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine will prevent any future executables built in LabVIEW to run correctly on the computer.