[SUGGESTION] Improved uninstaller

[ThatOneWindowsFan]

When uninstalling, GIMP keeps all of your settings. This is very annoying for me, as sometimes, my GIMP has issues. So I either have to reset my PC, or use a complex method. But I understand people who want to keep their settings. So, here's a suggestion: how about an uninstaller that asks you if you want to keep your settings? That way, people can choose if they want their settings kept or not.

[PixLab]

That's not the forum to ask for features, open GIMP, go to Help ➤ Bug Reports and Feature Requests, your browser will open, you're on the right website.

Having said that, it's not by uninstalling and re-installing GIMP countless time that you will solve any problem, this is a typically a Microsoft's user behavior which is not the right behavior...

When you got a problem ask why, more often that anything else ➤ it's a wrong user setting that the user forget or is not aware to have changed.
BTW, asking is also learning...

If you do not want to ask in a forum like here, or to the GIMP team (Help ➤ Bug Reports...), renaming the folder "2.10" to something else or deleting it, will "reset" GIMP to its default settings as if you installed GIMP for the first time when restarting GIMP after this action.
The "2.10" folder is your Profile..., deleting or renaming it will force GIMP to recreate a new profile when starting, like a brand new GIMP.

Where is that "2.10" folder on your system ➤ https://www.gimp.org/tutorials/GIMPProfile/

[MrsP-from-C]

@ThatOneWindowsFan,
See it like this:
Your home folder is yours and no software should delete your stuff.
It is your responsibility to take care of your files.
So to say, digital housekeeping is your own job, not GIMP's or any other software's.

[denzjos]

@ThatOneWindowsFan, Gimp is not the only software that fails to clear all files and folders in Windows after uninstalling programs even when you asked it to do so by uninstalling. To be sure, always check it after uninstall programs (also use regedit). By the way, I am also a windows fan 

   

[Ofnuts]

(05-02-2024, 10:12 PM). ThatOneWindowsFan Wrote: When uninstalling, GIMP keeps all of your settings. This is very annoying for me, as sometimes, my GIMP has issues. So I either have to reset my PC, or use a complex method. But I understand people who want to keep their settings. So, here's a suggestion: how about an uninstaller that asks you if you want to keep your settings? That way, people can choose if they want their settings kept or not.

For a skilled user, a Gimp profile (where your settings are kept) has plenty of useful data (added brushes, palettes, gradients, scripts, some recorded tool settings, etc....) and erasing all that stuff blindly would be very damaging.

There are several "Reset to factory settings" buttons in "Edit > Preferences".

You can also make Gimp always start with sane settings: Managing tool options and window positions

[ThatOneWindowsFan]

(05-03-2024, 04:15 AM)PixLab Wrote: That's not the forum to ask for features, open GIMP, go to Help ➤ Bug Reports and Feature Requests, your browser will open, you're on the right website.

Having said that, it's not by uninstalling and re-installing GIMP countless time that you will solve any problem, this is a typically a Microsoft's user behavior which is not the right behavior...

When you got a problem ask why, more often that anything else ➤ it's a wrong user setting that the user forget or is not aware to have changed.
BTW, asking is also learning...  

If you do not want to ask in a forum like here, or to the GIMP team (Help ➤ Bug Reports...), renaming the folder "2.10" to something else or deleting it, will "reset" GIMP to its default settings as if you installed GIMP for the first time when restarting GIMP after this action.
The "2.10" folder is your Profile..., deleting or renaming it will force GIMP to recreate a new profile when starting, like a brand new GIMP.

Where is that "2.10" folder on your system ➤ https://www.gimp.org/tutorials/GIMPProfile/

"this is a typically a Microsoft's user behavior which is not the right behavior..." What does that mean

[Ofnuts]

(05-29-2024, 07:01 PM)ThatOneWindowsFan Wrote: "this is a typically a Microsoft's user behavior which is not the right behavior..." What does that mean

It is indeed a bad habit rooted in Windows. Windows apps mostly behave as if the system they are installed on belongs to a single person. So when you uninstall, the app uninstaller thinks it is a good idea to wipe out any data (which could in sole case considered to be a good idea because such data is hidden in the registry). By contrast, Gimp, like all apps with Unix heritage, is designed to be installed/usable on multi-user systems(*), so the person who uninstalls may not be the only one who uses it, and may not even have access rights to the data of other users. So when you uninstall Gimp the user data is kept.

(*) Windows systems can be serially multi-user, our family PC was set up that way in the nineties/noughties.

[ThatOneWindowsFan]

Trust me everyone, I've had a NUMEROUS amount of Windows software that, when uninstalling, have a check box that says "Keep your settings". Is it really that hard?

[rich2005]

(07-30-2024, 11:05 AM)ThatOneWindowsFan Wrote: Trust me everyone, I've had a NUMEROUS amount of Windows software that, when uninstalling, have a check box that says "Keep your settings". Is it really that hard?

Of course, Gimp originates and is developed in a linux (unix) environment. It is only ported to Windows.  Linux applications typically keep User settings in the User home partition (as text files) and when applications are updated the User settings remain.

[Ofnuts]

(07-30-2024, 11:05 AM)ThatOneWindowsFan Wrote: Trust me everyone, I've had a NUMEROUS amount of Windows software that, when uninstalling, have a check box that says "Keep your settings". Is it really that hard?

Gimp has a boxes that reset the settings to factory values, beats re-installing, no? Wouldn't be that hard to add in Windows apps...

   

Also: Managing tool options and window positions