Remove Oracle

Question

Hi ,
How can I remove Oracle S/W and Database completely from Windows and Linux machines.
Thanx in advance.

Answer 1

WARNING:
1. Remove all Oracle components from your computer only as a last resort,
and only if you want to remove ALL Oracle components from your system.
2. These instructions remove all Oracle components, services, and registry
entries from your computer. In addition, any database files in the
subdirectories under ORACLE_BASE\ORADATA\ are also removed.
3. These procedures will also remove Oracle network configuration files,
user written scripts and any other user generated files that may be stored
in Oracle_Base directories.
4. Exercise extreme care when removing registry entries. Removing incorrect
entries can severely compromise your computer.
MANUALLY REMOVING ALL ORACLE COMPONENTS AND SERVICES FROM YOUR COMPUTER
A. Removing Components on Windows NT/2000.
To remove all Oracle components from a computer on Windows NT/Windows 2000:
1. Check privileges:
1.a. Ensure you are logged in as a user with Administrator privileges.
2. Stop all Oracle services (if any are running):
2.a. NT: Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel > Services.
2000: Right click My Computer > Manage > Services and Applications > Services
2.b. If any Oracle services (their names begin with Oracle) exist and have
the status Started, select the service and click Stop.
2.c. Click Close to exit the Services window.
2.d. Close the Control Panel/Computer Management window.
3. Remove the entries in the Windows registry:
3.a. Start the registry editor:
Choose Start > Run > regedt32
3.b. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE
Note the value of the key INST_LOC, this is the location of the Oracle Universal
Installer. The default location is C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory. If this
value is different, make note of it, so we can delete these files later.
Delete this ORACLE key.
3.c. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC and expand all subkeys and
remove all keys under here which are related with the
"Oracle ODBC Driver"
3.d. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services and remove
all keys under here that begin with ORACLE or ORAWEB.
3.e. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\...
\Application and remove all keys under here that begin with ORACLE.
3.f. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
and remove any entries related to Oracle.
3.g. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, remove all keys that begin with Oracle, OraPerf or
OraOLEDB
3.h. Close the registry.
4. Clean up the environment settings:
4.a. NT: Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Environment tab
2000: Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced tab >
Environment variables.
4.b. At "System Variables" click on the variable PATH in order to modify
the value. For example, you may see a path similar to this one:
C:\ORACLE\ORA81\BIN;C:\PROGRAM FILES\ORACLE\JRE\1.1.7\BIN
4.c. If an %ORACLE_HOME% was installed, remove this %ORACLE_HOME%\BIN path.
4.d. If JRE was installed by Oracle, remove the JRE path.
4.e. If there is a CLASSPATH variable under "System Variables", first make note
of the path defined, then delete it. This variable can be added back at
a later date if needed.
4.f. Check if there are any other Oracle variables set in "System Variables",
ORACLE_HOME, ORACLE_SID or TNS_ADMIN. If these exist, delete them also.
4.g. Click on APPLY and OK.
4.h. Close the Control Panel window.
5. Delete the software and icons:
5.a. NT: Choose Start > Programs > Windows NT Explorer.
2000: Choose Start > Programs > Accessories > Windows NT Explorer.
5.b. NT: Go to SYSTEM_DRIVE:\WINNT\PROFILES\ALL USERS\START MENU\PROGRAMS
2000: Go to SYSTEM_DRIVE:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\ALL USERS\START MENU\PROGRAMS
(Note: These locations depend on whether OS was upgraded from NT,
or this was a fresh install of 2000)
and delete the following icons:
- Oracle - HOME_NAME
where HOME_NAME is the previous Oracle home name.
- Oracle Installation Products
5.c. Go to SYSTEM_DRIVE:\Program Files\Oracle or the location of INST_LOC as
noted earlier in step 3.b and delete this directory.
5.d Go to SYSTEM_DRIVE:\Temp and delete all files and directories in here.
5.e. Go to the drive where the Oracle software is installed on your machine
and delete all ORACLE_BASE directories on your hard drive.
5.f. Close the Windows NT Explorer.
6. Finish the removal:
6.a. Empty the recycle bin
Right click on recycle bin > Empty Recycle Bin.
6.b. Reboot your computer.