Winamp was developed by Nullsoft. The company was acquired by America Online (AOL) in 1999. Nullsoft also developed open source software installer software, Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS).
NSIS supports some default
command line
options, such as the /D option for specifying the directory
where software should be installed, if you don't want to accept the
default value.
/D sets the default installation directory ($INSTDIR), overriding InstallDir and InstallDirRegKey. It must be the last parameter used in the command line and must not contain any quotes, even if the path contains spaces. Only absolute paths are supported.
E.g. if you accept Winamp's default installation directory, it
will be installed in C:\Program Files\Winamp.
But, if I wanted to change the installation directory, I could
specify it on the command line. E.g. I could specify
as c:\program files\Audio and Video\Winamp on the
command line as in the following example. If the directory path
\Audio and Video\Winamp doesn't exist, it will be
created.
"C:\Users\Jane\Downloads\winamp556_full_emusic-7plus_en-us.exe"
/D=c:\program files\Audio and Video\Winamp
Then when the installation program ran, I would see the directory I chose as the default location for installing the software, i.e. I wouldn't have to change it during the GUI installation.
Note: you can substitute environment variables in the location. E.g.
%programfiles% can be used. That usually has the
value C:\Program Files on most systems (See
Constants).
By default, the installation will use the following start options:
I found webpages stating that those options, too, could be changed by a command line switch.
When I install a program, I normally don't want a "Quick Launch icon" nor a "Desktop icon", just
the "Start menu entry". To select just that option on the command line, some webpages stated
one could use the /install option on the command line, e.g.
winamp556_full_emusic-7plus_en-us.exe /install=S
However, the install switch didn't actually work. And I later found other webpages, e.g. Winamp Silent Install Method, stating that the switches were never actually implemented.
There is an option for a "silent" install, where you don't see
a GUI nor receive any prompts. Use the /S switch
(use a capital "S"). Note you will need to put the /S
switch before the /D switch, otherwise you would see
the /S option appear as part of the location
for where the software would be installed.
So put the /S before the /D switch
when you specify an installation directory as well.
"C:\Users\Jane\Downloads\winamp556_full_emusic-7plus_en-us.exe" /S
/D=c:\program files\Audio and Video\Winamp
The Winamp installation process installs a toolbar in Internet Explorer. There is no option during the installation process to not have it install this toolbar. I find the installation of toolbars by software without asking extremely irksome. It's a behavior I associate with adware/spyware. I've seen some user's browser windows where 1/3 of a browser window is occupied by various toolbars that were likely installed along with other software they wanted installed, probably because the users didn't realize they didn't have to install the toolbars as well or weren't give the opportunity not to install them.
You can find the Winamp Toolbar listed within the
software uninstall option in the Control Panel.
I also found information for uninstalling it in the registry at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Winamp Toolbar.
| Value name: | UninstallString |
| Value data: | "C:\Program Files\Winamp Toolbar\uninstall.exe" |
In this case I don't know if it didn't appear beneath the
directory where I installed Winamp because I didn't opt to use the
default installation directory of C:\Program Files\Winamp,
so the installation might have created a separate
C:\Program Files\Winamp Toolbar directory. In any case,
I didn't want it.
When I ran the uninstall program from a command line with
"%programfiles%\Winamp Toolbar\uninstall", a
window opened informing me of the following:
Firefox users: This uninstall program will not remove Firefox Add-ons. Add-ons for Firefox must be removed by launching Firefox, choosing the 'Tools' menu, and choosing 'Add-ons.'
When I checked Firefox on the system, I didn't see a Winamp Toolbar
add-on, though. I removed Winamp Toolbar from a command line promt.
The /S option will perform a "silent" uninstall for
the software. Note: you must use a capital "S".
The installation of Winamp also puts a shortcut on the desktop titled "50 FREE MP3s +1 Free Audiobook!" that has a target pointing to http://www.emusic.com. An eMusic directory is created beneath the directory where Winamp is installed.
C:\>dir "%programfiles%\audio and video\winamp\eMusic
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 2DF8-C431
Directory of C:\Program Files\audio and video\winamp\eMusic
11/24/2009 06:40 PM <DIR> .
11/24/2009 06:40 PM <DIR> ..
02/16/2006 11:26 AM 73,728 EMusicClient.exe
07/04/2008 06:58 AM 400 eMusicClient.ini
11/24/2009 06:40 PM 40,638 Uninst-eMusic-promotion.exe
3 File(s) 114,766 bytes
2 Dir(s) 251,008,614,400 bytes freeI've found that the catch with many "free" offers is that you are asked to provide credit card information with the provision that you will be charged on a monthly basis to continue using the service after the free period ends or you've obtained the "free" items. Supposedly you can cancel your "subscription" at any time, but the offeror counts on people forgetting to cancel or, in some cases, makes it extremely difficult to cancel.
At Complaints Board, which is a site where people can post information about their bad experiences with companies, I found eMusic.com Complaints - Unauthorized charges where someone posted that was her experience with eMusic.
MY CREDIT CARD WAS CHARGED $ 95.90 FOR A FREE 50 SONG DOWNLOAD THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME AS A BONUS GIFT FROM TOSHIBA WITH THE PURCHSASE OF MY NEW LAPTOP. THATS B.S.!!!
I checked the Better Business Bureau site for information on the company. It was listed at eMusic Review, but was not rated. So, just the one complaint doesn't seem too damning. And, though it has a business relationship with AOL, a company I don't consider trustworthy from personal experience with AOL and from widespread use of deceptive billing practices (see AOL likes you so much, they Bill you Twice!, they aren't owned by AOL, so perhaps there's no need to be suspicious of eMusic. And, something I think deserves kudos to the company was their early support of the MP3 format and lack of digital rights management (DRM) encoding of the music they sell.
According to Emusic shares jam on AOL deal, in 1999 AOL and eMusic reached an agreement which calls for:
EMusic.com and the ICQ, Spinner and Winamp brands to cross-promote downloadable music products through reciprocal links, Web advertising and other marketing initiatives. In addition, EMusic.com will develop co-branded sites with ICQ, Spinner and Winamp for downloadable music."
But, I decided to remove the software associated with eMusic from this particular system.
The registry entry associated with uninstalling the software is at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\eMusic Promotion.
| Value name: | UninstallString |
| Value data: | "C:\Program Files\Audio and Video\Winamp\eMusic\Uninst-eMusic-promotion.exe" |
I ran "C:\Program Files\Audio and Video\Winamp\eMusic\Uninst-eMusic-promotion.exe"
from a command line to uninstall it.
The installation routine for Winamp puts shortcuts on the desktop. In addition to
the eMusic offer one, which disappeared when I uninstalled the eMusic
Promoion offer, a WinAmp, and a WinAmp Remote shortcut
are placed on the "public" desktop. On Windows 7, %public%
is C:\Users\Public by default. So the shortcuts are at
C:\Users\Public\Desktop
C:\>dir %public%\desktop\winamp*
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 2DF8-C431
Directory of C:\Users\Public\desktop
11/24/2009 06:40 PM 1,965 Winamp Remote.lnk
11/24/2009 06:40 PM 1,127 Winamp.lnk
2 File(s) 3,092 bytes
0 Dir(s) 251,002,134,528 bytes freeI don't like shortcuts cluttering up the desktop,
so I moved the Winamp.lnk shortcut to
the Start menu. Since there was already
a Winamp Remote shortcut placed within
a Winamp Remote folder under the Start
menu, I just deleted the Winamp Remote shortcut
from the desktop.
C:\>move "%Public%\Desktop\Winamp.lnk" "%AllUsersProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\."
1 file(s) moved.
C:\>del "%Public%\Desktop\Winamp Remote.lnk"References:
Created: November 24, 2009