Can't uninstall 2017 Redistributables after update to W10 v1909

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RTV81

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Hi there,

I hope this is the right place to ask about this. I've encountered a problem attempting to uninstall the Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 v14.10.25008.0 and v14.15.26706.0 Redistributables. A program I was attempting to install needs me to install v14.16.27033 for both x86 and x64. On attempting to run both of these installations, error 0x80070666 was reported, asking me to uninstall the existing versions. So I went to Add/Remove and attempted to uninstall them. Both Redistributables appear in the Add/Remove list, but attempting to uninstall or modify results in this error:

"Windows cannot find C:\Program Data\Package Cache\<string>\VC_redist.x86.exe. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again."

I browsed to the Package Cache location and found a number of folders with similar strings (presumably the other VS installations), but neither of the strings for the 2017 versions are there (there isn't even a folder present).

Next, I opened RegEdit and searched for the strings. {7e9fae12-5bbf-47fb-b944-09c49e75c061} appears in a variety of locations as a dependency of x86, 14.0, bundle (the majority of these keys have no information - just (Default) and (value not set). It also appears in an uninstall key which is fully fleshed out:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

{f1e7e313-06df-4c56-96a9-99fdfd149c51} is a similar story, just with amd64 instead of x86 in the dependency listings.

The uninstall entries in the registry confirm the uninstaller is pointing to folders that don't exist in the Package Cache.

There was another thread here that provided a link to a Fix It tool, so I ran that. It was able to see the majority of the VS installations, but the 2017 ones weren't in the list, so I selected "Not Listed." Entering the strings and trying the tool's available recovery options didn't do anything. The problem persists. I also ran Microsoft's Window Update diagnostic which found no problems. Lastly, I scanned with CCleaner. It did not find any registry issues relating to this problem, so I simply exited the program. Malwarebytes, SuperAntiSpyware, and Avast scans are clean. No Package Cache folder is in the windows.old folder, so I can't verify whether these folders were there before the Windows upgrade or not.

The installation date of the 2017 redists is listed as 2020-02-23. While some of my VS versions have earlier installation dates in Add/Remove, everything from 2012 on appears to have been "reinstalled" on that day, along with many other programs in the list. This is the same day Windows Update upgraded my Win10 installation to v1909. The Windows upgrade, for what it's worth, was uneventful. It wasn't interrupted and no error messages resulted. I haven't encountered any program issues thus far except for this de-installation problem.

The most likely explanation would be that the 2017 redists were broken somehow by the Windows upgrade. But I'm nervous about deleting the registry keys without knowing if they've been intentionally altered or moved to work with a more recent version of these Redistributables.

In the end, I have three questions:

1) Will deleting all registry keys bearing the 2017 Redistributable string titles affect other versions of Visual C++? Are they completely separate from each other, or do they share dependencies?

2) Is there any risk of breaking other programs in removing the 2017 registry entries given that it appears they are not actually installed as there are no folders in the Package Cache? Would these files have been installed anywhere else?

3) Is there any way to uninstall the 2017 Redistributables without manually deleting their registry keys? Needless to say, this is not an option I like, and I'd prefer to avoid it if possible.

Thanks for your help, and apologies for the long post. I'm not terribly familiar with this software and didn't want to leave out something that is potentially important.

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