(imported topic written by jpeppers91)
Is there a tool that will uninstall the client in batch? Something similar to the deployment tool but does the opposite. I have 50 machines where the clients won’t start, so I was going to try to uninstall and reinstall.
(imported comment written by peterd91)
Try instructions from KB 222 (http://support.bigfix.com/cgi-bin/kbdirect.pl?id=222)
The “Setup.exe /s --uninstallsilent” may not work in every situation, though. Note this will not remove all files, it will leave behind multiple folders that contain historic data from the content sites etc. Also, if you run the uninstall command and then run it again, the first time it will uninstall, the 2nd run of the uninstall command will actually reinstall the software.
I use the BES Remove utility with a command line option “/client” (and optionally “/silent”) to remove the BES Client, which seems to provide good and consistent results for me.
You can download the besremove.exe tool here: http://support.bigfix.com/bes/install/downloadutility.html
(imported comment written by BenKus)
Hey jpeppers,
There is a Task on the BES Support site called:
“TROUBLESHOOTING: Remove BES Clients”
Use the “BES Remove” option and it should do what you want…
Ben
(imported comment written by rdamours91)
I’m still have a small number of clients a number of scattered sites with the Bes client installed…but the service won’t start or has been stopped. Possible av interference during an upgrade or the odd goofball stopped the service.
Can the besclientdeploy.exe be modified to look for these clients as I have no way to communicate with them any longer or would a new tool be in the works 
My very manual solution is to use the besclientdeploy utility to find the stopped clients, run the besremove utility on the clients, reboot and redeploy the client. It’s ugly to say the least but works for now… Across 200+ sites it’s not all that feasible.
(imported comment written by BenKus)
Hi rdamours,
Do you use the “Asset Discovery” site? It can find agents that aren’t started…
Ben
(imported comment written by jpeppers91)
Hey Ben,
Is it correct that this task only works if the agent is running? The agent is not working on the clients I’m trying to uninstall.
(imported comment written by BenKus)
Yes… that is true jpeppers… the Task only helps if you have the agent accepting actions…
Ben
(imported comment written by jpeppers91)
I figured another way. Delete the Bigfix directory and run a sc %computer% delete besclient and reinstall using client deploy.
jp
(imported comment written by BenKus)
Hey JP,
That will clear up any corruptions or issues in the BigFix folder, but to do a more complete reinstall, you will want to delete the BigFix Client’s registry as well (but be careful if it is a server or a relay because you will also lose some of those values).
Ben
(imported comment written by ErinC91)
I have a number of PCs that have broken BES clients. The BES service fails to start on them.
I find the only way to ensure that they are fixed is to manually log onto the PC and remove the client, then reboot and additionally manually delete the BES client folder, then lastly reinstall.
This isn’t do-able on the 100+ PCs I need to fix. Since the service isn’t running, the BES tasks cannot help to remove or reinstall. Is there a tool available that I could use to remotely uninstall ? The BESRemove-7.1.1.315.exe doesn’t cut the mustard
(imported comment written by BenKus)
Hi ErinC,
You should work with support to figure out why the systems aren’t working properly (if you haven’t already). If it is a problem with your deployment somehow, we will want to isolate it and if it is a problem with the agent, we will want to isolate that as well.
One note in this is that deleting the __BESData folder (when the agent isn’t running) is very similar to doing a complete uninstall and reinstall (you can remove the ComputerID value from the registry to make it extremely similar to an uninstall/reinstall).
See the batch file that will let you rename the folder remotely (if you have remote admin access)… You use it like this:
http://support.bigfix.com/download/temp/DelBESClientInfo.bat
DelBESClientInfo.bat COMPNAME
(Note I just wrote this now so you should try it out before using in production).
Ben