[Fix] “Shellmanager Database is Corrupt or Missing” Error Message While (Un)Installing Nero Software in Windows

Recently an AskVG reader “Priyanshu” contacted us regarding following problem:

In my Windows 7 Ultimate I couldn’t uninstall Nero 8 Essentials. It shows the message “Shell manager data base is corrupt or missing”. Please help me.

The comment reminded me of a very old and famous problem which used to occur while installing or uninstalling Nero software in Windows.

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Many times when you try to install or uninstall Nero Burning Rom software in Windows, you receive following error message during the process:

Shellmanager database is corrupt or missing.

Shellmanager_Database_Corrupt_Missing_Error.png

The error message seems very strange and doesn’t help users in understanding the problem. This problem may occur while installing or uninstalling any version of Nero software whether its the latest version or very old version.

Now the question comes, why does this error message display during installation or uninstallation of Nero and how to fix this annoying problem?

Actually this problem occurs if you installed another version of Nero software in past and now you try to install a new version of Nero in your system. Even if you uninstalled the previous version of Nero, sometimes a few Registry keys and program files remain on your hard disk which cause this problem.

So how to solve this problem? Its simple. You need to remove each and every instance of Nero software from Windows before installing the new version. You need to delete all Nero files from your hard disk and remove all keys related to Nero from Windows Registry.

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You can take help of following exclusive tutorial to completely uninstall Nero from your system:

How to Completely Uninstall a Software Program in Windows?

You can also take help of 3rd party cleaning utilities such as CCleaner to delete corrupt Registry entries and files from your system:

CCleaner: The Best Free System Optimization and Cleaning Tool

If the above things don’t work for you, you can download following official tool from Nero which helps you in removing Nero software from your system:

Download Nero General Clean Tool

This official tool will remove all remaining entries of Nero from your system. After downloading the ZIP file, extract it using 7-Zip or any other archive utility and run the EXE file. Its a portable tool which doesn’t need installation.

Once you run the tool, it’ll detect installed version of Nero and will show following window:

Nero_Clean_Tool.png

You can select the desired version of Nero and then click on “Clean” button to start removing Nero from your system.

It’ll take a few seconds and then it’ll ask to restart your system. Once you click on OK button, it’ll reboot your system. After restarting, Nero will no longer exist in your system and now you can install any desired version of Nero without any problem.

Although official website mentions that the Nero Clean Tool supports uninstallation of Nero 7, 8 and 9 versions only but it can be used to remove older versions of Nero as well such as Nero 6.

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. Thanks VG. I have seen this error message in past. Those good old days of Nero. 😀

  2. Hello VG, the Nero General Clean Tool link you posted is not working. Although I got it by Google search. But just thought I’d let you know.

  3. When I click on the link it sends me to the URL link you placed but its blank. The extension of the web page; .php

    I’m an avid follower of your website and is streaming from Trinidad West Indies. I don’t know if the link you provided is being blocked. I don’t think so because all your other links are valid and opens for me.

  4. ^^ Must be a problem in your ISP or security suite. Its working fine here. You can try following direct download links in future:

    nero.com/redir.php?id=4556
    ftp6.nero.com/tools/General-CleanTool.zip

  5. Thanks VG for all the help. The last link you provided works i.e.
    ftp6.nero.com/tools/General-CleanTool.zip

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