MyDVD Plus – not very useful when it hangs on boot

So recently I bought a new Dell. As is custom of any new PC, the first thing I did was reformat it and install Windows XP Pro SP2.

(The absurdness of why I have to reformat a brand new PC is something I’ll delve into another time. Let’s just say that the rule of “With great power, comes great responsibility” isn’t always followed in spirit.)

Cool, now my machine runs great. Except that I can’t watch DVD’s because there’s no decoder included with the OS, unlike on a Mac. Argh.

I look through the CDs included with my PC and, of course, there’s none. So I contacted Dell via online chat and they DHL’ed me a pile of CDs. Great! I install Sonic CinePlayer and now I can watch DVD’s again. Cool. (sort of. The UI is pretty limited. I actually miss the OS X DVD player UI.)
I then install Roxio Creator MyDVD Combo LE. Sweet – now I can burn CDs and DVDs (sort of. Confusing UI!)

But then I go and install Roxio MyDVD Plus – which I actually paid for. Apparently it’s the competitor to iDVD and allows you to really customize and create cool video DVDs.

I knew this would be trouble when I noticed that it started to uninstall Creator MyDVD Combo LE. But nonetheless, MyDVD Plus gets installed. I launched it, the splash screen appears, and disappears. And this is what I’m left with:

No windows, no nothing. Just that.

So I tried uninstalling all these MyDVD’s – and that’s when I noticed that the uninstall process leaves behind registry keys galore in both the Sonic and Roxio path.

Now I’m stuck in this same situation. Yuck.

Having worked on installers, I know first hand that it’s a complicated process. But that’s no excuse for this.

8/12/2006 Edit: After a whole bunch more of uninstall/reinstall, and system restore, it all works fine. Phew!