From 3f91f49277e1841bdfccda06ae7baa0430e6de2e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Viktor Liu <17948409+lixmal@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 16 May 2026 23:52:57 +0900
Subject: [PATCH] Clean up legacy 32-bit and HKCU registry entries on Windows
 install (#6176)

---
 client/installer.nsis | 23 ++++++++++++++++++-----
 client/netbird.wxs    | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/client/installer.nsis b/client/installer.nsis
index 63bff1c5b..3e057df10 100644
--- a/client/installer.nsis
+++ b/client/installer.nsis
@@ -260,15 +260,23 @@ WriteRegStr ${REG_ROOT} "${UNINSTALL_PATH}"  "Publisher" "${COMP_NAME}"
 
 WriteRegStr ${REG_ROOT} "${UI_REG_APP_PATH}" "" "$INSTDIR\${UI_APP_EXE}"
 
-; Create autostart registry entry based on checkbox
+; Drop Run, App Paths and Uninstall entries left in the 32-bit registry view
+; or HKCU by legacy installers.
+DetailPrint "Cleaning legacy 32-bit / HKCU entries..."
+DeleteRegValue HKCU "${AUTOSTART_REG_KEY}" "${APP_NAME}"
+SetRegView 32
+DeleteRegValue HKLM "${AUTOSTART_REG_KEY}" "${APP_NAME}"
+DeleteRegKey HKLM "${REG_APP_PATH}"
+DeleteRegKey HKLM "${UI_REG_APP_PATH}"
+DeleteRegKey HKLM "${UNINSTALL_PATH}"
+SetRegView 64
+
 DetailPrint "Autostart enabled: $AutostartEnabled"
 ${If} $AutostartEnabled == "1"
     WriteRegStr HKLM "${AUTOSTART_REG_KEY}" "${APP_NAME}" '"$INSTDIR\${UI_APP_EXE}.exe"'
     DetailPrint "Added autostart registry entry: $INSTDIR\${UI_APP_EXE}.exe"
 ${Else}
     DeleteRegValue HKLM "${AUTOSTART_REG_KEY}" "${APP_NAME}"
-    ; Legacy: pre-HKLM installs wrote to HKCU; clean that up too.
-    DeleteRegValue HKCU "${AUTOSTART_REG_KEY}" "${APP_NAME}"
     DetailPrint "Autostart not enabled by user"
 ${EndIf}
 
@@ -299,11 +307,16 @@ ExecWait '"$INSTDIR\${MAIN_APP_EXE}" service uninstall'
 DetailPrint "Terminating Netbird UI process..."
 ExecWait `taskkill /im ${UI_APP_EXE}.exe /f`
 
-; Remove autostart registry entry
+; Remove autostart entries from every view a previous installer may have used.
 DetailPrint "Removing autostart registry entry if exists..."
 DeleteRegValue HKLM "${AUTOSTART_REG_KEY}" "${APP_NAME}"
-; Legacy: pre-HKLM installs wrote to HKCU; clean that up too.
 DeleteRegValue HKCU "${AUTOSTART_REG_KEY}" "${APP_NAME}"
+SetRegView 32
+DeleteRegValue HKLM "${AUTOSTART_REG_KEY}" "${APP_NAME}"
+DeleteRegKey HKLM "${REG_APP_PATH}"
+DeleteRegKey HKLM "${UI_REG_APP_PATH}"
+DeleteRegKey HKLM "${UNINSTALL_PATH}"
+SetRegView 64
 
 ; Handle data deletion based on checkbox
 DetailPrint "Checking if user requested data deletion..."
diff --git a/client/netbird.wxs b/client/netbird.wxs
index 6f18b63b5..96814ce52 100644
--- a/client/netbird.wxs
+++ b/client/netbird.wxs
@@ -64,6 +64,13 @@
 					<RegistryValue Name="InstalledByMSI" Type="integer" Value="1" KeyPath="yes" />
 				</RegistryKey>
 			</Component>
+			<!-- Drop the HKCU Run\Netbird value written by legacy NSIS installers. -->
+			<Component Id="NetbirdLegacyHKCUCleanup" Guid="*">
+				<RegistryValue Root="HKCU" Key="Software\NetBird GmbH\Installer"
+					Name="LegacyHKCUCleanup" Type="integer" Value="1" KeyPath="yes" />
+				<RemoveRegistryValue Root="HKCU"
+					Key="Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" Name="Netbird" />
+			</Component>
 		</StandardDirectory>
 
 		<StandardDirectory Id="CommonAppDataFolder">
@@ -76,10 +83,28 @@
 			</Directory>
 		</StandardDirectory>
 
+		<!-- Drop Run, App Paths and Uninstall entries written by legacy NSIS
+		     installers into the 32-bit registry view (HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node). -->
+		<Component Id="NetbirdLegacyWow6432Cleanup" Directory="NetbirdInstallDir"
+			Guid="bda5d628-16bd-4086-b2c1-5099d8d51763" Bitness="always32">
+			<RegistryValue Root="HKLM" Key="Software\NetBird GmbH\Installer"
+				Name="LegacyWow6432Cleanup" Type="integer" Value="1" KeyPath="yes" />
+			<RemoveRegistryValue Root="HKLM"
+				Key="Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" Name="Netbird" />
+			<RemoveRegistryKey Action="removeOnInstall" Root="HKLM"
+				Key="Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\Netbird" />
+			<RemoveRegistryKey Action="removeOnInstall" Root="HKLM"
+				Key="Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\Netbird-ui" />
+			<RemoveRegistryKey Action="removeOnInstall" Root="HKLM"
+				Key="Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Netbird" />
+		</Component>
+
 		<ComponentGroup Id="NetbirdFilesComponent">
 			<ComponentRef Id="NetbirdFiles" />
 			<ComponentRef Id="NetbirdAumidRegistry" />
 			<ComponentRef Id="NetbirdAutoStart" />
+			<ComponentRef Id="NetbirdLegacyHKCUCleanup" />
+			<ComponentRef Id="NetbirdLegacyWow6432Cleanup" />
 		</ComponentGroup>
 
 		<util:CloseApplication Id="CloseNetBird" CloseMessage="no" Target="netbird.exe" RebootPrompt="no" />