Can't uninstall SGN 8 from Windows 10

Hi James,

A particular service required during Safeguard authentication is not starting. Please refer to the article Sophos SafeGuard Authentication Service is not running, no further action possible! error displayed. Let me know if this helps resolve your issue. 

They looked pretty general so I copied the registry entries that defined all of the SGN services to the bad workstation. It would boot and apply group policies then instead of going to the login it SafeGuard WatchDog would shut the computer down. I removed the service definitions in Safe Mode and am back where I started. 

Can't uninstall or modify or use.

It's not a "friendly" way of removing stubborn software, but have you tried the MS tool for this?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed

It does work surprisingly well and has been updated to include Win10.

I'm not sure it'll work in your case, but may be worth a try?

This MS fix did allow me to uninstall.

I rebooted and install looked like it was working for a while, then said something in German about a DLL failing to register, and now the machine looks like it's back into a shutdown cycle since it didn't come back on after rebooting from the failed install. It's at a remote site so I'm waiting on them to get in this morning.

(Sophos if you read this post - "Your posting frequency has exceeded allowed rates. Please wait 5 minutes to post again." That's really frustrating. All I did was unmark a post that I never marked as an answer, mark one that helped me, and now I have to wait to post a follow-up..)

This MS fix did allow me to uninstall.

I rebooted and install looked like it was working for a while, then said something in German about a DLL failing to register, and now the machine looks like it's back into a shutdown cycle since it didn't come back on after rebooting from the failed install. It's at a remote site so I'm waiting on them to get in this morning.

(Sophos if you read this post - "Your posting frequency has exceeded allowed rates. Please wait 5 minutes to post again." That's really frustrating. All I did was unmark a post that I never marked as an answer, mark one that helped me, and now I have to wait to post a follow-up..)

Hi James, 

Sorry about that I would definitely look into this for you. Also, looking forward to seeing an update on this issue you are facing.

Thanks Haridoss. Once I get back on the machine are there any event logs that I could post that would help figure out what the DLL registration problem was?

Hi James, 

Yes, you can share the SDU logs to investigate further. Please refer to the article Sophos Diagnostic Utility (SDU): How to locate and download.