Help ... can't uninstall Microsoft Office 2000 Pro

[welshTerrier2]

after a system crash the other day, i ran a "repair" to get my laptop to boot into Windows (2000) ...

the repair apparently affected my Microsoft Office 2000 installation that will not run ...

i have several options:

1. i tried to install a full version (i.e. not an upgrade) of Office 2003 ... the install fails because it can't find one of the components of Office 2000 (does this make any sense??) ... it tells me i have to insert my Office 2000 install disk ... when i do, it tells me the disk doesn't contain a valid install file ...

2. i tried to use Add/Remove programs to remove my Office 2000 installation completely ... this also required me to insert a valid install disk (does this make any sense??) ... again, i inserted my Office 2000 Pro install disk and it said it doesn't contain a valid install file ...

what are my options here? at a minimum, i need to be able to run Microsoft Word ... everything else on the laptop seems to be working OK ...

[WLKjr]

1. if all else fails you can try to

delete the office 2000 directory and then maybe do a SCANREG or run a registry cleaner (regclean from MS), that may fix the problem, then you can do your full install of 2003.

let me know if that fixes the problem.

[welshTerrier2]

2. Windows Installer CleanUp Utility ???

thanks, WLK ...

in doing some research yesterday, i found something called the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility ... it sounds like it was written for exactly the kinds of problems i'm having ... no matter what i do, i keep getting prompted for the Office 2000 install disk and it doesn't seem to recognize the one i have ... the Cleanup Utility sounds like it might remove the Office suite from the "installer" master list ... i'm hoping this will allow me to do a full install Office 2003 ...

the only question i have is whether running this utility will make things worse than they already are ... here's a link to the Cleanup Utility "Read Me" file and a brief summary of what it's supposed to do ... do you think it's worth trying to run it ??

source: http://is-it-true.org/WindowsTips/Windows2000/UserTips/Utilities/WindowsInstallerCleanUpUtility.html

Microsoft has created the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, which allows you to safely remove Windows Installer-related registry settings from your computer in the event of a problem. This utility from Microsoft allows you to clean out applications from the Microsoft Installer local database. If you ever get an app (that uses the MSI) that gets so screwed up you can't uninstall it, can't reinstall it, and you are stuck, this application should allow you to tackle the problem. Once installed, you run the program "Windows Install Cleanup" from your Start menu. It will bring up a list of installed applications that use MSI. You can then remove any of them from the MSI database. The Windows NT version of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility is Msicuu.exe, the Win9x and ME version is Msicu.exe. Check Q238413 for links to download the utility.

[WLKjr]

3. check technet.com

check technet.com (microsoft's tech reference) and see what else you can find. But I would go ahead and try it.