I believe my Word is corrupted or something, won't uninstall or anything.

[Phyllis]

My computer came from Dell loaded with Works Suite and Word 2002. In Word
recently I opened up a new blank document, but after loading the cursor
blinked a time or two at the beginning of the document page, the cursor then
disappeared and when I clicked again in the body of the document, the
toolbars, etc. at the top of the page disappeared and the document filled
the whole window. After attempting this 4 or 5 times with the same results,
I decided to uninstall and reinstall Word. Since reinstall every time I try
to open Word a window entitled Windows Installer comes up and churns and
churns
and then I get a window that says "This patch package could not be opened.
Verify that the patch package exists and that you can access it, or contact
the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer
patch package." I even went to try to uninstall it again and now it won't
uninstall and the same Windows Installer window comes up and same patch
package message comes up. What could have happened to it? What can I do?
I don't know how to verify if the patch package exists, etc. Thanks for any
help.

 

[garfield-n-odie]

See http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=295823 "You receive the
'This patch package could not be opened' error message in an
Office program".

 

[Phyllis]

OK, I went to link and followed instructions for the Windows Installer
Cleaner but then it says to reinstall Office. This is where I run into
trouble understanding. I cannot uninstall Word, so how do I reinstall it?
When I put my Word disc in it only has the "remove" option. When I try that
I get the patch package again. Do I need to uninstall the entire Works
Suite as well? But even that still leaves me with Word that will not
uninstall. I get that patch package every time I try it. Thanks

 

[garfield-n-odie]

Instead of saying you "followed instructions" (because I don't
think you did), tell us what you actually did, and maybe we can
tell you what you forgot to do. What you should have done:
1. Download the msicuu2.exe file from the link provided.
2. Run msicuu2.exe to install the cleanup utility.
3. Start the cleanup utility from Start | All Programs |
Windows Install Clean Up.
4. Use the cleanup utility to remove the Windows installer
registry entry related to Word 2002.
5. Close the cleanup utility.
6. Uninstall Word 2002 from Start | Control Panel |
Add/Remove Programs.
7. Reinstall Word 2002 from your Word 2002 CD.

 

[Phyllis]

You were right, I didn't follow these instructions because the instructions
on the link weren't like this or at least not as simple. I need simple.
Thank you for helping. Now after I ran the cleanup utility to clean the
registry entry related to Word 2002, I went to add/remove to uninstall Word
and it is not there, so now my question is, will it be safe to install at
this point. Thanks

 

[garfield-n-odie]

"Microsoft Word 2002" should still be listed as an installed
program in Start | Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs, unless
you uninstalled it *before* running the Windows installer cleanup
utility. The cleanup utility does not uninstall Word. In your
earlier posts, in one place you said you uninstalled and
reinstalled, and in another place you said you could not
uninstall, so I don't know what you did. You should uninstall
before attempting to reinstall. In the list of installed
programs, are you looking under "M" (as in Microsoft Word 2002)
or "W" (as in Word 2002)? If you really can't find Word in the
list of installed programs, then insert your Word 2002 CD and use
the Remove option to make sure the program is removed before you
attempt to reinstall. After you reinstall Word 2002, you should
reapply Service Pack 3 for Office XP.

 

[garfield-n-odie]

By the way, the original "missing menus and toolbars" problem you
had could have been fixed without uninstalling and reinstalling,
as described at
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/MissingMenusEtc.htm .

 

[Phyllis]

Thank you so much for your patience in supplying me with much needed help
with this. I do believe I have it all worked out and Word is once again
working correctly. Thanks again!!!