windows install clean up utility

[hope]

We accidently uninstalled Office XP, then ran system
restore from the accessories/system tools menu. We still
can not access office products and when trying to
reinstall get the message "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." When going to Microsoft help and finding this
message the fix was to download a utility, but does not
work on ver. 2.0 or higher, which is what I have. So the
question is now what can we do if we can't use the
recommended utility? There is no information about this
situation.
thanks

 

[Solutions Guy]

M$ really messed up with the "Windows Installer" software.
None of the versions work properly. To be perfectly honest
I'd format the system and load everything from scratch.

M$ never have sent out the message "screwed up installer =
format and start again" have they. Perhaps they should
also put up a message something like: "Congratulations! M$
are pleased to have shafted your system for you. To
restore normality format and re-load everything again.
DOH!"

 

[Matt]

It sounds to me as if you're not using teh correct install package. "Patch package" is a Windows installer mechanism for applying updates to a product. They set it up so you could run updates without worrying about downgrading components if you apply an older update. MSI files are full packages and can be installed if you have Windows Installer already setup on your system. MSP files are just patches that use Windows Installer. The EXE files could be either a full product or a patch. They include the Windows Installer and are supplied incase a PC hasn't got the right version of Windows Installer running.

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, hope,

Here's something that might help:

Yup--basically, these are the steps to manually remove the installer data
(these were copied from a helpful Microsoft person, so they're pretty
explicit):

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. In the Open box, type "Regedit" (without the quotation marks) and then
click OK.
3. Locate and expand the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\Installer\Products
4. Below the \Products key, select each 32-character {GUID} until you find
the one whose ProductName value matches your version of Office.
5. With the 32-character {GUID} for your Office product selected, export
this entry for backup.
6. Then please delete the entry from your computer. Restart computer.
7. Then please insert the Office Installation CD to run Setup for Office
again to reinstall Office on the computer to the original folder on your
computer.
8. After installation, please check the issue again.

Hope that helps--

 

[Beth Melton]

If you have Windows XP you can use the updated MSIZap version 2.0 but
it has no UI and you need to use a Command Prompt for it.

You can find it on the Windows XP CD at:
D:\SUPPORT\TOOLS\SUPPORT.CAB

If you don't have the CD then you can obtain the Windows Installer 2.0
SDK from (although it is a BIG download for a small file):
http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/platformsdk/sdkupdate/

You also need the GUID for Office. This can be found in the Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Select each GUID until you find your version of Office in the Display
Name on the right. (Once found you can right-click the GUID and select
Rename to Copy it)

Then use a Command Prompt and navigate to the folder for MSIZap. If
you use MSIZap from the download the command would be similar to:

cd \Program Files\Microsoft SDK\Bin

The MSIZap command would look something like:
MSIZAP T {1080B04F-11E8-494E-9603-41168D4PF198}

To paste the GUID you previously copied click the system menu icon
(upper left corner) and you'll find Paste under the Edit menu.

Note that the product key used above is not for Office and is used
only as an example.


--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

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