Windows Installer owns me...

[Zellfreid]

So my father removed/uninstalled Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003 from his computer a few days ago. After that everytime he tried to open any program, the Windows Installer pops up and says "Preparing to intstall..." So, he waits a while, and nothing happens. He hits cancel, but it takes a long time for the installer to close. Thusly, he performed a system restore, and it still won't go away. Any ideas on how to make the installer stop opening? I googled and found something called "Windows Install Clean Up," but that didn't work. I'm just not sure what the source of the problem is. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Katsurugi]

Windows Install Clean Up is supposed to work. It helped me get rid of iTunes. Since that doesn't work, I actually would consider reinstalling the program and then uninstalling it once again. Maybe that would work for so odd reason. Other than that, you can systematically go through the registry and delete any items that resemble MS Office 2003 Business Ed. But that is highly NOT recommended.

If you do run the installation/uninstallation, don't run any other applications at the same time. It might sound stupid, but in theory, it shouldn't matter. A lot of things are supposed to work in theory. After you finish uninstalling it, then I would restart the computer and possibly run Windows Install Clean Up to see if the program detects any traces of Office.

Good luck.

[phill]

Couple things to look at/for. When the installer box appears, what is its title? just a generic installer? or is it a program name?

Also take a look at the following registry keys and either google what you find or come back here and one of the guys here will be able to tell you if the items are safe to delete.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

edit: Also, what does the event viewer say is going on, it will usually tell you what is trying to install (if the installer window is kinda generic) among other things

[Zellfreid]

Couple things to look at/for. When the installer box appears, what is its title? just a generic installer? or is it a program name?

Also take a look at the following registry keys and either google what you find or come back here and one of the guys here will be able to tell you if the items are safe to delete.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

edit: Also, what does the event viewer say is going on, it will usually tell you what is trying to install (if the installer window is kinda generic) among other things

I'm not on his computer right now, so I will reply again once I have worked on his computer. The installer says just what I wrote it says: "Preparing to install..." And the title (title in the blue bar) is just Windows Installer. Other than that, I need to wait until I can get on his computer.

Thanks, Katsurugi, if all else fails, I'll give that a go.

[OverCoat]

You could've saved money and just used OpenOffice or something :3

but now that you have all that you might as well use it!

[phill]

You could've saved money and just used OpenOffice or something :3

It's to bad that not having to pay for OpenOffice isn't enough to make it a decent alternative to Microsoft Office. I use it at home, does what I need, but I still refuse to even consider giving it to an average user. Specifically because the of the interface, the way it looks, functions, how you get to most features, where most features are located in the menus, it all screams programmer. The OpenOffice group needs to bring someone in who know interfaces, so that it can be cleaned up and organized so regular users can understand it properly.

[kitty]

It's to bad that not having to pay for OpenOffice isn't enough to make it a decent alternative to Microsoft Office. I use it at home, does what I need, but I still refuse to even consider giving it to an average user. Specifically because the of the interface, the way it looks, functions, how you get to most features, where most features are located in the menus, it all screams programmer. The OpenOffice group needs to bring someone in who know interfaces, so that it can be cleaned up and organized so regular users can understand it properly.

I thought the writer emulated the interface of Word pretty well. >_>

On topic: I second the reinstall/uninstall method. If that fails, I'd clean the registry out with a tool so you don't fuck it up manually. I always like blaming my programs when I don't fuck things up directly.

[Zellfreid]

Well, before I go any further, the system restore my father did had brought back MS Office Small Business Edition 2003, but the installer still pops up. He does not have the disc to reinstall Office 2003, but he has an XP Professional disc. Should I use the Windows Install Clean Up to uninstall Office? All we want is for this installer to go away. We don't mind keeping Office.

Also, I don't know what registry keys are or what to do with them.

[Katsurugi]

Do it. I'm sure it won't wipe off Office, just partial installer files.