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# OFF: Can't Remove Office Application Using Office Setup

Article ID: 117636

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

APPLIES TO

- Microsoft Office 4.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Office 4.2 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Office 4.3 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Office 95 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Office 97 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft PowerPoint 97 Standard Edition
- Microsoft PowerPoint 95 Standard Edition
- Microsoft PowerPoint 4.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 95 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 6.0a

This article was previously published under Q117636

## SYMPTOMS

If you install Microsoft Office to your hard disk, and you then install a later version of one of the individual Microsoft Office applications to the directory in which it was installed by the Microsoft Office Setup program, you will not be able to use the Microsoft Office Setup program to remove the application.

## CAUSE

This behavior occurs because Setup cannot remove a file that it did not install. When you install a stand-alone version of a Microsoft Office program to the same directory in which you installed an earlier version of the program using Microsoft Office Setup, the application's files are updated. Microsoft Office Setup still reports that the application is installed, but you cannot remove the files because they were installed by Setup for the stand-alone program.

## WORKAROUND

To update a stand-alone Microsoft Office application, do the following:

1. Run the Microsoft Office Setup program.
2. Remove the Microsoft Office application that you are going to update.
3. Run the Setup program for the stand-alone application. You can install the application to either the Microsoft Office directory for the application (for example, C:\MSOFFICE\EXCEL) or to a new directory (for example C:\EXCEL).

Additional query words: 6.00a kbsetup 7.00a 8.00 ppt8 ppt95 ppt97 winppt word6 word7 word8 word97

Keywords: kbprb KB117636