Unable install upate and now can't uninstall

[ColinWH]

Evening,
Received notification re update. Downloaded update and commenced installation on an XP box with all updates.
Part way through, box popped up saying unable to remove previous version and then aborted.
Through Add/Remove Programs, now cannot remove 2.3, says uninstall file not available.
Is there a manual way to remove all details of 2.3, so I can then install the latest version?

Many thanks,

Colin

[Hagar Delest]

Have you tried to clean the registry (plenty of freewares for that) ?

[Bill]

What was the old version? Are both the old version and 2.3 now in Add/Remove Programs? When the installation aborts, the changes already made are supposed to roll back so that only the old version remains.

The old version fails to uninstall because the file containing the information about the old installation can't be found. You could try to reinstall the old version to restore the required file. Once the file is restored, you should be able to uninstall the old version.

Do you have any kind of utility program which might be removing "unnecessary" or "unused" files? The old installation files seem to disappear occasionally on some installations, but I've never had this problem.

[ColinWH]

According to 'Add Remove Programs' in XP, there is only one listing and the Support Info shows it as: 2.3.9221.
There is no other version shown. Also, have tried to repair from that same Support Info box, it starts then just disappears after a few seconds. Have also tried to do an installation of the same version 'over the top' of the existing installation, but it stops at a points, shows a box saying something about uninstall not available, but that also disappears quickly.

The existing installation still works, except that each and every time I start any of the components - Writer - Base - Math etc.,I am asked to enter my details and register.

Colin
Edit: no, I don't have any utility program, or anything else I can think of, that might be interfering. Have also tried with AVG virus off and Comodo firewall off.

[Hagar Delest]

Have you tried to reinstall while Comodo was off ? I've seen several issues related to Comodo.
The registration screen at each time is one of the symptoms IIRC.

[ColinWH]

Hi,
Firstly, many thanks for taking the time.
I have now tried a re-installation of the original 2.3 with Comodo uninstalled, - no difference!
I think now, I'll try just deleting it, and see if I can find all related keys etc., to also remove them.

I'll let you know,

Colin

[uninstit]

I too have the same problem. I had 2.1 installed, uninstalled it and am trying to install 2.3.1. The installer also dies trying to "uninstall" the old install. In my case it is looking for the openofficeorg21.msi file and keeps popping up a dialog box asking for it's location. So, since the OOO version 2.1 is long since been cleaned off my PC, where can I get a copy of an old OOO version so I can get the freaking file I need to run the new installer...!!

(And yes I used regedit to fully clean up any registry holdovers that had "openoffice.org" in the keys... Still didn't help. Would be nice If I could just force the installer to go on andoverwrite any old files... or some other way to force it to go on... I've turned off the AV software and all basic checks. )

[Hagar Delest]

Follow Bill's link here : Open office Upgrade.

[uninstit]

Ah HAH! I found the solution in another forum! (Number 55858) (I googled "openofficeorg21.msi" to find it... Here is the relavent part repost:

The solution is this: download the EXACT SAME version you have (go to HELP/ABOUT and check your version); then go to http://www.oldapps.com/openoffice.htm as was suggested and download the version you have; then unpack that version (just double click the *.exe file, and it will unpack itself....no need to do a full install, just wait until it unpacks all the files); then try and reinstall 2.3.1 and point the pop-up window to the unpacked file openoffice21.msi

This worked for me and I now, finally, have 2.3.1 installed! (Finding where to go find old OOO versions was the key...)

The OOO installer really needs to be reworked to be able to go on and overwrite old installation files if it has any errors in cleaning them off!

[t-bonham@scc.net]

then go to http://www.oldapps.com/openoffice.htm as was suggested and download the version you have;

Well, that might work, except that site doesn't have version 2.3.0, which is the version I have (or had, until I attempted to upgrade to version 2.3.1)!

And even if I do find some other place to download version 2.3.0 from, it's 118MB, so I face another several hours of downloading, just to get this old version that I don't want. Sigh!

[Hagar Delest]

Then, check also that thread : [Solved] Registration and Uninstall Problems.