Complete Uninstall of Office 2003

I have a number of clients that over time have somehow created multiple
contacts folders and Outlook 2003 starts having problems. Manual deletion of
the contacts causes more difficulties.

Uninstall of Office/Outlook doesn't completely remove every marker,
especially in the Registry, and previous problem creep is common.

Is there a knowledgebase document or any step-by-step for doing a 100%
removal of Office/Outlook so that you can get a fresh start rather than try
to fix/troubleshoot the existing install? Keyword here is 100%, I want XP to
behave like it has never, ever, seen Office.

DL
Wed May 07 11:52:28 PDT 2008

The Outlook profile is not removed during an uninstall
When reinstalling did you create a new Outlook Profile?

"Hughes" <Hughes@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9230DFD2-E88D-4C2B-B75F-2B40C57A0D09@microsoft.com...
>I have a number of clients that over time have somehow created multiple
> contacts folders and Outlook 2003 starts having problems. Manual deletion
> of
> the contacts causes more difficulties.
>
> Uninstall of Office/Outlook doesn't completely remove every marker,
> especially in the Registry, and previous problem creep is common.
>
> Is there a knowledgebase document or any step-by-step for doing a 100%
> removal of Office/Outlook so that you can get a fresh start rather than
> try
> to fix/troubleshoot the existing install? Keyword here is 100%, I want XP
> to
> behave like it has never, ever, seen Office.

Hughes
Wed May 07 12:14:10 PDT 2008

Various clients, various problems, various attempts to fix. Appreciate your
questioning to help me, but not looking for help with a particular problem to
solve, just want a bullet proof way to remove All aspects of Office/Outlook
so I can use it when I decide to go nuclear.

"DL" wrote:

> The Outlook profile is not removed during an uninstall
> When reinstalling did you create a new Outlook Profile?
>
> "Hughes" <Hughes@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:9230DFD2-E88D-4C2B-B75F-2B40C57A0D09@microsoft.com...
> >I have a number of clients that over time have somehow created multiple
> > contacts folders and Outlook 2003 starts having problems. Manual deletion
> > of
> > the contacts causes more difficulties.
> >
> > Uninstall of Office/Outlook doesn't completely remove every marker,
> > especially in the Registry, and previous problem creep is common.
> >
> > Is there a knowledgebase document or any step-by-step for doing a 100%
> > removal of Office/Outlook so that you can get a fresh start rather than
> > try
> > to fix/troubleshoot the existing install? Keyword here is 100%, I want XP
> > to
> > behave like it has never, ever, seen Office.
>
>
>

DL
Wed May 07 15:42:44 PDT 2008

The only nuclear option that is guaranteed to work is format/install
The Add/remove dialogue usually uninstalls Office / Outlook completely other
than as stated, the Profile & Account settings which are stored in the win
registry. A reinstallation of OL will use the origonal profile unless you
select a new one, in which case you have to re enter the account settings.

"Hughes" <Hughes@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CED95D4D-314D-4E48-ABCB-DDAA9143AEEE@microsoft.com...
> Various clients, various problems, various attempts to fix. Appreciate
> your
> questioning to help me, but not looking for help with a particular problem
> to
> solve, just want a bullet proof way to remove All aspects of
> Office/Outlook
> so I can use it when I decide to go nuclear.
>
> "DL" wrote:
>
>> The Outlook profile is not removed during an uninstall
>> When reinstalling did you create a new Outlook Profile?
>>
>> "Hughes" <Hughes@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:9230DFD2-E88D-4C2B-B75F-2B40C57A0D09@microsoft.com...
>> >I have a number of clients that over time have somehow created multiple
>> > contacts folders and Outlook 2003 starts having problems. Manual
>> > deletion
>> > of
>> > the contacts causes more difficulties.
>> >
>> > Uninstall of Office/Outlook doesn't completely remove every marker,
>> > especially in the Registry, and previous problem creep is common.
>> >
>> > Is there a knowledgebase document or any step-by-step for doing a 100%
>> > removal of Office/Outlook so that you can get a fresh start rather than
>> > try
>> > to fix/troubleshoot the existing install? Keyword here is 100%, I want
>> > XP
>> > to
>> > behave like it has never, ever, seen Office.
>>
>>
>>

Brian
Thu May 08 07:10:30 PDT 2008

Hughes <Hughes@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Is there a knowledgebase document or any step-by-step for doing a 100%
> removal of Office/Outlook so that you can get a fresh start rather
> than try to fix/troubleshoot the existing install? Keyword here is
> 100%, I want XP to behave like it has never, ever, seen Office.

The Windows Installer Cleanup utility might help:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301/en-us
--
Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]

Hughes
Fri May 09 08:16:02 PDT 2008

Very interesting and you have confirmed my suspicions.

Sounds like the path of least resistance is to create a new profile and
bring in the old data.

I noticed in another post it was suggested Not to Import the data, but I
find this works quite nicely. I find that if you replace the newly created
and anointed outlook.pst file with the old one, you get strange behavior.

Do you suggest allowing Outlook to create a new .pst, use Data File
Management to point to the old one and the remove the new .pst?

"DL" wrote:

> The only nuclear option that is guaranteed to work is format/install
> The Add/remove dialogue usually uninstalls Office / Outlook completely other
> than as stated, the Profile & Account settings which are stored in the win
> registry. A reinstallation of OL will use the origonal profile unless you
> select a new one, in which case you have to re enter the account settings.
>
> "Hughes" <Hughes@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:CED95D4D-314D-4E48-ABCB-DDAA9143AEEE@microsoft.com...
> > Various clients, various problems, various attempts to fix. Appreciate
> > your
> > questioning to help me, but not looking for help with a particular problem
> > to
> > solve, just want a bullet proof way to remove All aspects of
> > Office/Outlook
> > so I can use it when I decide to go nuclear.
> >
> > "DL" wrote:
> >
> >> The Outlook profile is not removed during an uninstall
> >> When reinstalling did you create a new Outlook Profile?
> >>
> >> "Hughes" <Hughes@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:9230DFD2-E88D-4C2B-B75F-2B40C57A0D09@microsoft.com...
> >> >I have a number of clients that over time have somehow created multiple
> >> > contacts folders and Outlook 2003 starts having problems. Manual
> >> > deletion
> >> > of
> >> > the contacts causes more difficulties.
> >> >
> >> > Uninstall of Office/Outlook doesn't completely remove every marker,
> >> > especially in the Registry, and previous problem creep is common.
> >> >
> >> > Is there a knowledgebase document or any step-by-step for doing a 100%
> >> > removal of Office/Outlook so that you can get a fresh start rather than
> >> > try
> >> > to fix/troubleshoot the existing install? Keyword here is 100%, I want
> >> > XP
> >> > to
> >> > behave like it has never, ever, seen Office.
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

Brian
Fri May 09 08:34:57 PDT 2008

Hughes <Hughes@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> I noticed in another post it was suggested Not to Import the data,
> but I find this works quite nicely. I find that if you replace the
> newly created and anointed outlook.pst file with the old one, you get
> strange behavior.

You lose some of the data when you import. It may be data you don't need
(like the links between contacts and other Outlook items), but it's not a
faithful copy.
--
Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]

Hughes
Fri May 09 11:14:10 PDT 2008

Great info, thanks.

Still curious about New Profile:Auto-generate outlook.pst, select Old
outlook.pst in Data File Management: deselect New Outlook.pst, begin using
Old Outlook.pst as the Primary. Does this cause any problems? I seem to run
into the problem I was trying to avoid, which is double Contact folders.

"Brian Tillman" wrote

> Hughes <Hughes@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> > I noticed in another post it was suggested Not to Import the data,
> > but I find this works quite nicely. I find that if you replace the
> > newly created and anointed outlook.pst file with the old one, you get
> > strange behavior.
>
> You lose some of the data when you import. It may be data you don't need
> (like the links between contacts and other Outlook items), but it's not a
> faithful copy.
> --
> Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]
>
>

Brian
Mon May 12 07:05:36 PDT 2008

Hughes <Hughes@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Still curious about New Profile:Auto-generate outlook.pst, select Old
> outlook.pst in Data File Management: deselect New Outlook.pst, begin
> using Old Outlook.pst as the Primary. Does this cause any problems? I
> seem to run into the problem I was trying to avoid, which is double
> Contact folders.

Removing the new PST and changing the profile to make old PST the delivery
location should work. Did you do this from the Mail applet in Control
Panel?
--
Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]