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README FOR WINDOWS INSTALLER CLEAN UP UTILITY
DECEMBER 2003
WHAT IS THE WINDOWS INSTALLER CLEAN UP UTILITY?
The Windows Installer Clean Up Utility is designed to allow you to safely remove Windows Installer settings from your computer in the event of a problem. Although the Windows Installer is designed to be very robust, it is possible for Windows Installer to become damaged if:
- Your computer's registry becomes corrupt
- You or someone else inadvertantly changes a registry setting used by the Windows Installer, resulting in a problem
- The installation of a program that uses Windows Installer (for example, Microsoft Office 2000) is interrupted
- There are multiple instances of Setup running simultaneously, or an instance of Setup is "blocked"
WHY IS THERE ONLY ONE VERSION?
There were two versions of the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility: MSICU.EXE (designed for use in Windows 95 and Windows 98), and MSICUU.EXE (designed for use in Windows NT). This version of the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility will work properly on all 32-bit Windows operating systems.
WHAT IS MSIZAP.EXE?
The Windows Installer Clean Up Utility makes use of the file, MSIZAP.EXE, to perform clean up operations of the Windows Installer registry settings. It is not recommended that you manually run MSIZAP.EXE, since it uses a command-line interface and does not provide the same ease of use or level of protection as the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility.
HOW DO I INSTALL THE WINDOWS INSTALLER CLEAN UP UTILITY?
When you download the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, simply run it. By default, the Setup program will install the the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility's files to the following folder on your hard disk:
C:\Program Files\Windows Installer Clean Up
Note that you can install to another location if you so desire. All of the files used by the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility (MSICU.EXE, MSICUU.EXE, MSIZAP.EXE, and this Readme file) are copied into this folder. A shortcut for the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility will be created on the Start menu, under Programs > Windows Installer Clean Up.
Note that if you attempt to install the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility from a floppy disk, you may receive the following error messages:
Internal Error 2724. UNINSTALL 1,
Installation ended prematurely because of an error.
To prevent this problem from occurring, only install the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility from your hard disk.
HOW DO I RUN THE WINDOWS INSTALLER CLEAN UP UTILITY?
To run the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, either:
- Click the shortcut for the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility on the
Start menu.
-or-
- In Microsoft System Information, click Windows Installer Clean Up on the
Tools menu.
When you do this, a dialog box containing the following message will appear:
Continuing further will make permanent changes to your system. You may
need to reinstall some or
all applications on your system that used the
Windows Installer technology to be installed. If you do not want to proceed,
please press the 'Exit' button now. Choosing 'Remove' will make the
permanent changes.
The dialog box lists all programs that are installed on your computer that use Windows Installer. Because the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility also uses Windows Installer, the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility will be listed in this dialog box.
Note that you can select multiple items in the list by holding down the SHIFT or CTRL keys while you select the items.
There are four buttons:
Select All Selects all programs in the list.
Clear All Unselects all programs in the list.
Remove Removes the Windows Installer registry settings associated
with the selected program(s).
Exit Exits the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility.
If you click Remove, the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility will display the following prompt:
Warning - All items selected will be removed from the Windows Installer
database. In order for the items to work properly, you must individually
re-install all items selected. Select OK to continue removing product,
Cancel to abort.
If you click OK, the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility will remove all Windows Installer information associated with the selected programs, including the entries for the programs in the Add/Remove Programs control panel. If you remove the settings for a program that is currently installed on your computer, the program will no longer be able to add or remove components or to repair itself; to prevent problems, it is recommended that you reinstall your programs before you use them.
WHAT IF I RECEIVE AN ERROR MESSAGE?
The Windows Installer Clean Up Utility is designed to inform you if there is a problem. The following table lists the error messages that may be displayed by the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility and their causes:
Error Message Cause
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This utility requires that MSIZAP.EXE MSIZAP.EXE version 2 could not be found
version 2 or greater reside in the same in the same folder as MSICUU.EXE
folder.
You must have Administrator rights to In order to run MSICUU.EXE, you must be
run this utility. logged on with administrative rights.
This utility requires that the Windows MSICUU.EXE uses the Windows Installer
Installer be installed and properly object model to identify the installed
registered. products. To correct the problem try
re-registering MSI.DLL.
HOW DO I UNINSTALL THE WINDOWS INSTALLER CLEAN UP UTILITY?
When you install the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, an entry for the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility is
created in the Add/Remove Programs control panel. To remove the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, select the item in the list of installed programs and click Add/Remove.