How do you do a 100% uninstall of Outlook, so that it can be reinstalled
cleanly?

My copy of Outlook has gotten corrupted (vague "unknown error" messages
whenever I try to do nearly anything), and I haven't been able to fix it. I
want to reinstall the program, so I I removed it using the Office Installer
update feature, then rebooted and reinstalled, using the same feature. No
luck--the reinstallation had the same problems.

Next, I completely uninstalled Office, rebooted and reinstalled. Same
result--I've still got the same problems in Outlook.

Now, I realize the problem may lie in system files, and not with Office at
all. But before I wipe the machine and reinstall, I thought I'd check here
and see if I'm missing something on the uninstall.

Is there anyhting I can do on an uninstall that does a more complete job
than what I've already done? Thanks.

A complete uninstall is usually a pretty drastic way to correct an Outlook
problem. Are there any error messages and/or numbers other than unknown
error? What is the exact text of the error message? What version of Outlook
do you use? Do you connect to an Exchange or POP3 server? Do you use a PST?
If you do, what size is it?

--
Kathleen Orland
Outlook Tips: http://www.outlook-tips.net/
http://www.howto-outlook.com/



"David Veeneman" wrote:

How do you do a 100% uninstall of Outlook, so that it can be reinstalled
cleanly?

My copy of Outlook has gotten corrupted (vague "unknown error" messages
whenever I try to do nearly anything), and I haven't been able to fix it. I
want to reinstall the program, so I I removed it using the Office Installer
update feature, then rebooted and reinstalled, using the same feature. No
luck--the reinstallation had the same problems.

Next, I completely uninstalled Office, rebooted and reinstalled. Same
result--I've still got the same problems in Outlook.

Now, I realize the problem may lie in system files, and not with Office at
all. But before I wipe the machine and reinstall, I thought I'd check here
and see if I'm missing something on the uninstall.

Is there anyhting I can do on an uninstall that does a more complete job
than what I've already done? Thanks.

Thanks for the offer, Kathleen! I agree--a wipe is pretty drastic. The error
message was one of those "The meessaging interface has returned an unknown
error..." messages, and I couldn't find a fix doing a Google search.

Fortunately, a System Restore took care of the problem, which I think was
caused by the new Google Desktop beta. Hopefully, the next person with the
problem will come across this message and try the System Restore before
nuking their computer.