If I use the Adds/Remove Programs to uninstall the Office 2003 Professional edition I have, will it also remove any applicable registry entries, or is there some kind of utility file needed to do this? (I hope I’m using the term “utility” correctly.)
Does anyone have any advice about this?
Thanks.
Hi…
I have no idea if the uninstaller for Office 2003 will completely remove all of the registry entries or not. There is a specific removal tool available for this application from Microsoft that may or may not be more thorough in cleaning up the registry (as it is appears the standalone utility or uninstaller is either identical or similar to the one installed with the application)…
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ork2003/HA011401771033.aspx
Here is a link to a utility I’ve used in the past that has worked well for me in removing registry entries although I have not tested for use in Windows Vista. Be sure to only remove the entries marked with the green symbol…a shield, I believe. 
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Registry-Tweak/TweakNow-RegCleaner.shtml
Hope this helps. 
Best Regards…
ardvark:
Please forgive my taking so long to respond to your reply. Thank you for the help. I am sidetracked with another issue right now—probably viruses, etc., and not sure what to do next about it.
I have copied the info from you and also hope the post will be allowed to remain, though it is inactive, so that I can refer back to it when necessary.
Is the TweakNow-RegCleaner free? Do you set it, so to speak, to only go after unneeded registry entries for the application you have removed (in this case Professional Office 2003), or does it look for any irrelevant registry entries regardless of their connection?
I know I may have more questions when I’m actually able to address this task.
Thanks again for your help.
Hi…
Not a problem and you’re more than welcome!
Yes, Tweaknow Regcleaner is free. It looks for all irrelevant registry entries and will show results for three types of entries (its own designation,) “Safe to delete,” “Not fully safe to delete” and “Unknown.” I’m not sure if you can configure the program to only scan for entries that are “safe to delete,” however, in case you can’t make any configurations changes, only delete the entries that are safe to delete. Otherwise, you might have some problems.
Please see here for screenshots…
http://www.softpedia.com/progScreenshots/TweakNow-RegCleaner-Screenshot-13354.html
From what I’ve seen, all posts made here “stay on record,” and remain active so you can always post back later on the same thread.
Best Regards…
I think the Control Panel add/remove is the best way to uninstall Office 2003.
You can also use RevoUninstaller to clean remains (http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html).
Hi safetynut…
This may bring better results, I guess you could try both and see what happens.
Best Regards…
ardvark and Tech:
Let me give a little more background explanation about the reason I want to uninstall the Office 2003 Professional edition on my computer. (ardvark, this ties to the post I have about “Windows Files Protections message & uncertain OS CD” and is an additional problem as a result of having someone work on my pc and do things unbeknownst to me without being asked how I wanted things handled.)
Long story short, when I got my pc back after someone worked on it to free it from viruses, etc., I discovered—among other things—that he had installed the Office 2003 Professional edition instead of asking me for my Student/Teacher Office 2003 edition CD (evidently the S/T edition had been infected) and reinstalling that. I discovered this when the updates for Office 2003 kept failing.
Anyway, I ultimately want to uninstall the Pro edition and install my S/T edition after I’ve been able to solve the Windows Files Protection problem I have (as well as get rid of any causative viruses); i.e., after I’ve taken care of some other priorities.
So that’s why I was asking about whether the Add/Remove Programs would successfully uninstall all files and registry entries to do with the Pro edition.
The S/T manual says if you choose to do an “upgrade’ type of installation that it will remove the previous version for you—but that means if the previous version is an S/T version, right, not just any edition??
A question about the installation of the S/T edition: The stipulation for it is that you can use it 3 times. Do they count an install if it’s done on the same pc as the first install, or other, install(s)? I.e., do they count an install if it was necessary to do because of infections, etc.?
ardvark: In re the “specific removal tool available for this application from Microsoft that may or may not be more thorough in cleaning up the registry” (that you spoke of), does that mean:
a. This should be used in place of the Add/Remove Programs specifically for Office 2003 Professional edition—but that it is primarily to remove the program overall and does not necessarily address all the registry entries as well?
b. If so, then you would use the TweakNow-Reg Cleaner or the RevoUninstaller to clean up the registry entries?
Hope I asked my questions in an understandable manner. I enumerated them so that it would be easier to see what I’m asking and to answer each one.
Relieved to know that this post will remain ad infinitum so that when I’m able to address this task, I can refer to it and the links provided—speaking of which, thank you, ardvark and Tech, for your help.
Hi Safetynut…
I will try to answer your questions one by one…
I’m pretty sure you won’t need the CD to uninstall it, I’ve never heard of the CD being required to uninstall any version of Office. However, I’ve only dealt with 97 and 2000, so I can’t be completely precise in my answer.
2. A question about the installation of the S/T edition: The stipulation for it is that you can use it 3 times. Do they count an install if it’s done on the same pc as the first install, or other, install(s)? I.e., do they count an install if it was necessary to do because of infections, etc.?
To be honest, I don’t know the answer to this. I’m not sure if Microsoft would make an allowance for malware infections. I would encourage you to contact them to make sure. This page might be of help in this…
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/2488#tab5
3. ardvark: In re the “specific removal tool available for this application from Microsoft that may or may not be more thorough in cleaning up the registry” (that you spoke of), does that mean:a. This should be used in place of the Add/Remove Programs specifically for Office 2003 Professional edition—but that it is primarily to remove the program overall and does not necessarily address all the registry entries as well?
b. If so, then you would use the TweakNow-Reg Cleaner or the RevoUninstaller to clean up the registry entries?
You know, I’ve wondered if both programs (Add/Remove Programs and the uninstall utilty) wouldn’t be the same in that way. I phrased it the way I did because I really don’t know which would be more thorough in cleaning up the registry, if either. So I would definately suggest you install both Tweaknow Regcleaner and RevoUninstaller just in case one program will find entries the other may miss.
I hope this was of help to you. Please feel free to ask as many questions as you need to.
Best Regards…
Do all MS Office products let you put them on three different computers (or three different installs), or just the S/T edition? Once you reach your three times, if you use the CD to uninstall, as opposed to the Add/Remove, does that “give you back” one of your three times? Or if you can put them on just one computer, if you use the CD to uninstall, can you then install it on a different computer? I know the old Lotus123 software I had YEARS ago worked that way. You had a certain number of installs (think it was three), and then you uninstalled one of them, you “got one install back.”
I did have a problem with a computer years ago and could not uninstall Office as the computer crashed. I called up Microsoft, explained the situation, and they gave me a new key to use so I could have another install for my new computer.
Hi Pam…
Thank you for your help with that, I had no clue one way or the other.
Best Regards…
PamJ:
I assumed the fact that it is a Student/Teacher edition was the reason that the CD could be used for 3 installations. This edition was obtainable for a reduced price because of it’s intended recipients, so to speak. I have no experience with other editions.
I have two questions for you, PamJ:
Does that mean that you can use the software’s CD to uninstall it or you can use the Add/Remove Programs for the uninstall–whichever you prefer? But that you don’t “NEED” the CD to uninstall the software?
How did you find a number to contact Microsoft? Their website seems like a maze to me–often looping around and returning me to the same place.
Thanks for any clarity you can provide.
Well, it was so long ago! Now, I take notes on everything I do, people I talk to–in detail. Didn’t do that very well back then, so unfortunately, I don’t know how I found the Microsoft number to call. You’re right, though, it’s a ridiculous maze on Microsoft’s site to find anything.
When I did this before, I thought the only way you could uninstall software was to use the uninstall option that comes on the software CD. I never used the Add/Remove programs in Windows back then. But, if I understand correctly some things I’ve read here, doing it that way doesn’t necessarily clean everything off your computer all the time.
I have recently used Add/Remove Programs on some software that I didn’t have a CD for (downloaded software, for example), and that seemed to work fine. And I used that RevoUninstaller on some things, and that worked well, too.
I would assume that if the software shows up in the Add/Remove Programs list, that you could delete it from there without the CD, BUT I’m a novice, so…
You’re welcome! I know so little compared to others here, so I’m glad when something comes up that I have a little experience with.
Take care!
Maybe there is no reason to spend a lot of time uninstalling anything. Another solution could be to live with the pro edition and forget about the updates, and install the free OpenOffice which is compatible with MS office.
This is what I have done, and I use the two in parallel. When I download an unknown document, I open it with OO, thus avoiding the possible vulnerabilities in MSO. In the future, when I get fed up with MSO, or when I buy another computer and don’t want to pay another license, I’m well prepared to run OO only.