Change/Remove in Control Panel doesn't work

  • Thread starter Thread starter swirem70
  • Start date Start date
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swirem70

I am using Windows XP Pro SP3. I recently installed a new larger HDD and
cloned the content of the old HDD onto the new one. This worked after I used
the repair function on the original Windows XP CD but I now find that I
cannot Update/Change or Remove programs using Control Panel>Add/Remove
Programs. A particular concern is that I am using Office 2003 Professional
SP2 in which Word and Outlook have become corrupted but I cannot change the
suite using Control Panel.
When I try to Upgrade or Change I get the message "The feature you are
trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable. Click OK to try
again or enter an alternative path to a folder containing the installation
package 'MAINSP2ff.msp' in the box below". But there is no network involved
and I've tried to find 'MAINSP2ff.msp' both in my current installation and in
the download of SP2 and by having the original installation CD in my PC, all
to no avail.
When I tried to Remove Office 2003 completely, using Control Panel>add or
Remove Programs, I get the message "The expected version of the product was
not found on your system".
Putting the original Office 2003 Pro disk in the PC does not help. In Safe
mode, when trying to Change Office 2003 using Control Panel, I get the
message: “This installation is forbidden by system policy. Contact your
system administratorâ€. I am the system administrator!
The result when I try to Change Remove other major programs is usually
similar but I sometimes get a slightly different message of: “The
installation Source for this product is not available. Verify that the
source exists and that you can access itâ€. Some minor programs can be
removed/changed.
My original HDD is no longer available (reformatted).
 
swirem70 said:
I am using Windows XP Pro SP3. I recently installed a new larger HDD
and cloned the content of the old HDD onto the new one. This worked
after I used the repair function on the original Windows XP CD but I
now find that I cannot Update/Change or Remove programs using Control
Panel>Add/Remove Programs. A particular concern is that I am using
Office 2003 Professional SP2 in which Word and Outlook have become
corrupted but I cannot change the suite using Control Panel.
When I try to Upgrade or Change I get the message "The feature you are
trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable. Click OK
to try again or enter an alternative path to a folder containing the
installation package 'MAINSP2ff.msp' in the box below". But there is
no network involved and I've tried to find 'MAINSP2ff.msp' both in my
current installation and in the download of SP2 and by having the
original installation CD in my PC, all to no avail.
When I tried to Remove Office 2003 completely, using Control
Panel>add or Remove Programs, I get the message "The expected version
of the product was not found on your system".
Putting the original Office 2003 Pro disk in the PC does not help.
In Safe mode, when trying to Change Office 2003 using Control Panel,
I get the message: "This installation is forbidden by system policy.
Contact your system administrator". I am the system administrator!
The result when I try to Change Remove other major programs is usually
similar but I sometimes get a slightly different message of: "The
installation Source for this product is not available. Verify that
the source exists and that you can access it". Some minor programs
can be removed/changed.
My original HDD is no longer available (reformatted).
Click to expand...

Sounds like something is corrupted. There is a program called AddRemove
Pro (freebie) that will do what add remove does and a lot more that you
could try until you find and repair whatever is wrong. www.superwin.com
If that doesn't work either you have a rather serious system file
problem somewhere.

Also, it is not the final answer: it's just a way to hopefully get
around your current problem. You still need to figure out what's wrong
and fix it! Something is sick that could impact a lot more than just
add or remove.

The last part of your description actually sounds like something didn't
get installed; it's looking for it on a CD drive or network drive which
isn't right. IMO the clone operation failed somehow and needs to be
repeated. Was your previous installation somehow spread over two drive
letters?
Too bad you don't still have that other drive and I'm betting you
don't have backups, so instead of an hour to fix this, you might be
looking at a couple of days for a complete rebuild.
First, Try doing a backup of what you have and then do a Repair
Install. In theory if everything goes without a glitch, you won't lose
any data and it's only about an hour to do. If that doesn't work, then
you're looking at a full clean install of windows XP. Get all your
disks and key codes together and go to it<g>.

HTH,

Twayne`
 
Twayne said:
Sounds like something is corrupted. There is a program called AddRemove
Pro (freebie) that will do what add remove does and a lot more that you
could try until you find and repair whatever is wrong. www.superwin.com
If that doesn't work either you have a rather serious system file
problem somewhere.

Also, it is not the final answer: it's just a way to hopefully get
around your current problem. You still need to figure out what's wrong
and fix it! Something is sick that could impact a lot more than just
add or remove.

The last part of your description actually sounds like something didn't
get installed; it's looking for it on a CD drive or network drive which
isn't right. IMO the clone operation failed somehow and needs to be
repeated. Was your previous installation somehow spread over two drive
letters?
Too bad you don't still have that other drive and I'm betting you
don't have backups, so instead of an hour to fix this, you might be
looking at a couple of days for a complete rebuild.
First, Try doing a backup of what you have and then do a Repair
Install. In theory if everything goes without a glitch, you won't lose
any data and it's only about an hour to do. If that doesn't work, then
you're looking at a full clean install of windows XP. Get all your
disks and key codes together and go to it<g>.

HTH,

Twayne`

Thanks but I couldn't get Add Remove Pro free and I've had bad experience before with register cleaners. I tried Windows repair twice more but to no effect so I bit the bullet & started again with a clean HDD and re-installed everything. It took two days but I'm about there now. Luckily I had most things backed up, but why doesn't exporting Outlook Express Address Book cope with sub-folders? Outlook does. What a pain! swirem70>
Click to expand...
 
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