How to Clean Up Windows Installs

Have you ever tried to install a program into Windows only to have the installer fail for some reason? Or have you ever tried to uninstall a program from Windows, but for some reason it's still in Add or Remove Programs? And then when you try to repeat the install/uninstall it just won't work? Well, what you've been left with is a partial installed/uninstalled program which more than likely now has corrupted installation files. Fortunately, Microsoft has a handy little tool called the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility that helps you clear out the bad installation files so you can try again. Here is how to use it.

Things You'll Need

• A PC running Windows
• Windows Installer CleanUp Utility

Instructions

1. 

   Download the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility from Windows (see link in Resources below). Save the file to your hard drive.

2. 

   Double-click the downloaded file called "msicuu2.exe" and go through the install process of the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility. (Hopefully it won't fail on you too.)

3. Run the program by going to Start > Programs > Windows Install Cleanup. This will open up a window showing you all of the programs that have been installed on your computer using Windows Installer.

4. 

   Scroll through the list and find the program that has been failing on you. (If you can't find your program in the list, then the programmer who designed it probably did not use Windows Installer as the installer for the program.) Select the program (you can select multiple programs by using shift or ctrl clicking) and hit Remove. Click OK on the message after that.

5. Now you are ready to try installing the program again. Note that the utility does not delete any of the actual program files off your computer, so if uninstalling was your goal, you may want to double-check if the files are still there. Also, when reinstalling, make sure that you install into the exact same directory as your previous install that failed. That way it will overwrite the old files.

Resources

• Windows CleanUp Utility