Setup Is Unable to Register Tasks or Cannot Find the Work Services File

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View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q270592

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986/EN-US/ ) Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

-or-

322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/EN-US/ ) HOW TO: Back Up, Edit, and Restore the Registry in Windows XP

SYMPTOMS

When you try to remove any of the programs listed at the beginning of this article, you may receive either of the following error messages:

Setup is unable to register tasks.

-or-

Cannot find the Work Services file.

You may also receive a message stating that the Workssvc.dll file is missing.

If you reinstall the affected program, the issue is not resolved.

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CAUSE

This behavior can occur if any of the following conditions are true:

The .msi files for the program are missing, damaged, or in the wrong location.
The .dll files for the program are missing, damaged, or in the wrong location.
The folders for the program are missing or in the wrong location.
The entries for the program in the Windows registry are damaged.

Note Any of these conditions can occur if you tried to remove Works or a Works Suite program by deleting the folder in which the program is installed instead of by using the Add/Remove Programs tool in Microsoft Windows Control Panel.

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RESOLUTION

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Use the steps in the following article to clean boot and manually remove all portions of Works:

816273 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816273/ ) "Setup Is Unable to Remove Earlier Version" Error Message When You Try to Install Works 7.0 or Works Suite 2003

If you have Picture It! 2001 (any version) also download and run the Picture It! Publishing 2001 Utility as appropriate to your version of Windows to remove that program's folders and registry keys.

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Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows 98

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

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Download the Picture It! Publishing 2001 Utility to Remove Program Folders and Registry Keys (95/98/ME) package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/pictureitsilver2001/utility/1/winme/en-us/pip2k1kl.exe)

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Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

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Download the Picture It! Publishing 2001 Utility to Remove Program Folders and Registry Keys package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/pictureitsilver2001/utility/1/nt5/en-us/pipwin2k.exe)

After you have all versions of Works and any 2001 version of Picture It! removed, insert the Works CD and follow instructions on screen to install Works. After Works is installed, if you removed any 2001 version of Picture It!, you should reinstall it now (if you want to).

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APPLIES TO

Microsoft Works 7.0
Microsoft Works Suite 2003
Microsoft Works Suite 2002
Microsoft Works Suite 2001
Microsoft Works 6.0
Microsoft Works Suite 2000
Microsoft Works 2000 Standard Edition
Microsoft Picture It! Publishing 2002 Platinum Edition
Microsoft Picture It! Publishing 2002 Gold

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Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

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