Article ID: 816273 - Last Review: February 1, 2007 - Revision: 5.3

"Setup is unable to remove earlier version" error message when you try to install Works or Works Suite

When you try to install Microsoft Works or Microsoft Works Suite, you may receive the following error message:

Setup is unable to remove earlier version.

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CAUSE

This issue may occur if an earlier version of Microsoft Works was not completely removed by the installation program.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

Restart Microsoft Windows in clean boot mode. There is a different clean-boot procedure for each version of Windows. From the following table, select the article that corresponds to your version of Windows, and then follow the instructions about how to clean-boot a computer.

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Operating system	Article
Microsoft Windows 98	281965 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281965/ ) How to troubleshoot using the Msconfig utility with Windows 98
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition	267288 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/267288/ ) How to perform a clean boot in Windows Millennium Edition
Microsoft Windows XP	310353 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353/ ) How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP
Microsoft Windows 2000	281770 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281770/ ) How to perform clean-boot troubleshooting for Windows 2000

Use the Add or Remove Programs utility to remove all versions of Works from the computer.
1. Windows XP:
  1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
  Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
2. Select any version of Works from the list of installed programs, and then click to remove.
3. Follow the instructions to remove the version of Works that you selected in step 2b.
4. Repeat steps a through c to remove the remaining versions of Works.

If the procedures in step 2 trigger an error message, use the appropriate Microsoft Works Cleanup utility to remove each version of Works. Use the following table to determine which utility to use.

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Version	Operating system	Utility
Works 2000	Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Me)	Wks2kll.exe
	Windows 2000 and Windows XP	Wksw2k.exe
Works 6.0	Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Me)	Wks6.exe
	Windows 2000 and Windows XP	Wks6w2k.exe
Works 7.0	Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Me)	Wks7rm.exe
	Windows 2000 and Windows XP	Wks7rmxp.exe
Works 8.0	Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Me)	Wksrm9x.exe
Works 8.0	Windows 2000 and Windows XP	Wks8xp.exe

The files are located on the Works CD-ROM (or on CD1 for Works Suite 2003) in the following folder:

CD:\MSWORKS\PSS

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

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Download the Works 2000 for Windows 2000 Cleanup Utility package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/works2000/utility/1/nt5/en-us/wksw2k.exe) For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/119591/ ) How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file. For example, to download the Works 6.0 Cleanup Utility for Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition, search for WKS6.exe.

When the Works Cleanup utility finishes and you are prompted to restart Windows, click Later.
Install and run the appropriate Windows Installer Cleanup tool.

For more information about how to download, install, and use the Windows Installer CleanUp utility, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
290301 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301/ ) Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
Restart the computer.
Install the latest version of Works on the computer.