OFF97: Setup May Remove Older Components

When you run the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program, you may receive the following alert message:

Removing Earlier Versions of Office

When you install Microsoft Office 97, the Setup program checks to see whether any components from Office 4.2, 4.3, or Office 95 (Standard and Professional editions) are installed on your computer. If Setup detects these components, it displays the dialog box. If you click Yes, Setup removes components that were installed with earlier versions of Office. This helps prevent unnecessary files from using up disk space on your computer.

Note that if you remove the older components, other programs that use the components may not work correctly. For example, assume that you want to install Microsoft Office 97, and that you previously developed custom programs that work in Microsoft Access 7.0. To use the custom program, Microsoft Access 7.0 must be available after you install Microsoft Office 97. Therefore, you perform a Custom installation of Microsoft Office 97, and install only Microsoft Excel 97, Microsoft Word 97, and Microsoft PowerPoint 97. However, if you click Yes in the dialog box, Setup removes Microsoft Access 7.0 and all of its components.

When to Remove Older Components

To help you decide when to remove older components, use the information in the following cases.

Case 1: You haven't installed Office 97 and want to use the earlier versions of Office programs.

Use either of the following methods to set up Office 97.

• Run the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program. When you are prompted to remove the earlier components, click No.
  
  When Setup is completed, the older Office programs will be available.
• Run the Microsoft Office Upgrade Wizard, which is located in the ValuPack\OffClean folder on the Microsoft Office 97 compact disc, and choose which earlier components to remove or keep. To start the wizard, double-click the Offcln97.exe file and follow the instructions.
  
  When the Microsoft Office Upgrade Wizard is finished removing files, run the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program and click No when you are prompted to remove the older components.

Case 2: You haven't installed Office 97 and want to remove the earlier version of Office programs.

Run the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program. When you are prompted to remove the earlier components, click Yes.

Case 3: You installed Office 97, clicked Yes in the dialog box, and cannot use earlier versions of Office programs.

If you removed the earlier versions, you must reinstall the programs. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Run the Setup program for each of the older programs and reinstall them.
2. Verify that the older programs work correctly.
3. Run the Microsoft Office Upgrade Wizard and remove any unnecessary old components. (This step is optional.)
4. Run the Setup program for Microsoft Office 97 again and click No when you are prompted to remove older components.

After you complete these steps, older programs and Microsoft Office 97 programs will be available.

Case 4: You installed Office 97, clicked No in the dialog box, and want to remove the earlier versions.

Use the Microsoft Office Upgrade Wizard to remove older components.