Program (de)installation unsuccessful: use "Program_Install_and_Uninstall.diagcab" to fix it

Do you have years-old Microsoft Office suite installation? Different versions (trying to) run alongside? Have you tried to update one of them recently?

You may encounter such errors:

(MS Office suite name) encountered an error during setup

(MS Office suite name) configuration did not complete successfully

Well, "I will just wipe it clean and reinstall" - you are tempted to venture here.
Wrong you will be, alas. The Suite leaves many traces that mess up its own installer.

I tried iobit-uninstaller, which seemed to have left the program files and entries intact.
I tried to remove the MS Office Suite installation traces manually in the folders and Registry, as per the MS instructions and tips from other forums.

In the end, having deleted an important installer file from the MSOCache folder, I got stuck.

What did work in the end?

The Microsoft Fix It program , linked from the same MS Knowledge Base article, did the trick, after selecting the offending program in the window:


Use the link above or download the key Program_Install_and_Uninstall.diagcab file here and run it directly.


Download this set of other troubleshooting tools.