Removing Windows Live Essentials 2011

[decann]

I've recently found two Windows "important" updates, "Windows Live Essentials 2011 (KB2434419)" and "Office Live Add-in 1.5" and had repeated diffculty getting them to install with Windows Update. After repeated tries, I kept getting told "There was a problem. Please wait until we put things back where we found them." There was more, but it went by so fast I was unable to write it down. That was yesterday, but several tries today got the same results until I tried them one at a time. Installing ONLY Office Live Add-in 1.5 by itself, I had no difficulty getting it to install on the first try, but Live Essentials 2011 still will not install, still does not appear in Control Panel as installed (Live Add-in does), and still appears in Windows Update (now alone) as needing to be updated.

Now then, something to add confusion is that when I clicked on "View installed updates" in the Windows Update dialogue, I found Live Essentials listed no less than THREE TIMES as successfully installed (plus once failed early on), along with Office Live Add-in, but what does this mean if it is NOT showing in Control Panel as installed? How do I confirm this one way or another, and also how do I remove Live Essentials from the Windows Update queue so that future updates do not get backed up?

Please help me resolve this ASAP and clear out the queue. I had a similar problem some time ago with updates in a laptop, and I had to hire a technician to clean it out for me but I have no idea how he did it or what (if anything) I can to to make it happen myself. I welcome any suggestions you might have to offer, and thank you in advance for your help.



EDIT ADDED LATER -- Okay, I did finally find the means of "hiding" the Live Essentials 2011" update, but I'd still like to resolve this by some means other than effectively "sweeping it under the rug," so to speak:

1. Is there a way of confirming whether or not the update did or did not install, since I seem to have conflicting indications of same?
2. If the answer is no, is there a way of now installing it?
3. If not, what are the consequences of not installing it at all, and can I permanently delete it from the queue?

Thank you again for any help or advice.

[Medico]

Instead of trying to confirm it installed, I think I would try to simply uninstall WLE 2011 using a good uninstaller or Windows own uninstaller, then go to the MS site and download the portions of the suite you actually intend to use. For example I installed Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Movie Maker, and chose to not install the remainder of the suite. It appears in your case that some conflict is causing problems with the update, so an uninstall, reinstall may be the answer.

[CLiNT]

I don't know how you managed to get Windows Live Essentials 2011 as a priority or important update from Windows Update. It should be an optional one
downloaded and installed from the Windows Live Essentials 2011 site directly.
This is the Windows Live Essentials 2011 full offline install. (this is a direct link to the exe)

1. Is there a way of confirming whether or not the update did or did not install, since I seem to have conflicting indications of same?
2. If the answer is no, is there a way of now installing it?
3. If not, what are the consequences of not installing it at all, and can I permanently delete it from the queue?

1. If you use the Windows Live Mail client in the previous version you will notice the new ribbon toolbar in the Live 2011 version. If it is not present you do not
have that specific component of Windows Live Essentials 2011 installed. The same goes for Windows Live Photogallery, they both have the new ribbon toolbar at the top. Can't miss it. Windows Live Essentials 2011, if installed, will be listed in the "programs & features" section of your control panel. If it is not listed, you do not have it installed.
2. Yes, use one of my links to get Windows Live Essentials 2011 and install the specific components you want to use.
3. Windows Live Essentials 2011 is an optional upgrade to the previous Windows Live, for now, although you may have difficuly finding the older version on an MS website
in the future. I have installed 2 components from Windows Live Essentials 2011; Windows Live Mail & Windows Live Photogalley, ontop of the older version without any issue.


You should be able to remove/uninstall all entries from your Windows update screen relating to Windows Live Essentials 2011 and install them manually via the provided download links. Once you have done that, any nagging on behalf of Windows Update should cease. If they don't, then you have other issues in need of attention.

Office Live Add-in: No comment. I don't use it.

[decann]

Instead of trying to confirm it installed, I think I would try to simply uninstall WLE 2011 using a good uninstaller or Windows own uninstaller, then go to the MS site and download the portions of the suite you actually intend to use. For example I installed Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Movie Maker, and chose to not install the remainder of the suite. It appears in your case that some conflict is causing problems with the update, so an uninstall, reinstall may be the answer.

Ted, that is what I am asking. HOW DO I confirm Windows Live Essentials 2011 either as installed or not when it is not listed in Control Panel (the previous version is), nor is it listed in my installed utility that also removes software? THAT is why I want to confirm that it is or is not installed when view installed updates in Windows Updater says it has been installed four times. I cannot uninstall something that I cannot find, and now I've relegated the still remaining "important update" (WLE) to "hidden"' status in Windows Updater pending an answer to the multiple installations that have supposedly been done.

[decann]

I don't know how you managed to get Windows Live Essentials 2011 as a priority or important update from Windows Update. It should be an optional one
downloaded and installed from the Windows Live Essentials 2011 site directly.
This is the Windows Live Essentials 2011 full offline install. (this is a direct link to the exe)



1. If you use the Windows Live Mail client in the previous version you will notice the new ribbon toolbar in the Live 2011 version. If it is not present you do not
have that specific component of Windows Live Essentials 2011 installed. The same goes for Windows Live Photogallery, they both have the new ribbon toolbar at the top. Can't miss it. Windows Live Essentials 2011, if installed, will be listed in the "programs & features" section of your control panel. If it is not listed, you do not have it installed.
2. Yes, use one of my links to get Windows Live Essentials 2011 and install the specific components you want to use.
3. Windows Live Essentials 2011 is an optional upgrade to the previous Windows Live, for now, although you may have difficuly finding the older version on an MS website
in the future. I have installed 2 components from Windows Live Essentials 2011; Windows Live Mail & Windows Live Photogalley, ontop of the older version without any issue.


You should be able to remove/uninstall all entries from your Windows update screen relating to Windows Live Essentials 2011 and install them manually via the provided download links. Once you have done that, any nagging on behalf of Windows Update should cease. If they don't, then you have other issues in need of attention.

Office Live Add-in: No comment. I don't use it.

Clint,
I'm to the point with this that I don't care if WLE 2011 is EVER updated now, I just want to resolve the question of where all of the updates showing in Windows Update as completed went, and how to permanenty delete or install the still remaining (but now "hidden") update in Windows Update. I continue to use the previous basic version of WLE that came with Win7, but want to resolve the status issue with the update still pending. Office Live Add-in is a non-issue now, I finally got that to install as already noted, so that is no longer a question. I don't use it either, I only wanted to finalize the update one way or another. . . which it now is, except for WLE 2011.

[Medico]

As I stated if you uninstall whatever version is shown in your uninstaller, then download and install the portions of the suite directly from the site Clint mentions, this should resolve your WLM problem. There is obviously something in your system conflicting with the WLM update so getting rid of what you have and downloading what you want should solve the problem. It's not an involved issue and not particularly time consuming. I have often said that at times this approach takes less time than attempting to fix the original problem.

[decann]

As I stated if you uninstall whatever version is shown in your uninstaller, then download and install the portions of the suite directly from the site Clint mentions, this should resolve your WLM problem. There is obviously something in your system conflicting with the WLM update so getting rid of what you have and downloading what you want should solve the problem. It's not an involved issue and not particularly time consuming. I have often said that at times this approach takes less time than attempting to fix the original problem.

Ted,

I'll give it a try, and uninstall WLE (the original version) then try to install WLE 2011 from a new download. If it works though, what about the WLE 1.5 update currently "hidden" in the Windows Update queue? Should I not use that one, and if not how do I remove it from the queue after installing one one from download? PLEASE forgive me for being so hesitant with this, but I only want to avoid getting into an avoidable situation that creates a problem I cannot get myself out of. :-( Not long ago, I had a very similar problem with Windows Update in a different machine when updates stopped installing, and with a coupe dozen of them backed up on me I had to hire someone to "clean them out" for me and get Windows Update working normally again and to whatever degree is possible I want to avoid a repeat of that.

Thank you for your help and advice.

[RetiredGeek]

PLEASE forgive me for being so hesitant with this, but I only want to avoid getting into an avoidable situation that creates a problem I cannot get myself out of. :-(

The way to keep yourself out of trouble is to use an image backup program like Acronis True Image 2011 Home.
If you're leery about an install just image your hard drive first then if things go awry just restore the image and all is well.

[Medico]

Ted,

I'll give it a try, and uninstall WLE (the original version) then try to install WLE 2011 from a new download. If it works though, what about the WLE 1.5 update currently "hidden" in the Windows Update queue? Should I not use that one, and if not how do I remove it from the queue after installing one one from download? PLEASE forgive me for being so hesitant with this, but I only want to avoid getting into an avoidable situation that creates a problem I cannot get myself out of. :-( Not long ago, I had a very similar problem with Windows Update in a different machine when updates stopped installing, and with a coupe dozen of them backed up on me I had to hire someone to "clean them out" for me and get Windows Update working normally again and to whatever degree is possible I want to avoid a repeat of that.

Thank you for your help and advice.

I do not have and have not seen a WLE 1.5 update. If it's hidden, leave it there. This may have been an older update to an older version of WLE. Since you will be downloading the newest version WLE 2011 (Only those components of the suite you will use, you don't have to take everything if you don't wish it) you will not need this older update you have already hidden.

As RG mentions the best isurance is an up to date Image. I would make an Image before the update in case something goes wrong, then after the update to use for future problems. I also re-Image when ever I make a change (add an app, etc.)

[decann]

Interesting. It looks as if I was not alone in my confusion here:

http://www.thetechherald.com/article...Windows-Update

Seems after reading the above online article that mighty Microsoft messed up (gasp, shock!) and this was not supposed to have been released right now, or at least not the way it was as an "important" update by Windows Update. Methinks now I'll just continue on without it, or more correctly with the original and still working one that came with Win7, and let the update remain as "hidden" where I put it yesterday on Windows Update's "back burner." That is, unless one of you guys thinks I should do otherwise.

[CLiNT]

I wouldn't install it by means of Windows update, too many possibilities for a bad install, as you yourself can attest to.
But otherwise, downloading and installing by means of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 website works just fine.
There is no need to rush out and get it.

[decann]

I wouldn't install it by means of Windows update, too many possibilities for a bad install, as you yourself can attest to.
But otherwise, downloading and installing by means of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 website works just fine.
There is no need to rush out and get it.

Clint,

I just downloaded the little WLE 2011 "setup" application, then got the same results as before. It went through most of the process in installing it then stopped, explaining that since it could not update ALL of the selected programs (Windows Messenger) then it was not updating any of them, and once again it returned me to the old initial version of WLE. . . which I had uninstalled this time before doing anything else. This got me thinking about something. . . . .

I do use Messenger for IM (though very little), but the one I use is NOT the one directly from Microsoft. I use Trillian, which offers a single interface for several IM applications, and I have TRILLIAN'S plug ins for Messenger (among others) and I am wondering if this is the problem. Can it simply be confused in what it is trying to update? Also, be aware that at one time I did have Microsoft Messenger installed, and at the time I also had Vista o/s before upgrading to Win7, so I am wondering if this is a case somehow of the WLE update simply being confused by reading some remnant of an old application somewhere. If such is the case, I wonder if installing the stand-alone Messenger software first would give WLE 2011 something to find, and thus enable it to fully install. This is all very confusing to me, but I just do not know what else to think.

And lastly, since I do have everything seemingly working right EXCEPT WINDOWS UPDATE, what is the need for updating to WLE 2011 at all, and what is to be gained by it and all this frustration? My primary concern at this point is not so much gaining any new features (of WLE 2011) so much as difficulty with Windows Update and whether or not future updates will install properly. . . .including whatever follows WLE 2011. Can you or anyone else offer any advice on that subject in the context of receiving future updates via WU, and/or whether or not there really is a valid need for the WLE update still "stuck" (hidden) in Windows Update?

[veegertx]

I have Trillian also and most the files it uses are in a Trillian\plugins. I see you said

Vista o/s before upgrading to Win7

That could very well be the problem. A lot of people have had problems after upgrades, not all but some. Fact of life for MS OS so I learned long time back do clean install even with upgrade media. It's certainly not convenient but best method

You had an old OS with all it's upgrades and uninstall reinstall software and garbage then placed a new OS over it.

There are methods to capture serials and keys and get your current software and do clean install. You will have a happier system in the long run.

[CLiNT]

And lastly, since I do have everything seemingly working right EXCEPT WINDOWS UPDATE, what is the need for updating to WLE 2011 at all, and what is to be gained by it and all this frustration? My primary concern at this point is not so much gaining any new features (of WLE 2011) so much as difficulty with Windows Update and whether or not future updates will install properly. . . .including whatever follows WLE 2011. Can you or anyone else offer any advice on that subject in the context of receiving future updates via WU, and/or whether or not there really is a valid need for the WLE update still "stuck" (hidden) in Windows Update?

WLE 2011 will eventually replace all it's previous versions. So if your comfortable at present with your current version, there is no need to rush to install the new WLE 2010.
It is not going anywhere. But if you do decide to install it, downloading and installing it from the WLE website. The install will remove those that are hidden in your Windows Update. (or should)
When I upgraded to the WLE 2010 version of WLM & Photogallery, they installed over their previous versions without any issues.

Windows Update:
Configure Windows Update to "notify only". This way you choose when to install.
This should give one enough time (if you frequent the forums) to determine if an update has specific issues or not. (Susan Bradley's Patch Watch)
If your unsure, it won't hurt to wait.
(MS should not have presented WLE 2010 as an important update as the article aludes: http://www.thetechherald.com/article...Windows-Update)
Another good reason to keep WU on a leash, and by no means a new one.

[decann]

I am to the point with this that I honestly do not know what to do next. No matter what I do, every time I try to (re)install Windows Live Essentials 2011, it gets almost all the way through the process and then gives me the very same "There has been a problem" error, saying that if one item (always referencing simply "Messenger") cannot be installed then it will install none of them, and further states "one moment while we return things to the way we found them."



Subsequent to my previous comments here above, I discovered there was a very major difference between the Windows Live applications showing in Control Panel's "Programs and Features," in my "Start" menu listing "All Programs," and an excellent utility named "jv16 Power Tools" I happen to have installed that also lists (and removes) installed programs. Upon discovering that (among other things) Windows Messenger was not listed in Control Panel but was listed in the other two, and since "Messenger" is always the application referenced when the installation refuses to finish, I decided to uninstall Windows Messenger using jv16 (since it was not listed in Control Panel as installed) and then once again try to reinstall the software. I had intentions of simply not selecting Windows Messenger because that seems to be the referenced "problem" each time the software fails to complete installation, but also because I do not use it anyway since the Windows Messenger I do use is an add-in to Trillian and called something different as I've already referenced in another post above. Unfortunately, the software does not allow me to not select Messenger and instead says simply that it "will be updated" with no means of refusing it, but how does it "update" a software that is not installed. . . .and can this be the issue causing all of this frustration?



When that installation also failed, I then removed everything I could find with the Windows Live name on it before I tried again, and note that I had to do it not only in Control Panel but in jv16 as well, since as always some individual applications were not listed in the former again. Upon doing this, I also cleaned out the caches using jv16 in addition to the registry using jv16 registry cleaner (using their "safe" setting for same). I then rebooted, disable my AV software (McAfee) for good measure, and then ran a complete install of WLE 2011 with the same results as always, and it once again said there was a problem and that it would put things back, and yet please note following WLE applications listed and the places they are listed:



Control Panel's "Programs and Features"

Nothing for WLE



jv16 Power Tools

Windows Live Writer only



START menu under "All Programs"

Windows Live Mail

Windows Live Messenger

Windows Live Movie Maker

Windows Live Photo Gallery

Windows Live Writer



I am to the point now where, if you read carefully the three lists immediately above, I now cannot even uninstall anything but WLW since that is all that's showing in one (not both) of my "uninstallers," so I am now wondering if there might be some kind of downloadable (or on CD) tool from Microsoft that will certifiably remove Windows Live, Windows Live Essentials, Windows Live Essentials 2011 or anything else that it or any individual component has been known as over the years so I can clean this mess up? In this context, be aware that originally this desktop originally ran on 64-bit Vista until it was upgraded to 64-bit Windows 7 and I am wondering if that could have "broken" something somewhere. Be aware though that the upgrade went very routinely so far as I could determine at the time, and this is the first unexplainable issue I've noticed in the year or so since upgrading three different machines to Win7.



I'm afraid now that the more I try to fix the problem the worse it is getting. I'm not altogether sure that I want any of the components installed or not, since I don't believe (but am not sure) I directly use any of them anyway. However, now I'm left with a "housecleaning mess" to at least clean up that needs to be done before I even think about reinstalling WLE any more, not to mention future updates that Windows Update is going to want to install, and on that note, after my most recent tries to install, Windows Update now shows "Office Live add-in 1.5" and "Windows Live Essentials" (huh?) updates pending, though I do not immediately see WLE 2011 "hidden" any more but have not really looked very far for it either. :-( Do I install the two updates now waiting, and what about looking for WLE 2011 that at least was hidden?



I'll not tamper with this anymore, at least not until hearing from someone here first. I am far from an expert at this kind of stuff, but would sure love to resolve this issue of what is or is not installed, and have Control Panel (and jv16?) at least match the reality of what I do have installed. Given the fact all installations appear to nearly complete and get to the point where it is beginning to populate "Programs and Features" with the newly installed software before "choking" on the task, my personal impression (wrong though it may be) is that may be where the conflict or issue is somehow, but I just do not know nor do I know how to fix it, but that is one reason I thought totally removing the software might also remove the conflict but apparently not. :-(