Alright... wlarp.exe advice sucked - let's do this...
Kevin -
Sorry about the wlarp.exe suggestion not working. I've had nothing but issues with WLE 2011 and was hoping things would be easier for you. So I'm going to just list out things I did that helped me and hopefully something will either work positively for you or at least head you in a direction towards the answers you need.
First - keep in mind that my WLE is not working as it should so consider the source when taking any advice from me. After I uninstalled the old Essentials I could never get the installer to install anything. As of now I have everything of Essentials BETA except for Mail ( will not install for any reason whatsoever) and Writer is not working. ( it just likes to tease me by giving me an error message that "writer had to close for some reason" NO - writer was never even open. ) But Messenger, Mesh, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Sign In Assistant, etc... even Windows Live Essentials Installer Program - they all work perfectly - but I have no idea why mail and writer have crapped out on me. I guess Bill Gates just hates me.
This is how I was able to install those programs...
I cheated.
First you need to enable hidden system files and folders to be seen in Folder Options.
Next find your way to C: Program Files (x86) - Common Files- Windows Live (it will be disguised as an empty folder but it isn't)- and inside you'll see the hidden 'cache' folder. Inside mine was approx 25 seperate WLE installers in seperate folders and they all had a different purpose. Active X, Language Files, Support Files, and of course the individual program installers. So I double clicked on ALL OF THEM and the only thing that wouldn't install was mail.msi because it was asking for the location of some other file that wasn't on my computer. But everything else installed with no problems.
If you don't have all of these installers in that location they could be in your C:\Windows\Installer Folder (again - another hidden folder), or in one of the many 'temp' or 'local/roaming' folders under either the Administrator or your profile. My favorite way to find anything on my laptop is a freeware program called
everything . It's small, easy, free, and I swear to God it could find Jimmy Hoffa if it wanted to. Here is a list of just a few file names to search for :
Writer.msi
Mail.msi
MailLang.msi
Companion.mui.msi
MeshRuntime.msi
WindowsLiveSync.msi
MeshRuntime.msi
But remember that they'll all be in their own seperate folders and they are NOT NAMED, just labeled with a 20 digit number on the folder ( very obnoxious but the
Everything program that I mentioned has no problems finding the named installer files inside). So that might be one way of clearing up your issue.
Have you tried using BOTH the online AND standalone installer? The offline standalone installer worked better for me and I think that's how I ended up with all of the individual installers stored on my C Drive. And there should be a link to those offline beta installers here on this site. It runs about 155mbs I think.
Another way to check on the uninstall process on your computer is using the free
uninstaller from
Iobit. Even though my Revo Uninstaller PRO and Windows Programs uninstaller didn't list any of the essentials programs on their software, when I booted up my Iobit it was still listed on it's software. When it ran the 'leftover scan' (similar to Revo) and it found a buttload of essential crap that was telling the WLE Installer that it was already on my computer. Anyway it's a great product and it's free so you have nothing to lose. And you might be surprised at what your computer still thinks it has. (I've discovered that Revo is far from perfect)
And of course there are the usual steps in fixing Windows that I'm positive you've already done and tried - but - since everyone at Microsoft thought it would be fun to irritate me with these things I thought what the hell... I'm gonna irritate you too.
How long ago was this? Is system restore not an option to get your previous versions back and then you can just do an update and not another install?
Have you run System File Checker to fix any system errors? You never kinow... you could have a msiexec file that is corrupt and it's going to lead to more problems. GO TO START: ACCESSORIES: RIGHT CLICK ON COMMAND PROMPT AND RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR: AT THE PROMPT TYPE sfc /SCANNOW Should take around 15 minutes or so and when finished it will tell you if you had corrupt files and it repaired them or if it couldn't find anything corrupt. Either way type exit hit return and REBOOT IF IT DID A REPAIR. Try installing Essentials now.
What is your Event Viewer telling you in regards to errors?
Are you sure you checked the "I accept the agreement" box on the installer window before clicking 'Next' ? (sorry about asking that one - it always pissed me off when the MSoft people would ask me that. I think they thought I was Sarah Palin or something)
Anyway I don't know if any of this will help out your situation, but I can tell you the most definitive thing I learned with this issue is that there are probably around two thousand individual reasons for why you and I and thousands of people are having the same problem and Microsoft can't simply issue an update or fixit solution for all of them. ( Although seriously... they are the Authors of this software and haven't offered up any serious or reasonable solutions. Pathetic ) Until I started snooping on my computer and started thinking outside of the Microsoft box, I wasn't getting anywhere. But if I think of anything else I'll let you know. And keep me posted on your progress... maybe you'll end up fixing my WLE.
BEST OF LUCK TO YOU -
Tagen
