Toolbar won't load and uninstall didn'tfully delete everything.

Jerold · 05-19-2006, 08:55 PM

I've run into an issue that I believe was related to a VirtualDNS.dll virus, but it may not be since the HJT log that I posted in another section came out clean. When I got hit with the virus, the most obvious thing that got affected was that my MS officeXP Pro Shortcut toolbar disappeared. It is set to load at bootup and I have been unable to after multiple reboots and every manual execute command that I can think of or find online. When I boot, the little window appears indicating that it is loading the shortcut toolbar, but then nothing appears.
I've run and "cleaned" my system of the VirtualDNS virus, but since I couldn't reinstate the toolbar, I decided to repair, then uninstall office and reinstall. No luck! I came to assume that when an uninstall is initiated, there are registry settings that remain. I reinstalled it into the same folder name as before and when I rebooted, the toolbar never came up. then when I opened outlook, I got the license accept window, but all my contacts, inbox and email settings were intact.

In the end I took a gamble uninstalled again then I exported, then deleted the microsoft/office folders in the local machine and user key in the registry. Lastly, I reinstalled Office into another folder name altogether and after I rebooted, I clicked on the toolbar in the start menu and it came up. So far it is running as it should.

I've got 2 questions...

1. Does anyone know why the toolbar would fail to appear properly like that?

2. Is there any way to uninstall Office TOTALLY so if I reinstall into the same folder name, my email, inbox, calender and such do not appear as if nothing ever happened. I understand that it saved me some time to retype all the settings and import all the contacts, but if there was a problem within that data, it would just continue for the new install.

Thanks.
Jerold

Anne Troy · 05-19-2006, 10:36 PM

1. Sounds to me like your registry was corrupt. Many, many Office settings are stored in the registry.

2. I don't know what "do not appear as if nothing ever happened" means. You want to completely wipe office? Sure. See:
http://www.officearticles.com/misc/r...om_your_pc.htm

Of course, if you want it to act like a brand-spanking-new install without saving your files (like perhaps you're selling your PC to someone else), you'd delete all those files mentioned, instead of backing them up (or after you've backed them up and moved them to your new PC).

05-19-2006, 08:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jerold Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 88 OS: WinXP Pro	Toolbar won't load and uninstall didn'tfully delete everything. I've run into an issue that I believe was related to a VirtualDNS.dll virus, but it may not be since the HJT log that I posted in another section came out clean. When I got hit with the virus, the most obvious thing that got affected was that my MS officeXP Pro Shortcut toolbar disappeared. It is set to load at bootup and I have been unable to after multiple reboots and every manual execute command that I can think of or find online. When I boot, the little window appears indicating that it is loading the shortcut toolbar, but then nothing appears. I've run and "cleaned" my system of the VirtualDNS virus, but since I couldn't reinstate the toolbar, I decided to repair, then uninstall office and reinstall. No luck! I came to assume that when an uninstall is initiated, there are registry settings that remain. I reinstalled it into the same folder name as before and when I rebooted, the toolbar never came up. then when I opened outlook, I got the license accept window, but all my contacts, inbox and email settings were intact. In the end I took a gamble uninstalled again then I exported, then deleted the microsoft/office folders in the local machine and user key in the registry. Lastly, I reinstalled Office into another folder name altogether and after I rebooted, I clicked on the toolbar in the start menu and it came up. So far it is running as it should. I've got 2 questions... 1. Does anyone know why the toolbar would fail to appear properly like that? 2. Is there any way to uninstall Office TOTALLY so if I reinstall into the same folder name, my email, inbox, calender and such do not appear as if nothing ever happened. I understand that it saved me some time to retype all the settings and import all the contacts, but if there was a problem within that data, it would just continue for the new install. Thanks. Jerold

05-19-2006, 10:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
Anne Troy Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Columbia, MD Posts: 81 OS: XP	1. Sounds to me like your registry was corrupt. Many, many Office settings are stored in the registry. 2. I don't know what "do not appear as if nothing ever happened" means. You want to completely wipe office? Sure. See: http://www.officearticles.com/misc/r...om_your_pc.htm Of course, if you want it to act like a brand-spanking-new install without saving your files (like perhaps you're selling your PC to someone else), you'd delete all those files mentioned, instead of backing them up (or after you've backed them up and moved them to your new PC).