You may receive "The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable" error message when you try to remove an Access 2003 runtime application from your computer (838983)

SYMPTOMS

When you try to remove a Microsoft Office Access 2003 runtime application from your computer, you may receive the following error message:

Error message 1

The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable.

Click OK to try again, or enter an alternate path to a folder containing the installation package '<PackageName>' in the box below.

Note The <PackageName> placeholder is the name of the Windows Installer file for the Access 2003 runtime application that was created by using the Microsoft Office Access 2003 Developer Extensions (ADE) Package Wizard.

Subsequently, you may also receive the following error messages:

Error message 2

When you click OK in the dialog box that appears in error message 1, you may receive the following error message:

The path '<PathToPackage>' cannot be found. Verify that you have access to this location and try again, or try to find the installation package '<PackageName>' in a folder from which you can install the product <ProductName>.

Note The <PathToPackage> placeholder refers to the location of the Windows Installer file that was created by the ADE Package Wizard for the Access 2003 runtime application. The <ProductName> placeholder refers to the name of the Access 2003 runtime application.

Error message 3

When you click Cancel in the dialog box that appears in error message 1, you may receive the following error message:

An installation package for the product <ProductName> cannot be found. Try the installation again using a valid copy of the installation package '<PackageName>'.

Error message 4

When you click OK in the dialog box that is mentioned in error message 3, you may receive the following error message:

Fatal error during installation.

These error messages occur if both the following conditions are true:

You create the deployment package for the Access 2003 runtime application by using the ADE Package Wizard that is included with ADE.
You include the Access 2003 runtime components when you create the deployment package.

CAUSE

When you include the Access 2003 runtime components in the deployment package for the Access 2003 runtime application, a Windows Installer custom action is created in the deployment package. When you try to remove the Access 2003 runtime application, the custom action expects that the installation files that were used to install the runtime application are available in the same folder location. Therefore, the problem that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section may occur if one of the following conditions is true:

The installation files are not available in the folder location that the Access 2003 runtime application is installed from.
The Access 2003 runtime application is installed from a network folder location, and network connectivity to this folder location is not available.

RESOLUTION

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To resolve the problem and to remove the Access 2003 runtime application from your computer, use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Specify the source of the installation for the Access 2003 runtime application.

You must provide the path of the installation files for the Access 2003 runtime application. The installation files that are required may be available in the following locations:

A compact disk (CD)
A folder on your computer
A network folder location that your computer is connected to

Method 2: Manually remove the installation of the Access 2003 runtime application.

To manually remove an Access 2003 runtime application, follow these steps.

Note To follow these steps, you must know how the Access 2003 runtime application package was created.

Remove the Windows Installer configuration information for the Access 2003 runtime application.

You can use the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility to remove the Windows Installer configuration information for the Access 2003 runtime application. To do this, follow these steps.

Important If you use the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall other programs that are running on your computer. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve the problems that may result if you use the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility incorrectly. Use the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility at your own risk.

For additional information about the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
290301 Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
1. Download the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, and then install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility on your computer.
  
  Caution Before you install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, read the instructions and the warnings.
2. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click Windows Install Clean Up.
3. In the Windows Installer Clean Up dialog box, click the name of the Access 2003 runtime application that you are trying to remove under Installed Products, and then click Remove.
4. In the Windows Installer Clean Up dialog box that displays a warning message, click OK.
Remove the files and the registry keys on your computer that were installed by the Access 2003 runtime application.

The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility removes only the Windows Installer configuration information from the Access 2003 runtime application. To remove the application from your computer, you must remove the files, the folders, and the registry keys that are installed by the application. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Remove all shortcuts that were created to start the Access 2003 runtime application.
2. Use Microsoft Windows Explorer to locate and to delete the files and the folders that were included when the deployment package for the Access 2003 runtime application was created.
3. Use Registry Editor to locate and to delete the registry keys that were included when the deployment package for the Access 2003 runtime application was created.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, you must modify the custom action in the Windows Installer file that is cached on your computer when you install the Access 2003 runtime application. Then, you can remove the Access 2003 runtime application from your computer. You can use a Microsoft Visual Basic .NET script to modify the custom action so that the custom action does not request the installation files that are used to install the Access 2003 runtime application. To do this, follow these steps.

Caution You follow these steps to identify and to modify the cached Windows Installer file that is created by the Access 2003 runtime application installation. Although the script that is mentioned in these steps may not damage a Windows Installer file that is cached for another application, use this method at your own risk.

In the folder that contains the cached Windows Installer databases, identify the Windows Installer file that corresponds to your Access 2003 runtime application.

By default, the folder is <Drive>:\Windows\Installer.

Note The folder location may differ based on the operating system that your computer is running. For example, on a computer that is running the Microsoft Windows Server 2000 operating system, the default path of the folder is <Drive>:\WINNT\Installer.
1. Right-click a Windows Installer file that has an .msi extension, and then click Properties.
2. On the Summary tab, locate the details, such as the Title, to make sure that the information is related to the Access 2003 runtime application that you want to remove.
  
  Alternatively, you can double-click the Windows Installer file in the folder where the Windows Installer databases are cached to open the initial installation screen of the application.

Create a Visual Basic script (.vbs) file that contains code that is similar to the following sample code, and then run the Visual Basic script file.

Note Replace the <Drive> placeholder with the appropriate drive name. Replace the <InstallerPackageName> placeholder with the Windows Installer file name that you identified in step 1 of this section.

Dim msi, msiDB, sSQL

' The path format may look similar to the following path format. You must make required changes for the path and the file name
' based on your environment.
msiDBPath = "<Drive>:\Windows\Installer\<InstallerPackageName>.msi"

' Open the installer database that you want to modify.
Set msi = CreateObject("WindowsInstaller.Installer")

Set msiDB = msi.OpenDatabase(msiDBPath, 2) 'msiOpenDatabaseModeDirect

'Update the custom action.
sSQL = "UPDATE CustomAction SET Type=39, Source='{901C0409-6000-11D3-8CFE-0150048383C9}' WHERE Action='UnnstallAccessRT'"

msiDB.OpenView(sSQL).Execute
msiDB.Commit

Set msiDB = Nothing
Set msi = Nothing

The Visual Basic script modifies the custom action so that the custom action does not request the installation files when you remove the Access 2003 runtime application.

The previous script is specific for Packages that are created by using the English Access Runtime components. To update packages that are created by using other language versions of the Access Runtime components, you have to modify statements that are used to update the custom action. You can do this by changing the GUID value for the Source field so that the GUID value is the correct ProductCode property for the language of the Access Runtime components in the package. The ProductCode property can be obtained by using an MSI editor, such as ORCA. You use an MSI editor to examine the AccessRT.msi file that is specific for the language that you are using. You also use the MSI editor to look up the ProductCode property in the Property Table.