OFF95: Existing Office Icons Still Available After Upgrade (132461)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office for Windows 95
  • Microsoft Excel for Windows 95
  • Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95
  • Microsoft Word for Windows 95
This article was previously published under Q132461

SYMPTOMS

When you install Microsoft Office version 7.0 for Windows 95 over an existing version of Microsoft Office, the icons for your existing version of Microsoft Office are not removed, and the Startup menu still contains the icons for your previous Microsoft Office applications.

When you click the icon for Microsoft Office, or Microsoft Office Setup (on the Microsoft Office menu) Microsoft Windows searches for the missing file, and you receive the following error message
The item '<app file>' that this shortcut refers to has been changed
or moved. The nearest match, based on size, date, and type, is
'<filename>'. Do you want this shortcut to point to this item?
where <app file> is MSOFFICE.EXE (Microsoft Office) or SETUP.EXE (Microsoft Setup) and <filename> is the file that most closely matches the missing file.

CAUSE

When you install Microsoft Office version 7.0 over an existing version of Microsoft Office, most of the Office files for the existing version are removed and replaced by updated copies of the files. However, the icons for the applications are not removed in this case, because the Office version 7.0 Setup program does not detect which icons in the Microsoft Office folder can be removed. For example, if you have icons for Microsoft Access, or Microsoft Project in the Microsoft Office folder, these icons should not be removed by the Office Setup program.

When you install Microsoft Windows version 95 over Windows version 3.x, your existing Windows 3.x program groups are added to the Start menu. The Microsoft Office group is added to the Programs menu on the Start menu, and your Office application icons are available on the Microsoft Office menu. When you install Microsoft Office version 7.0, the new Office applications icons are added to the Programs menu. The new Office application icons are then available on the Programs menu, and the existing Office application icons are available on the Microsoft Office menu (on the Programs menu) even though some of these icons are for programs that are no longer on your computer.

Note that you may not receive an error message when you click an icon for a previous version of an Office application that has been removed, because the new version is installed to the same location. However, you receive an error message when you click the Microsoft Office icon because the MSOFFICE.EXE file is installed to the Microsoft Office directory in previous versions of Office, but the MSOFFICE.EXE file for Office version 7.0 is installed to the MSOFFICE\OFFICE folder (where MSOFFICE is the folder to which you installed Office). Similarly, the SETUP.EXE file is installed to the SETUP directory in the Microsoft Office directory in previous versions of Office, but Microsoft Office version 7.0 installs the SETUP.EXE file to the MSOFFICE\OFFICE\SETUP folder.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, use any of the following methods: Method 1: Before you install Microsoft Office version 7.0, run the Setup program for the previous version of Microsoft Office in maintenance mode, and choose Remove All to remove the icons for the existing Office applications. This will prevent duplication of icons for Microsoft Office on the Start menu.

Method 2: If you have already installed Microsoft Office version 7.0, and have duplicate items on the Start menu, do the following to remove the items from the Start menu.

  1. On the Windows taskbar, click Start.
  2. Click Settings, and then click Taskbar.
  3. Click the Start Menu Programs tab. Under Customize Start Menu, click Remove.
  4. Double-click the Microsoft Office folder. Click the individual icon that you want to delete, and then click Remove. Continue until all the desired icons are removed.
  5. Close the Remove Shortcuts/Folders dialog box and then close the Taskbar Properties dialog box.

REFERENCES

For more information about how to remove program icons from the Start menu in Microsoft Windows, click the Index tab in Windows Help, type the following text

Start menu, rem

and then double-click the selected text to go to the "To Remove A Program From The Start Or Programs Menu" topic.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/16/2005
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb KB132461
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.