Microsoft KB Archive/290162

= OFFXP: User-Modified Files Removed When You Remove Office =

Article ID: 290162

Article Last Modified on 12/4/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office XP Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition
 * Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition for Students and Teachers
 * Microsoft Office XP Developer Edition
 * Microsoft Access 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q290162



SYMPTOMS
When you remove Microsoft Office from your computer, modified templates and sample files such as the Northwind sample database, are removed.



CAUSE
This problem occurs when the following conditions are true:
 * You modify a sample file or template from Office. -and-


 * You set a sample file or template feature to either Not Available or Installed on First Use in Office Maintenance mode, or you click Remove Office in Office Maintenance mode.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, if you modify sample files, always save the files to a folder other than the default installation location. For example, save the file to the My Documents folder. If you modify the templates, always save the templates to the specific template folder inside the Application Data folder.

NOTE: In Microsoft Office 2000 and later versions, Office stores user-modified templates in the Application Data folder.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.



MORE INFORMATION
Office always removes sample files and templates that are located in the Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10 folder, regardless of whether or not they have been modified.

