OFF2000: Removing Office Removes User-modified Files

When you uninstall Office, modified templates and sample files such as the Northwind sample database, are removed.

This problem will occur when the following 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 to uninstall Office.

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

NOTE: Office now stores user-modified templates in the Application Data folder.

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

For more information about Creating and Storing Templates, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type Templates in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.