A Previous Installation of a Program is Automatically Removed When You Use Group Policy-based Software Installation

When you use Group Policy-based Software Installation to install a program, you may experience any one of the following symptoms:

• A previous or existing installation of the program may be automatically removed at Windows startup or when you log on, before the assigned or published version of the program is installed.
• The Remove previous installs of this product from computers, if the product was not installed by Group Policy-based Software Installation or the Remove existing installs of this product for users, if the product was not installed by Group Policy-based Software Installation check box is missing from the Advanced Deployment Options dialog box in the Software Installation snap-in, but Help still refers to these options. Therefore, an administrator cannot set this policy for computers that are running a version Windows 2000 before Service Pack 4 (SP4) or for computers that are running a version of Windows XP before Service Pack 1 (SP1) by using any one of the products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
• If an administrator sets the Remove previous installs of this product from computers, if the product was not installed by Group Policy-based Software Installation policy or the Remove existing installs of this product for users, if the product was not installed by Group Policy-based Software Installation policy by using a version of Windows 2000 before SP4 or a version of Windows XP before SP1, the policy is ignored by client computers that are running the products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

In the versions of Windows that are listed in the "Applies To" section of this article, the Client Side Extensions (CSE) for Software Installation will automatically remove any previous or existing installations of a program at startup or when you log on (as part of Group Policy-based Software Installation's standard attempt to apply administrator mandated changes to the user or to the computer) before Group Policy installs the assigned or published program if the following conditions are true:

• The previous or existing installation has the same Windows Installer product code as a Windows Installer package that is deployed through Group Policy-based Software Installation to the computer or to a user on that computer.
• The previous or existing installation was not installed by Group Policy-based Software Installation.

Note In the versions of Windows that are listed at the beginning of this article, CSE for Software Installation will not remove the program in the following scenarios:

• The program is installed for all users on the computer.
• The program has been granted elevated administrative credentials.
• The program is installed for an administrator.

As a result, the Remove previous installs of this product from computers, if the product was not installed by Group Policy-based Software Installation option or the Remove existing installs of this product for users, if the product was not installed by Group Policy-based Software Installation is ignored and the check box for this option is removed from the Advanced Deployment Options dialog box in the Software Installation snap-in.

In versions of Windows 2000 before SP4 and in versions of Windows XP before SP1, programs are not automatically removed unless the administrator turns on the Remove previous installs of this product from computers, if the product was not installed by Group Policy-based Software Installation option or the Remove existing installs of this product for users, if the product was not installed by Group Policy-based Software Installation option on the Advanced Deployment Options dialog box in the Software Installation snap-in.

This behavior is by design.