How to uninstall Groove

In certain scenarios, you may have to uninstall Groove.

In Groove Virtual Office 3.x, you decide whether you want to delete the Groove data when you uninstall Groove. In all other versions of Groove, all account data and shared space data for a later Groove installation are left when you uninstall Groove.

Even if you are not going to remove data when you uninstall Groove, we recommend that you safeguard your Groove data. To do this, back up your account and workspaces before you uninstall Groove. For more information about how to back up an account, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

907230 How to back up accounts and workspaces in Groove

After you back up any data that you may need later, use one of the following procedures to uninstall Groove from the computer.

How to uninstall Groove 2007 but leave all associated data

1. On the File menu, click Exit, and then click Yes when you are prompted to confirm. If Groove stopped because of an error, open Task Manager to confirm that Groove is not running.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs. In the list of installed programs, select the 2007 Microsoft Office suite that you are running, and then click Change.
3. Click Add or Remove Features, and then click Continue.
4. Click Microsoft Office Groove, click Not Available, and then click Continue.
5. When the Setup program is finished uninstalling Groove 2007, click Close.

How to uninstall Groove 2007 and remove all associated data

1. In the Groove Launchbar, click Preferences on the Options menu, and then click the Identities tab.
2. For each identity, click No Listing for the Public Groove Directory and for the local network directory.
3. If you intend to use this account on another computer, back up the account. For more information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   
   
   907230 How to back up accounts and workspaces in Groove
   
   
   Click the Account tab, click Delete under Delete Account from this Computer, and then provide your password when you are prompted.
   
   This procedure prevents your current installation from being retained as a computer for the account in the new installation.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for each account in your Groove installation.
5. On the File menu, click Exit, and then click Yes when you are prompted to confirm. If Groove stopped because of an error, open Task Manager to confirm that Groove is not running.
6. If you deleted any accounts, restart Groove, wait for data transfer to complete, and then exit Groove again to complete the deletions.
7. In Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs. In the list of installed programs, select the 2007 Microsoft Office suite that you are running, and then click Change.
8. Click Add or Remove Features, and then click Continue.
9. Click Microsoft Office Groove, click Not Available, and then click Continue.
10. When the Setup program is finished uninstalling Groove 2007, click Close.
11. To remove all data files, delete your Groove data folders. These folders are in one of the following locations, depending on the operating system that you are running:
    • Windows Vista
      C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\Groove
    • Microsoft Windows XP
      C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\groove
    • Microsoft Windows Server 2003
      C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Groove

How to uninstall Groove Virtual Office 3.x but leave all associated data

1. On the File menu, click Exit Groove, and then click Yes when you are prompted to confirm. If Groove stopped because of an error, open Task Manager to confirm that Groove is not running.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs, click Groove in the list of installed programs, and then click Remove.
3. Click No when you receive the following message:
   
   
   Do you want to uninstall your user and system data during the uninstallation of Groove?
   
   
4. When the Setup program is finished uninstalling Groove, restart the computer.

How to uninstall Groove Virtual Office 3.x and remove all associated data

1. On the Options menu in the Groove Launchbar, click Preferences, and then click the Identities tab.
2. For each identity, click No Listing for the Groove public directory and for the LAN directory.
3. If you intend to use this account on another computer, back up the account. For more information about how to back up an account, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   
   
   907230 How to back up accounts and workspaces in Groove
   
   
   Then, click the Account tab, click Delete Account from this Computer, and then provide your password when you are prompted. This will prevent your current installation from being retained as a computer for the account in the new installation.
4. Repeat steps 1, through 3 for each account in your Groove installation.
5. On the File menu, click Exit Groove, and then click Yes when you are prompted to confirm. If Groove stopped because of an error, open Task Manager to confirm that Groove is not running.
6. If you deleted any accounts, restart Groove, wait for data transfer to complete, and then quit Groove again to complete the deletions.
7. In Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs, click Groove in the list of installed programs, and then click Remove.
   
8. Click Yes when you receive the following message:
   
   
   Do you want to uninstall your user and system data during the uninstallation of Groove?
   
   
9. When the Setup program is finished uninstalling Groove, restart the computer.

Note To remove Groove data if the uninstallation of Groove 3.x fails, follow step 10 in the "To uninstall Groove Workspace 2 and remove all associated data" section.

How to uninstall Groove Workspace 2.x but leave all associated data

1. Right-click the Groove icon in the notification area, and then click Shut Down Groove. If Groove stopped because of an error, open Task Manager to confirm that Groove is not running.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs, click Groove in the list of installed programs, and then click Remove.
   
3. When the Setup program is finished uninstalling Groove, restart the computer.

How to uninstall Groove Workspace 2.x and remove all associated data

1. In the Groove window, click My Account, and then click Identities.
2. For each identity, click No Listing for the Groove public directory and for the LAN directory.
3. If you intend to use this account on another computer, back up the account. For more information about how to back up an account, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   
   
   907230 How to back up accounts and workspaces in Groove
   
   
   Then, from My Account, click Account, click Delete Account, and then provide your password when you are prompted. This will prevent your current installation from being retained as a computer for the account in the new installation.
4. Repeat steps 1, through 3 for each account on the computer.
5. Right-click the Groove icon in the notification area, and then click Shut Down Groove. If Groove stopped because of an error, open Task Manager to confirm that Groove is not running.
6. 
   If you deleted any accounts, restart Groove, wait for data transfer to complete, and then quit Groove again.
7. In Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs, click Groove, and then click Remove.
8. When the Setup program is finished uninstalling Groove, restart the computer.
9. In Add or Remove Programs, click Groove Help if it is present, and then click Remove.
10. In Windows Explorer, find and delete the Groove directories. The default locations of these directories vary depending on the Groove version and on the operating system:
    
    • Groove 2 installed on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition:
      
      C:\Program Files\Groove Networks\Groove
      
      
    • Groove 2 installed on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows NT:
      
      C:\Program Files\Groove Networks\Groove
      
      C:\WINNT\Profiles\user name\Application Data\Groove Networks\Groove
      
      
    • Groove 2 installed on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows 2000:
      
      C:\Program Files\Groove Networks\Groove
      
      C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Groove Networks\Groove
    • Groove 2 installed on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP:
      
      C:\Program Files\Groove Networks\Groove
      C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Groove Networks\Groove
      C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Groove Networks\Groove
    • Groove 2 updated from Groove 1 on a computer that is running any operating system:
      
      C:\Program Files\Groove

Note The Application Data folder is a hidden folder. If you cannot see the folder in Windows Explorer, follow these steps:

1. In Windows Explorer, click Folder Options on the Tools menu, and then click the View tab.
2. In the Advanced settings area, click Show hidden files and folders under Hidden files and folders, click Reset All Folders in the Folder views area, and then click OK.
3. On the View menu, click Refresh to update the file listing.