Labview 8.5 Wont Install

[Arsenic]

So i am having some problems.

I had Labview 7.0 and 8.2 installed to seperate directories at one point.  I decided it was time to upgrade to 8.5 so i went to uninstall 7.0 and 8.2 and 7.0 just crapped out and errored out on every package that it couldnt be uninstalled.  But it was still there, so i went into safe mode and just deleted the whole National Instruments directory.

I stick in my 8.5 DVD, i get the screen that shows all of the packages where i can choose to not install, etc.  I make sure Labview 8.5 is selected to be installed to the local disk.  I then press Next and up comes the screen showing me the packages to be installed, and it says None, with the Next button greyed out...

Any ideas what is going on? Its like it see's Labview 8.5 as being installed, but its not, its not in Add/Remove, there is no National Instruments directory anywhere and i am confused what to do..

[smercurio_fc]

Using Windows? Simply deleting the National Instruments directory (or any directory) without going through the uninstall process almost never works. As far as Windows is concerned, it still thinks you have the program installed due to all the registry entries.

Depending on how messed up it is, there's a couple of things to try:

• Reinstall 7.0 and then uninstall it. Do the same for 8.2. This should "reset" the registry. This has worked for me on botched uninstalls for other programs. Note: when uninstalling, uninstall just one item at a time, and select items that don't tell that something else has to be uninstalled first. If they do, uninstall the dependent item first, then go back and uninstall the item.
  
• Run the Windows Installer Cleanup utility.

Aside: Which OS is this? XP or Vista? In Vista you need to make sure you are really logged in with administrative access.

[Arsenic]

Yes its XP SP2.

I know deleting without uninstalling is generally a bad idea, but i could not uninstall it without getting an error and i could not reinstall anything due to some error while it was installed, so i was screwed either way 🙂

I will try your suggestions...