Removing Office 2003 & Microsoft Works

[pc_amateur]

I am running XP Home with SP3. Have Office 2007, don't need 2003 anymore and
never use Works. When I use Add/Remove programs, I get the following
messages: First the Windows Installer window opens and displays: Preparing to
remove. Then after a few minutes the Add and Remove Program window opens with
the following message: Patch Program could not be opened . Verify Patch
Program exists and that you can access it or contact the application vendor
to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer Patch package.

Windows is set to update automatically so I think I have all the updates for
Installer. Is this an installer issue or XP issue?

When attempting to remove Works, the following occurs: Microsoft Works
window opens and states: Please wait while Windows configures Microsoft
Works. Then, I get: Error 1316A a network error occurred while attempting to
read from file c:\\windows\installer\\WORKS8.MSI. Then the Add or Remove
Program window opens and states: Fatal error during installation.

Any suggestions?

 

[JS]

Three steps:
1) Try repairing Windows Installer using the links below
and then uninstall MS Works.

2) After MS Works is uninstalled, insert your MS Office CD
and perform a re-install/repair.

3) Now try un-installing Office

Here are the links:
How to re-install Windows Installer:
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_reinstall_the_windows_i.htm

Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable (v2)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...fc-5f56-4a38-b838-de776fd4138c&displaylang=en

Windows Installer 4.5 Redistributable
(Latest version of Windows Installer)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4&displaylang=en

Also:
Common Windows Installer Problems
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=555175

Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301