live essentials

Windows Live Essentials 2011 has finally came out of Beta with the final version released today. Windows Live Essentials 2011 is a collection of software products like Live Photo Gallery, Live Messenger, Live Mail, Movie Maker, Writer and Windows Live Sync. Although there is no official change log, Windows Live Essentials 2011has some nice features like the new Ribbon UI, slicker interface and support for Windows 7 jump-lists.

Windows-Live-Essentials-2011

This is the first stable release of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 available for download. However, Microsoft’s official download site offers just the web installer of the package which requires a constantly ON internet connection during the installation procedure which takes quite a while.

So for those who want to download the offline installer instead, click the link below. Offline installer helps you install Windows Live Essentials on a computer with no internet connection and also serves as a backup of the package.

Download Windows Live Essentials 2011 OFFLINE INSTALLER / 156MB

[The above link is a redirect to the offline installer on Microsoft servers. So please treat it as time-sensitive link. Microsoft may remove the installer at any time.]

Fix Windows Live Essentials uninstalling problems [Troubleshooting]

Windows Live Essentials Beta [Build 15.3.2804.607] is now available for download. I downloaded the Beta only to find myself stuck with a weird problem with the uninstall of the previous version of Windows Live Essentials. I tried to uninstall the previous version but the ‘Uninstall Wizard’ failed to launch. The previous installation had messed up and the uninstall couldn’t initiate. Moreover, you can’t over-ride the previous version of Live Essentials with the new installer. It throws a message, something like, ‘The following programs are already installed’. Fortunately, after hours of searching on the internet, I found a way to completely uninstall and remove all traces of the previous ‘Windows Live Essentials’ installation. If you are facing a similar problem, the following steps might help:

1) First, download and install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility. This little kid removes traces of previous installation of any program installed on your computer.

2) Once installed, launch it by clicking → ‘All Programs’ → ‘Windows Install Clean Up’.

3) In the window that appears, select the entries that has the words ‘Windows Live’ in it. Click Remove.

4) Once done, restart your PC (IMPORTANT). Then run Windows Update, just in case an important update is required to be installed prior to fresh Windows Live Essentials installation.

5) Finally, install Windows Live Essentials. This time it should go well.