as i had not received any help since i posted my original query, I had to
find the solution myself - which I did.

First, need to do a system restore to a point where your old MSN messenger
and other programs from Windows live are available. In my case, I only had
MSN 8.1 and Windows live writer.

I then used REVO uninstaller (http://www.revouninstaller.com/)and selected
the following for uninstall using the advanced mode where all remnants of
each program residing in the registry are removed.
1. windows writer
2. windows live sign in assistant
3. windows messenger

I presume that Windows Install cleanup utility may have worked as well -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/290301

Once I had removed all traces of these programs, the install of messenger
9.0 proceeded without a hitch.

There was obviously some kind of conflict between my old windows live
programs and the new version - dont know what that was though.


"kandinsky63" wrote in message
...
i tried to sign into MSN 8.1 today when I got the following message:

" A newer version is available. You must install the newer version in
order to continue."

However when I did the install for messenger 9.0 , at the end of the
process I got an error window stating that

" Programs were not installed because installation was cancelled. Canceled
0x8004004."

I certainly did not cancel the installation.

I have tried to install via different routes a number of times but get the
same cancellation error.

What is going??