I started to install EPM Release 11.1.2 and had a difficulty with a phantom existence from a previously installed version. I leared all traces of the previous version out of directories and registry and the ghost still remained in the installer, preventing the installation of the system 11 shared services module and refusing to configure a new shared services repository.
So I decided to do a full uninstall and start fresh. The uninstalller failed at the same place on both the server I had identified for a services and client tier install and the one I was trying to configure for web tier. After copying a large number of files, I tried to open a file named local and aborted.