Can't scan for updates

[mike]

While doing an office update off the website, I lost
power to the PC. Now when I try to scan for updates at
the site, it gives me an error that it can't scan and
gives several possible reasons. THe only one that caould
possible be tru is a missing msp file in
\Windows\Installer. Neither the directory nor any *.msp
is on my machine (I know they are hidden files and can
see all other hidden files). I do not know if the patches
took before th outage and can't get the website to scan.
All Office products seem to be working OK except I can't
check for needed updates.

Also, when I put in the Setup disk I get a message that
the patch is not a valid patch program and I shopuld
contact the patch vendor. I am sure these probelms are
related.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thnaks,
Mike

 

[Joann]

Can't you just reinstall Windows Installer?

 

[Mike]

I think the Installer is still there. I can still
download Windows Updates

 

[Mark]

Not in Windows XP - there isn't an installer to download -
and if you try the NT/2000 installer, it won't load (wrong
OS).

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, mike,

There are some problems with the Office Update site that MS is aware of. In
the mean time, you can try these solutions:

You don't mention what version of Office you're running, but you may want to
try stuff in this order:

1. To fix the patch package error, see this article:

OFF: Err Msg: This Patch Package Could Not Be Opened ...:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;295823

2. Re-install Office, then try the Office Update site again. If that
doesn't work, try the following:

3. Deleting IE Cache.

In cases where the temporary Internet explorer cache folder is running out
of allotted space, you may be not be able to download the Office Update
control. You can free up space by deleting the Temporary Internet Files
cache using the "Delete Files" button in the "General" tab under "Tools |
Internet options" menu.

4. Check IE's security settings.

Ensure that your IE browser allows / prompts registering of signed Active X
controls. Follow the steps below to add http://office.microsoft.com to the
list of Trusted Sites so that the Office Update ActiveX control can load
successfully.

a. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options and then click the
Security tab.
b. In the list of Web content zones, click the Trusted sites icon.
c. Click Sites.
d. Clear the Require Server verification (https) for all sites in this
zone check box .
e. In the Add this Website to the zone box, enter the Internet address
http://office.microsoft.com.
f. Click Add.
g. Click OK, and then click OK again.

3. Deleting Office Update detection folder.

Also try deleting the C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate11 folder which contains
the detection catalog and downloaded patch files used by the site.

4. Deleting ActiveX control.

The Office Update ActiveX control can get into a bad state in certain
conditions and should be reinstalled. First close IE. Then delete the file
c:\Windows\opuc.dll for Windows 9X and Windows XP and c:\Winnt\opuc.dll for
Windows 2000.

Try going back to http://office.microsoft.com/OfficeUpdate/ to perform
detection again. If it still fails, follow the steps below.


5. Temporarily turn off Personal Firewall, Download Manager, Pop-up
blockers and Web Acceleration products

If there are Personal Firewall, Download Manager, Pop-up blockers, or Web
Accelerator products installed, temporarily turn off these products and try
detection again. Popular products include:

· Get Right (Download Manager)
· Download Accelerator
· Zone Labs (Personal Firewall)
· Norton Personal Firewall
· McAfee Personal firewall

If those don't work, you can go directly to the KB article or the Downloads
site and download updates yourself and install them.

 

[DCOM]

Hi, mike,

There are some problems with the Office Update site that MS is aware of. In
the mean time, you can try these solutions:

You don't mention what version of Office you're running, but you may want to
try stuff in this order:

1. To fix the patch package error, see this article:

OFF: Err Msg: This Patch Package Could Not Be Opened ...:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;295823

2. Re-install Office, then try the Office Update site again. If that
doesn't work, try the following:

3. Deleting IE Cache.

In cases where the temporary Internet explorer cache folder is running out
of allotted space, you may be not be able to download the Office Update
control. You can free up space by deleting the Temporary Internet Files
cache using the "Delete Files" button in the "General" tab under "Tools |
Internet options" menu.

4. Check IE's security settings.

Ensure that your IE browser allows / prompts registering of signed Active X
controls. Follow the steps below to add http://office.microsoft.com to the
list of Trusted Sites so that the Office Update ActiveX control can load
successfully.

a. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options and then click the
Security tab.
b. In the list of Web content zones, click the Trusted sites icon.
c. Click Sites.
d. Clear the Require Server verification (https) for all sites in this
zone check box .
e. In the Add this Website to the zone box, enter the Internet address
http://office.microsoft.com.
f. Click Add.
g. Click OK, and then click OK again.

3. Deleting Office Update detection folder.

Also try deleting the C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate11 folder which contains
the detection catalog and downloaded patch files used by the site.

4. Deleting ActiveX control.

The Office Update ActiveX control can get into a bad state in certain
conditions and should be reinstalled. First close IE. Then delete the file
c:\Windows\opuc.dll for Windows 9X and Windows XP and c:\Winnt\opuc.dll for
Windows 2000.

Try going back to http://office.microsoft.com/OfficeUpdate/ to perform
detection again. If it still fails, follow the steps below.

5. Temporarily turn off Personal Firewall, Download Manager, Pop-up
blockers and Web Acceleration products

If there are Personal Firewall, Download Manager, Pop-up blockers, or Web
Accelerator products installed, temporarily turn off these products and try
detection again. Popular products include:

· Get Right (Download Manager)
· Download Accelerator
· Zone Labs (Personal Firewall)
· Norton Personal Firewall
· McAfee Personal firewall

If those don't work, you can go directly to the KB article or the Downloads
site and download updates yourself and install them.

What if you do all that and try to install an update - say sp3 - and
still get an error that says the update can't be applied?

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, DCOM,

Assuming you're updating a client, if you tried downloading and applying the
update manually using these instructions:

Office 2000 SP-3 Client Update
To download and install Office 2000 SP-3 Client Update only, follow these
steps:
1.. Using your Web browser, locate the following Microsoft Web site:


http://download.microsoft.com/download/office2000/SP/3/WIN98MeXP/EN-US/o2ksp3.exe

2.. Click Save to save the O2ksp3.exe file to the selected folder.
3.. In Windows Explorer, double-click o2ksp3.exe.
4.. If you are prompted to install the update, click Yes.
5.. Click Yes to accept the License Agreement.
6.. Insert your Office 2000 CD-ROM when you are prompted to do so, and
then click OK.
7.. When you receive a message that indicates the installation was
successful, click OK.
found here:

326585 - OFF2000: Overview of Office 2000 Service Pack 3:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;326585&Product=ofw2k

and it didn't work, and if you ran the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility,
re-installed Office 2000, SR-1 etc, and it still doesn't work, then you'll
want to use a verbose log file to see if you can find out where it's
failing, per this file:

810295 - HOW TO: Troubleshoot an Update Installation by Using Log Files in
Office 2000:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;810295&Product=ofw2k

If that doesn't help you, you will probably want to contact product support
for assistance.