Corrupted Offfice 2003 blocks new Office 2007

[Rita V]

Hi,
I bought my laptop with Office 2003 on it. I never used it because I
installed Office 2000 on it and did not want to pay for 2003. No Office disk
came with the computer.

I bought Office 2007 and cannot access stuff. I have uninstalled Office 2000
but am unable to uninstall 2003 because it has been corrupted and I was never
given a disc.

Any suggestions? PLEASE??

 

[DL]

Any trial version should be uninstalled prior to installing any retail cd
version, which is probably why the trial version is corrupted, its allso the
case that with multiple versions the earliest should be installed first. You
were lucky that O2k ran without problems,

Short of delving in the registry to attempt a manual removal, the cleanest
method might be to restore your laptop to origonal configeration, then
uninstall the trial.
Ensure your data is backed up and that you have tested the backups

 

[Rita V]

Thanks so much, but it wasn't successful. Seems the patch is missing. The
System restore only let me restore back to last month...not enough.
What do I have to do in the Registry. I am so tired of waiting over and
over for Installation re: clip art, etc.

Any other ideas? What about the Registry?

Thanks...

 

[DL]

I meant restore using the factory restoration cd's not system restore

 

[Echo S]

What "patch" does it say is missing? Actually, what is the exact text of the
error message you receive?

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PowerPoint 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
(New!) The PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/2qzlpl
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/index.html
PPTLive! Oct 28-31, New Orleans http://www.pptlive.com

 

[Rita V]

Thanks again, DL..
If I do the cd-based system restore, does it include the trial version of
Office 2003?
My inclination is that it does not..

I am really willing to do the hard restore from the cds. I backed up
everything last night in prep for it.

Thanks

 

[Beth Melton]

If you are trying to reinstall/repair Office 2003 and you encounter an error
along the lines of "The patch package is missing" then that means there is a
problem with the Registry settings for the Windows Installer. To correct the
problem you need to download and run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility
and remove the reference to Office. BUT you need to have the Office
installation CDs to reinstall Office and correct the setup problems. IOW, if
you don't have the Office 2003 CDs then you might be out of luck. :-(

Here's a link to the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

Again, this will not correct the Office installation. All it will do is
remove the incorrect Registry entries. So after you run it you need to
reinstall Office in order to create the correct entries for your Office
installation so don't use it if you don't have the Installation CDs.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[DL]

If your system was shipped with a trial version then it is likely the
restoration will include this trial, if it doesnt so much the better.

PS you cannot use the trial as an upgrade if thats what you are thinking

 

[Rita V]

This is all so helpful. Thanks.
I don't have the Office 2003 CD because I never wanted it to begin with.
But as it came shipped on my computer (Compaq laptop purchased a year ago),
maybe it will be on the system cds I made.

I will hold my breath and try the system cd restore later tonight... after I
do my work.

Thank you
Rita V

 

[Rita V]

Thank you for your reply.. It was helpful to me. I do not have the Office
2003 CDs. The trial version came on my laptop when I bought it last year. I
never wanted it. I purchased Office 2007 a few months ago... and have only
had problems since. I tried to uninstall 2003, but it was all goofed up.

The only cd's I have are the 3 that I was instructed to make when I bought
the computer...system restore cds. Another post suggested that Office 2003
trial may be on the system cds, so a total system restore may correct the
problem. Do you agree?

Thanks
Rita

 

[Beth Melton]

If you are going to take the System Restore route (to wipe it clean and
start over) then I'd definitely create an image of your current setup so you
can get back to it if necessary. I don't have any recommendations on a
utility for this (since I've never used one) but perhaps others here do.
IOW, I would create a complete backup (image) of what you have now before
using the Restore disks.

I'm leaning towards the notion that you'll encounter the same problems with
attempting to remove Office 2003 as you do now - even with the system
restore. It's not uncommon for the installation of a pre-installed version
to be messed up. For example they'll (the OEM who you purchased your
computer from) use an image to create your computer and the files the
Windows Installer is looking for are back on their server. So a total system
restore may encounter the same "patch package missing" error.

Now, another option you have is to tell us about the problems you are having
with Office 2007. It could be removing Office 2003 is unnecessary if they
can be corrected.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Rita V]

Thanks..
Well, the primary problem with Office 2007 is the repeated, slow, "Preparing
to Install" each time I try to access clipart. That has been the primary
problem.

Also, whenever I exit Word, I get a pop up window that talks about some
error and restarts Word. Another problem I have is that NO ONE else can read
the documents I send with my version of Word 2007, even when read by other
computers with Word 2007. It is exasperating..

 

[Echo S]

If you are going to take the System Restore route (to wipe it clean and
start over) then I'd definitely create an image of your current setup so
you can get back to it if necessary. I don't have any recommendations on a
utility for this (since I've never used one) but perhaps others here do.
IOW, I would create a complete backup (image) of what you have now before
using the Restore disks.

Acronis True Image has done well for me.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PowerPoint 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
(New!) The PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/2qzlpl
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/index.html
PPTLive! Oct 28-31, New Orleans http://www.pptlive.com

 

[Rita V]

Thanks..
I have stretched to the edge of my computer knowledge. What is an "image"?
Is it a copy of my entire system as it is now?

I appreciate the links... will it be difficult to do?

Thanks
Rita
--
Rita V

If you are going to take the System Restore route (to wipe it clean and
start over) then I'd definitely create an image of your current setup so
you can get back to it if necessary. I don't have any recommendations on a
utility for this (since I've never used one) but perhaps others here do.
IOW, I would create a complete backup (image) of what you have now before
using the Restore disks.

Acronis True Image has done well for me.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PowerPoint 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
(New!) The PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/2qzlpl
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/index.html
PPTLive! Oct 28-31, New Orleans http://www.pptlive.com

 

[DL]

An Image is an identical copy of your current system.
You can create an Image & verify the image, do allmost anything with your
sys then restore that image to put it all back.
(Usefull also when upgrading to a larger hard disk, as the restore can be
set to use all the new HD)

Acronis True Image works fine for me, and is relatively straight forward.
Acronis used to have a free fully functional trial via there web site, I
dont know if this is still the case

Thanks..
I have stretched to the edge of my computer knowledge. What is an
"image"?
Is it a copy of my entire system as it is now?

I appreciate the links... will it be difficult to do?

Thanks
Rita
--
Rita V

If you are going to take the System Restore route (to wipe it clean and
start over) then I'd definitely create an image of your current setup
so
you can get back to it if necessary. I don't have any recommendations
on a
utility for this (since I've never used one) but perhaps others here
do.
IOW, I would create a complete backup (image) of what you have now
before
using the Restore disks.

Acronis True Image has done well for me.

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PowerPoint 2007? http://www.echosvoice.com/2007.htm
(New!) The PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit
http://tinyurl.com/2qzlpl
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/index.html
PPTLive! Oct 28-31, New Orleans http://www.pptlive.com