Equation Editor AWOL

[Ed Kimball]

Word X can't locate Equation Editor. I have reinstalled it in the Microsoft
Office X:Office folder from the CD a couple of times, but it does not appear
in the list of object types I can access from Insert Object ...

I'm running Office X Service Release 1 on OS X 10.3.3.

Has anyone else seen this and found a way to fix it?

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi,

If you ran the installer after doing an office update you will need to
re-run the updates so that the version of equation editor is the right one.

-Jim
--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[Ed Kimball]

I reran the 1.5 update and it didn't help. I can't rerun 1.3 or 1.4 because
I've already run them. Is there any other way to make sure I get the right
version? Do I have to reinstall all of Office, including EE, and rerun ALL
the updates? Ugh!

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Ed,

Actually you *could* have and *should* have rerun all of the updaters
beginning with 10.1.2. They must be run in this order ­ 10.1.2, 10.1.4
(includes 10.1.3), 10.1.5 ­ or they don't work. When you install new
features from the Value Pack, it's not okay to run a later updater without
first running the earlier ones, even if you've already done so at an earlier
time.

So, yes, you need to do a remove and reinstall of Office, and you *must* do
a proper removal first. Here's the procedure:

The Remove Office tool is located in the Value Pack folder on the Office X
CD. Install it and run it. Now reinstall Office X using the installer on
the CD or do a Drag & Drop to the Applications folder. Also don't forget to
install any Value Pack items you need. When you've finished, you'll need to
download (<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/download/>) and install the Office X
10.1.2, 10.1.4 (includes 10.1.3) and 10.1.5 updaters.

For the most trouble-free installation, run Disk Utility First Aid to repair
permissions after you remove Office, after you reinstall it and after you
install all the updates. To repair permissions go to Macintosh
HD/Applications/Utilities; open up Disk Utility; select your hard disk and
click the First Aid tab and then the button to "Repair Disk Permissions".

Note: Before doing the removal, you may want to back up some files for
later reinstallation. Consider these:

Normal Template
Your custom templates
Word Settings (10)
Settings files for the other Office apps
AutoCorrect List (called Office ACL English or whatever language)
Custom Dictionary

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Ed Kimball]

I did all that a couple of months ago. It took all afternoon! But EE did
work for a while, until recently. I don't have time right now to do it
again. :-(

I had previously run all the updaters, but I ran 10.1.5. When you say they
won't work out of order -- they won't let you run them out of order.

Microsoft has to come up with a better solution than this!!!! Does
OpenOffice include an equivalent to EE?

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Ed,

The point is that a later updater can't do it's job properly (or at all) on
files that should have been altered by an earlier updater (if it was run).
What you needed to do in the first place, after installing EE from the Value
pack, was to reapply all the updaters in order. At that point, it shouldn't
have been necessary to do an Office removal. This presupposes that EE was
not already installed when you did the earlier updates.

If you ran the 10.1.5 updater and it completed successfully (see
<http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/office/vxversions.html> to check version
numbers), that should be all that's necessary ­ for the files that were
affected by that updater! Each updater affects specific files.

But if you installed EE *after* running 10.1.2 and 10.1.4 and if either of
those two updaters contained EE-relevant material, then running 10.1.5 would
have been no use to EE (unless it *also* contained EE-relevant material and
in that case, the update should have been unsuccessful since the earlier
updates weren't done).

Sorry if that's confusing. It's the best I can do.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Ed:

Hmmm... If it takes all afternoon, there¹s a larger problem somewhere
This whole operation should take no more than half an hour.

1. run the Remove Office app.
2. Run Apple¹s Disk Utility and Repair Permissions (this is probably the
most important point: this is probably the cause of your troubles)
3. Run the Office installer
4. Run all the updates, in sequence
5. Repair permissions again
6. Reboot the computer

That should have everything working for you in about half an hour.

Cheers

I did all that a couple of months ago. It took all afternoon! But EE did
work for a while, until recently. I don't have time right now to do it again.
:-(

I had previously run all the updaters, but I ran 10.1.5. When you say they
won't work out of order -- they won't let you run them out of order.

Microsoft has to come up with a better solution than this!!!! Does OpenOffice
include an equivalent to EE?

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Ed,

I think what happened is that I removed Office, reinstalled it (but forgot to
reinstall EE), and ran all the updaters. THEN realized I forgot to re-install
EE, and did so from the original Office CD. If I understand your message
correctly, you're saying I am screwed.

Yes .

The 10.1.2 and 10.1.4 updaters won't let me run them after I've run 10.1.5,
and I can't run EE without running the 10.1.2 and/or 10.1.4 updater.

If that's the case, the updating process is not very user-friendly.

But it's very logical. Let me try a metaphor. Let's say that all Office
files are blue to start with. The 10.1.2 updater comes along and turns 10
files green; 10.1.4 turns 2 of those files yellow and 16 other unrelated
files yellow as well.

Then 10.1.5 comes along and its instructions are to turn 3 blue files, 3
green files and 4 yellow files into red files. Trouble is the EE file,
which should have turned green when 10.1.2 was applied is still blue because
10.1.2 never ran on it. So 10.1.5 can't find it and chokes.

However, I will grant you this. While Microsoft does state very clearly ...

.... there's no specific statement (on the Downloads pages at least) that
updaters must be reapplied given the scenario that we're discussing (and
it's a fairly common one).

Sorry.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Bob Mathews]

Hi,

(I've retained Beth's response to Ed after my signature, because
it completes the picture.)

Ed, the good news is that what Beth's describing isn't the last
word on the subject. Simply download MathType from the link in my
signature. This is free and full-featured for 30 days. After that
time, if you choose not to pay for it, you can still use it
indefinitely in a reduced-features "MathType Lite" mode. All
features and functionality of Equation Editor are retained, and
you can continue to display, print, and edit all Equation Editor
and MathType equations. And all of this can be done now,
regardless of the update status of Office.

--
Bob Mathews (e-mail address removed)
Director of Training 830-990-9699
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType 5
Design Science, Inc. -- "How Science Communicates"
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide

===========================================

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Ed,

I see that you¹ve already been given the specifics about how to uninstall
and re-install to get Equation Editor up and running from the Office
Installer.

Did you see Bob Matthew¹s posting? He works for the company that makes
Equation Editor, which is a product Microsoft licenses for Office. There is
a ³full² version of Equation Editor called MathType. Follow Bob¹s
instructions to get the full version.

I don¹t think there is any equivalent to either Equation Editor or MathType
in OpenOffice. OpenOffice should treat EE and MathType objects as pictures.

-Jim

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Bob:

Many thanks for that

Beth, could you please add this to the FAQ on the subject -- What Bob says
is "Official", he's as close as we come to Support Manager for Design
Science

And Ed: I am sorry you cannot re-apply the updates after you have
re-installed. We tried to get this fixed before they shipped but we ran out
of time and couldn't. What you describe is how it was supposed to work...

Cheers

Hi,

(I've retained Beth's response to Ed after my signature, because
it completes the picture.)

Ed, the good news is that what Beth's describing isn't the last
word on the subject. Simply download MathType from the link in my
signature. This is free and full-featured for 30 days. After that
time, if you choose not to pay for it, you can still use it
indefinitely in a reduced-features "MathType Lite" mode. All
features and functionality of Equation Editor are retained, and
you can continue to display, print, and edit all Equation Editor
and MathType equations. And all of this can be done now,
regardless of the update status of Office.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi John,

What FAQ on the subject? The one you're going to write ?

I'll put it on the list of topics that need FAQs.

Beth

 

[John McGhie]

Just to let everyone know: Bob has been corresponding privately with Ed on
this subject. The larger issue is that Ed can¹t install any of the
work-around we usually recommend, due to his workplace policies.

Ed really needs to bite the bullet here and do a Remove and full (local)
re-install to get Equation Editor running. He can¹t realistically go up to
MathType because he is corresponding with others who are not allowed to
install MathType. MathType can read Equation Editor equations, but Equation
Editor cannot necessarily read the equations MathType produces.

It can do so if you install the fonts from MathType, which is the
work-around Bob suggests. But Ed¹s correspondents are not allowed to
install the fonts either!

Cheers

Hi Ed,

I see that you¹ve already been given the specifics about how to uninstall and
re-install to get Equation Editor up and running from the Office Installer.

Did you see Bob Matthew¹s posting? He works for the company that makes
Equation Editor, which is a product Microsoft licenses for Office. There is a
³full² version of Equation Editor called MathType. Follow Bob¹s instructions
to get the full version.

I don¹t think there is any equivalent to either Equation Editor or MathType in
OpenOffice. OpenOffice should treat EE and MathType objects as pictures.

-Jim

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Ed Kimball]

Beth,

Thanks for your tips. I've been AWOL myself for a few days, but now I'm
back -- at least for a while.

Thanks for the tip in your previous message about sending my suggestion to
MS. I have done that.

I did not apply the updaters out of order -- at least not after I first
reinstalled Office. I applied 2, 4 and 5 in order. I then realized I had
to reinstall EE, and (as I recall), the 2 and 4 updaters refused to run
because I had already run 5. I could run 5, but it did not fix my problem.

I will try John McGhie's suggestion about running Remove Office and Disk
Utility and Repair. I don't remember for sure if I did both of those last
time, although I think I did. But it definitely takes longer than a half
hour to do everything in his message of June 2! Maybe the rest of you have
faster CPUs and disks than I do; after all my PowerBook is nearly a year old
already!

One interesting point. If I open EE stand-alone and paste an equation into
Word, I can then double-click on equations in Word (not only the one I just
pasted) and Word will switch to a new window in EE and behave "normally"
(allow me to edit and paste back into Word when I close the window). But if
I'm not running EE or haven't pasted an equation into Word, Word "pretends"
that it never heard of EE.

 

[Ed Kimball]

John,

Thanks for the advice. So far, it seems to be working.

Given that the process requires four reboots (I can¹t repair permissions on
my startup disk, and I have only one CD drive), it took about an hour all
together. (Fortunately, I had saved all the updaters, so I didn¹t need too
spend downloading them again.) There will be some more time spent resetting
preferences, I¹m sure. But if I keep EE accessible, it will be worth it ‹
until I go through the install of Office 2004 later this year most likely.

BTW, although the first Repair corrected a few permissions, it was not
obvious that they were at all related to Office. The second Repair
corrected nont.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Ed:

Glad you got it sorted.

Repair Permissions is a "belt and braces". I actually have no idea why they
go wrong, or what makes them go wrong. I would have pathetically assumed
that file permissions would be set correctly by the operating system
according to the privileges of the installing user. And that once they were
correct they would stay that way!

However, we can tell you from bitter experience that they do go wrong during
installs, and once they are wrong, application upgrades fail silently with
no notification other than an ever-increasing spiral of things not working
and attempts to fix them producing worse problems!

Your problem with Word being unable to perform a "cold start" of EE is a
different issue. That's likely to be a "not installed to the boot drive"
problem, and is obviously a bug...

Cheers

John,

Thanks for the advice. So far, it seems to be working.

Given that the process requires four reboots (I can¹t repair permissions on my
startup disk, and I have only one CD drive), it took about an hour all
together. (Fortunately, I had saved all the updaters, so I didn¹t need too
spend downloading them again.) There will be some more time spent resetting
preferences, I¹m sure. But if I keep EE accessible, it will be worth it ‹
until I go through the install of Office 2004 later this year most likely.

BTW, although the first Repair corrected a few permissions, it was not obvious
that they were at all related to Office. The second Repair corrected nont.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410