Error! Unable to check for updates on this computer

[Rob]

Since the last Office update I've been getting this error
when I attempt to scan for updates to my Office 2000
Professional with SP-3
I purchased this software, have the original disks (and
sp1 on cd). When scanning it no longer asks to install the
CD it exercises the HD then pops up the error. How can I
repair this error. I'm afraid to Uninstall and reinstall
because in the body of the error page it says I may not be
able to. I can't afford to screw-up my email(Outlook 2K)
but I need to know if Security & other patches are
available.

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, Rob,

Would you post the URL to the error page that you get? Uninstalling and
re-installing Office shouldn't be a problem, nor should it remove your mail
data. Assuming you use Outlook for mail, your mail folder is probably
called outlook.pst and can be backed up, if you're uncertain.

At any rate, you can go directly to the download site and download the
updates yourself, bypassing the detection. However, if you want to try to
fix it, you can try the following:

I'd try stuff in this order:

1. 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.

2. 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

 

[Rob]

Hi Susan,
The URL for the error I'm getting is
http://office.microsoft.com/home/office.aspx?
assetid=FX010404541033
As for the other "stuff" my IE cache is deleted almost
daily(weekly at most); so I then added
the "http://office.microsoft.com" to the trusted sites; I
then tried deleting the C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate11
folder and this time when I tried I got an error popup and
sent the report to microsoft, rebooted and tried again got
the same URL, Then disabled Norton Personal Firewall 2003
and still get the same result Some more background I'm
running Windows ME 4.90.3000 on a GenuineIntel Pentium 4
(Family 15 Model 01.3) with 256MB of RDRAM, BIOS:American
Megatrends 12/08/00, 37.2GB HD with 9.08GB Used/ 28.1GB
free. (One of our IT group at work said maybe it's because
Microsoft is cutting off the support for "ME" soom and may
be jumping the gun when the system SW is detected as "ME"
during the detection process.) Does the fact that when the
detection process is at about 57% my HD access is
attempted then the URL error message pops up mean
anything?

-----Original Message-----
Hi, Rob,

Would you post the URL to the error page that you get? Uninstalling and
re-installing Office shouldn't be a problem, nor should it remove your mail
data. Assuming you use Outlook for mail, your mail folder is probably
called outlook.pst and can be backed up, if you're uncertain.

At any rate, you can go directly to the download site and download the
updates yourself, bypassing the detection. However, if you want to try to
fix it, you can try the following:

I'd try stuff in this order:

1. 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.

2. 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

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Well, it may--in that some folks have found this fix to work. It's a little
tedious, but it might work, and it certainly shouldn't hurt anything.

1) Use a utility to clean out the Windows Installer data,
290301 - Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301&Product=offx

2) Reinstall Office 2000

3) Apply your updates

I don't know anything about ME, so I won't be of any help with that...

--
Susan Ramlet
MVP - Microsoft Office
----------------------------------------------
Please post replies to the newsgroup where all may benefit.


Hi Susan,
The URL for the error I'm getting is
http://office.microsoft.com/home/office.aspx?
assetid=FX010404541033
As for the other "stuff" my IE cache is deleted almost
daily(weekly at most); so I then added
the "http://office.microsoft.com" to the trusted sites; I
then tried deleting the C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate11
folder and this time when I tried I got an error popup and
sent the report to microsoft, rebooted and tried again got
the same URL, Then disabled Norton Personal Firewall 2003
and still get the same result Some more background I'm
running Windows ME 4.90.3000 on a GenuineIntel Pentium 4
(Family 15 Model 01.3) with 256MB of RDRAM, BIOS:American
Megatrends 12/08/00, 37.2GB HD with 9.08GB Used/ 28.1GB
free. (One of our IT group at work said maybe it's because
Microsoft is cutting off the support for "ME" soom and may
be jumping the gun when the system SW is detected as "ME"
during the detection process.) Does the fact that when the
detection process is at about 57% my HD access is
attempted then the URL error message pops up mean
anything?

-----Original Message-----
Hi, Rob,

Would you post the URL to the error page that you get? Uninstalling and
re-installing Office shouldn't be a problem, nor should it remove your mail
data. Assuming you use Outlook for mail, your mail folder is probably
called outlook.pst and can be backed up, if you're uncertain.

At any rate, you can go directly to the download site and download the
updates yourself, bypassing the detection. However, if you want to try to
fix it, you can try the following:

I'd try stuff in this order:

1. 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.

2. 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

 

[Rob]

I don't seem to be able to run setup.exe from my CD to
reinstall my office product!!!!! Now I gone from not being
able to get updates to not being able to reinstall Office
2000 Professional!!!! What's the scoop now? How do I
reinstall Office 2000 Professional if I now
get.... "Windows Installer....This patch package could
not be opened. Verify that the patch package exists and
that you can access it, or contact the application vendor
to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer patch
package." This is the same scenario "mike"
<[email protected]> Feb 3 2004 10:02AM
is reporting. I shouldn't be without my product because
Microsoft screwed something up( "There are some problems
with the Office Update site that MS is aware of with
their last update that corrupted my licensed, registered
software. My MSI.DLL Version is 2.0.2600.2 so according
to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 295823 I can't run
the Msicu.exe utility or the Msicuu.exe (Windows Installer
CleanUp) utility because they are not supported where
Microsoft Windows Installer 2.0 or later is installed.
Please post a solution that is 100% guaranteed not more
of "you can try these solutions".
Robert Barrett
(e-mail address removed)
Product is Licensed to: The Barrett's

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, Rob,

That article is out of date and is being updated (I reported it last week).
The Windows Installer Cleanup Utility has been updated to run on Windows
Installer 2.x. See this article.

290301 - Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301&Product=offxp

That should fix the patch package error.

Rob, I understand that you are frustrated. Please be aware that you are
relying on PEER support for free help here. The folks who help out here are
experienced volunteers who do their best to keep up with the latest
information so that people CAN get help for free. The fixes posted have
worked for many people. If you want a 100% guarantee, you should contact
Microsoft Product Support and request it of them.

Good luck--

--
Susan Ramlet
MVP - Microsoft Office
----------------------------------------------
Please post replies to the newsgroup where all may benefit.



I don't seem to be able to run setup.exe from my CD to
reinstall my office product!!!!! Now I gone from not being
able to get updates to not being able to reinstall Office
2000 Professional!!!! What's the scoop now? How do I
reinstall Office 2000 Professional if I now
get.... "Windows Installer....This patch package could
not be opened. Verify that the patch package exists and
that you can access it, or contact the application vendor
to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer patch
package." This is the same scenario "mike"
<[email protected]> Feb 3 2004 10:02AM
is reporting. I shouldn't be without my product because
Microsoft screwed something up( "There are some problems
with the Office Update site that MS is aware of with
their last update that corrupted my licensed, registered
software. My MSI.DLL Version is 2.0.2600.2 so according
to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 295823 I can't run
the Msicu.exe utility or the Msicuu.exe (Windows Installer
CleanUp) utility because they are not supported where
Microsoft Windows Installer 2.0 or later is installed.
Please post a solution that is 100% guaranteed not more
of "you can try these solutions".
Robert Barrett
(e-mail address removed)
Product is Licensed to: The Barrett's

 

[Tony Josephs]

Susan

your comments on the context of the peer support nature of these newsgroup
is always worth remembering, but also worth remembering is the case that
Microsoft Product Support have singularly failed to respond to any of the
requests for a 100% solution to a problem that they have caused. I have
read so many posts from customers who have contacted MS but not had any
response at all, myself included.

We are all grateful for the advise provided by the MVPs and others here and
in other groups but when are Microsoft going to admit a grave error and
provide a way of fixing it that will work for all customers?

Until then all I can predict is frustration for people, like me, who have to
resort to fiddling with register entries and potentially damaging their
software assets even more in a vain attempt to fix what should not have
broken in the first place.

I have been unable to update my fully legit and registered version of Office
XP for 4 months now. With today's release of a critical patch for the XP
and other OSes, how long will it be before another mistake is made and a
whole raft of the community cannot update their OS and therefore are
permanently left open to hackers and viruses?

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in my thoughts on the tribulations of becoming
more and more dependent on Microsoft as the years go by ...


Tony

 

[DCOM]

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in my thoughts on the tribulations of becoming
more and more dependent on Microsoft as the years go by ...

I can second that. This is BS. While I appreciate MVP's attempting to
help I'm not going to nor do I think I should have to go poking and
fiddling around they way some have suggested.

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, Tony and DCOM,

Points well taken and well-stated. I'm not disagreeing with you, nor will I
attempt to invalidate your frustration.

My point is that a peer support newsgroup is not likely to be the forum for
getting action from PSS or Microsoft related to this or other global
frustrations about Microsoft development and support practices. What you
*will* get here is some best-effort peer support to get your systems
running, should you choose to continue using Microsoft software, and some
escalation (to the extent an MVP can provide) of the issues that we see
coming up over and over again via this forum.

That has been done, and the workarounds have been given, with some measure
of success for folks.

Sorry for any inconvenience you've experienced.