Office 2003 unable to update

[Jim in Illinois]

I have been following these posts trying all the fixes
suggested (KB 304498, 830335, 295823, etc) and have also
run the Installer Cleanup utility. So far I have been
able to uninstall and reinstall Office 2003 Professional
but I am still not able to perform updates. The update
proceeds to 40% and then gives me that useless error
message about have administrative rights...

I haven't seen a case yet were someone wrote back and
said "Hey, that worked! Thanks a lot." Is this problem
actually fixable or is this another case of smoke and
mirrors?

 

[Mary Sauer]

Try this:
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

Click the General tab.

Under Temporary Internet files, click Settings.

Click View Objects.

The list of program files that are downloaded to the SystemRoot\Downloaded Program
Files folder on your hard disk appears in the Downloaded Program Files window. (view
as "details")

In the Status column, note the files that are listed as either Unknown or Damaged.
Remove these files. To do so, right-click the file, and then click Remove.

When you are prompted to confirm the removal, click Yes.

Close the Downloaded Program Files window, and then click OK two times.

 

[Jim in Illinois]

Hi Mary,

Thanks for responding so quickly. I tried what you
suggested and there were to "unknown" status files.
Unfortunately removing these files had no effect, I am
still unable to update. This one seems to be a
real "head scratcher." I would appreciate any other
ideas you might have.

Thanks again,
Jim

 

[Mary Sauer]

Do you have Norton? If you do, disable "script blocking" and under options disable
"office plug-ins".

"You Need the Administrative Version of This Update..." Message When You Look for
Office Updates
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;832665&Product=off2003

 

[Jim in Illinois]

Well, I do have Norton so I disabled the script blocking
and the Office add-in, but still no luck. I even tried
disabling everything in the add-in manager and the com
add-in with no luck. Star Office is starting to look
better and better!

Jim

 

[Mary Sauer]

Have you tried updating in safe mode? Maybe you have a bad device driver.
Some articles to read
http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2003/journ/offutoolv2.htm
HOW TO: Use an Office 2003 Setup Log File to Troubleshoot Setup Problems
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;826511&Product=off2003

 

[Mary Sauer]

Another article, this has a link to an utility
http://techrepublic.com.com/5102-6264-5034668.html

 

[Jim in Illinois]

Hi again,

These solutions seem to be for network deployed
programs. The installation in on a stand-alone PC.
That's one of the reasons why I can't understand why this
thing is being such a problem.

I'm about at the point where I am going to remove Office,
delete any trace of it from the machine and start over.
The only problem is that I'm not sure even that would fix
it!

Jim

 

[Guest]

i found this while trying to solve the same problem.
have not tried yet, but will after writing this

 

[John Rivers]

Jim,

I agree! I posted just recently stating that none of these things are
working. Next I will be told to reformat my HD I have Office 2003
professional and FP XP and all was well until I used SP3 and I tried all the
times you mentioned and more to no avail.

John

 

[John Rivers]

Did that and didn't work.

John

Try this:
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

Click the General tab.

Under Temporary Internet files, click Settings.

Click View Objects.

The list of program files that are downloaded to the SystemRoot\Downloaded Program
Files folder on your hard disk appears in the Downloaded Program Files window. (view
as "details")

In the Status column, note the files that are listed as either Unknown or Damaged.
Remove these files. To do so, right-click the file, and then click Remove.

When you are prompted to confirm the removal, click Yes.

Close the Downloaded Program Files window, and then click OK two times.


--
Mary Sauer MS MVP
http://office.microsoft.com/
http://www.mvps.org/msauer/
news://msnews.microsoft.com

 

[John Rivers]

Nope,

even uninstalled NAV and still no joy.

John

 

[John Rivers]

Per my previous posting used the ORK and it messed up Office 2003 and
didn't resolve the update problem.

John

 

[John Rivers]

Hi,

after about 3 hours of deadends this finally worked for me! Review of my
problem: I have Office 2003 and FP 2002. Everything was OK until I installed
SP3 for XP and then I got the dreaded 40% problem (Error! Unable to check
for updates on this computer) and couldn't update.

Per the instructions below, I backed up my registry (plus I set a restore
point) and then simply renamed the Patches key to patchesold and it worked!
I can now update my Office 2003 and I didn't have to uninstall it.

I don't think this matters but I downloaded the SDK resource tools for
Office 2003 http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2003/tools/default.htm and
forcibly removed some Office XP items that wouldn't budge.


John

P.S. Thanks anonymous

 

[Jim in Illinois]

Finally! This worked great! I wonder if MS ever reads
these groups - they could learn some things abouts their
products!

Thanks again!

Jim

 

[Jim in Illinois]

Hi Mary,

There was an anonymous post about a regestry hack that
fixed the problem! This was a tough one!

Thanks for all your help!

Jim

 

[Guest]

may I ask you to share the fix? I have the same problem
and can't manage to fix it. thanks. John

 

[Jim in Illinois]

1. Run Regedit
2. Back up Registry
3. Highlight"My Computer" on the top so it searches the
whole registry
4. Click Edit - Find and type in PATCHES ---- make sure
you only look for KEYS
5. Rename all folders called patches to patchesold
6. press enter and F3 to continue searching.
7. NOTE: DO NOT RENAME APPPATCHES files. Don't touch
them. Also, be sure registry keys only apply to Office
products. Some other vendors may also have keys named
patches and you don't want to change them.

Good Luck