Office 2008 updates too problematic

  • Thread starter NewAccountCozOldOneFailed
  • Start date
N

NewAccountCozOldOneFailed

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

After hours and hours of frustrating work trying most of the suggestions on these forums to get updates to install, I finally have the simplest of solutions: Don't even entertain the novel concept you need or want a custom install of Office. That's it. That's the new rule. DON'T CUSTOMIZE YOUR MAC (or at least not your Mac Office) !!

I know, I know. Like me, some of you may THINK you don't need Portugese Proofing Tools and you may actually PREFER not to load Microsoft Messenger, but trust me, YOU'RE WRONG. You DO need a complete install if you are ever to get those pesky updaters to work correctly.

You see, apparently in the last year, the developers spent 99.9% of their effort fixing the stuff that's released, then whatever is left over on the actual installers of the fixes. Now I suppose I should be grateful, since it is, after all, the fixes we all really need. But then again, if I can't get the fixes to INSTALL, then I guess all their hard work didn't mean a thing to me then, eh? So I'm feeling a bit - well... taken advantage of.

Do I sound like I'm whining? I hope not. I hope I sound like a frustrated user of a major product of this galaxy's largest software developer. These installers haven't worked for too many users for the most arcane of reasons since Office 2008 was released mid-January of last year. Is it too much for the behemoth to fix the darn things? Is it too much to believe that I could remove or choose to not install unwanted parts and pieces of the software I purchased for my own reasons and needs? For now, at least, the answer is "Yes, it's true. Do not customize your install of Office 2008."

You wanna know the most embarrassing part of this whole thing? The upgrade to 2008 wasn't even worth it to my organization. If this is the best that four years of development and one year of patching can offer, then I would have been willing to wait another year or two for something really compelling. Yes, I know there are those who disagree, such as Exchange users (which we're not). But this is not the forum for a debate - take it elsewhere, as I will do now.

I simply wanted to pass on my experience, the fix that worked for me, and my disappointment, resentment and bitterness at being charged so much, gotten so little and being made to work so hard to get the dang stuff to work as expected.

So now that I finally have the latest updates installed, I have to go back to the monumental task of repairing the damage to literally thousands of critical dates the MS sync services wreaked havoc upon, l while I finish downloading NeoOffice 3.0, and pray it's grown up enough to replace MS Office on the PCs and Macs I support. (and you can bet that someday it will)

- Kevin
 
C

Corentin Cras-Méneur

I know, I know. Like me, some of you may THINK you don't need Portugese
Proofing Tools and you may actually PREFER not to load Microsoft
Messenger, but trust me, YOU'RE WRONG. You DO need a complete install if
you are ever to get those pesky updaters to work correctly.

Well some of our Mac have full installs and still had troubles with the
updater :-(

Corentin
 
D

Diane Ross

Do I sound like I'm whining? I hope not. I hope I sound like a frustrated user
of a major product of this galaxy's largest software developer. These
installers haven't worked for too many users for the most arcane of reasons
since Office 2008 was released mid-January of last year.

Since Microsoft changed from a VISE installer to a package installer with
Office 2008 there have been problems. Most come from users modifying their
systems. If they had modified their system files THEN installed Office, the
critical files wouldn't be removed.

Then there was a change in Leopard that prevented an AppleScript from
running and people got hit with an error << event sysodisA>> that was often
hidden behind other errors when the installer tried to run the script to
quit all applications so it could continue. However if users had just read
the instructions to quit all Microsoft applications first the error wouldn't
have caused a failure in the first place. The change in Leopard happened
only a day before the Microsoft updater was released.

No one has been more frustrated with the problems than the people that are
trying to help users solve their problems. It's nothing but extra work for
us. We don't get paid and would rather spend our time helping with problems
dealing with the product.

I do suggest you send feedback to Microsoft to let them know how frustrated
you are with the updaters.

When working in Office, you can use the ³Send Feedback² option under the
Help menu in all of the Office applications or visit

<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx>

At least, they have provided us with combo rather than having to endure all
the incremental updates if we have to reinstall.
 
N

NewAccountCozOldOneFailed

All good points, Diane, especially about the combo updates. Yes, I have sent feedback to MS. Thanks for what you and the others assisting in these forums are doing to help.

- Kevin
 
J

jamalily

Diane:
Thanks for your info. I guess I did something wrong and didnt try to update
my Office 08 but I started getting a message that said my database utility
was corrupted and I couldnt 'open' files in Word. So I reloaded office and
then tried to update. I couldnt and I got a message that has the <<event
sysidusA>> thing in it. Now update will not even install. It keeps freezing.
You mention this code but not a solution. So what the heck should I do?
Thanks in advance.

Jo
 
D

Diane Ross

I couldnt and I got a message that has the <<event
sysidusA>> thing in it. Now update will not even install. It keeps freezing.
You mention this code but not a solution. So what the heck should I do?
Thanks in advance.

Log out/in from your User with Shift key down THEN run the updater. The
script is trying to quit all Microsoft applications. Quitting ALL
applications including the hidden ones results in less problems.

Restart after updating.

Hope this helps!
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top