Office 2008 Will Not Start

[Patrick_Altman]

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

Even though this thread was for Office 2004, I tried all the suggestions with no luck:
<http://www.officeformac.com/ProductForums/Office/299>

I am running Leopard 10.5.2 that was a clean install on a Mac Book Pro. I have recently installed Office 2008 but I haven't been able to get anything to start.

The symptom is the icons bounce like they are starting, then the Setup Assistant starts asking me if I want to participate in the feedback program. When I click Finish, the Auto Update Utility starts. The Office program (have tried Word, Excel, Powerpoint) never start.

I checked the Console and found this message:

3/29/08 9:45:29 PM com.apple.launchd[83] ([0x0-0x1e01e].com.microsoft.Word[145]) Exited with exit code: 1

This is extremely frustrating. Can anyone help shed light in how to get this working?

I have already tried with no suucess:
- chown -R 501:20 ~/ # That's my user/group
- created a test account and tried to start an office program
- removed all the suggested plist stuff and rebooting
- removed office and reinstalled
- installed the latest office update (that much was able to be accomplished via the Auto Updater program -- the only thing that runs)

 

[Diane Ross]

- created a test account and tried to start an office program

This indicates a system wide problem and/or a bad install of Office.

- removed office and reinstalled

How did you remove office? Did you drag to trash or did you use "Remove
Office"?

Have you run the Apple combo updater again?

Mac OS X 10.5.2 Combo Update

<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1052comboupdate.html>

 

[Patrick_Altman]

I have tried both methods of removing office with no success for either way.

I have also tried reinstalling 10.5.2 update with no success. THe installer doesn't seem to want to allow me to install it as I already have 10.5.2 installed.

 

[Patrick_Altman]

On second though, I guess I only uninstalled it via Move to Trash (couldn't find the uninstalerl, so I moved teh Application/Office folder to trash as well as the ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.* and ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft folders to trash and then emptied. )

is there an uninstaller?

 

[Diane Ross]

On second though, I guess I only uninstalled it via Move to Trash (couldn't
find the uninstalerl, so I moved teh Application/Office folder to trash as
well as the ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.* and
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft folders to trash and then emptied. )

is there an uninstaller?

Yes, "Remove Office"

/Application/Microsoft Office 2008/Additional Tools/Remove Office

 

[Diane Ross]

I have also tried reinstalling 10.5.2 update with no success. THe installer
doesn't seem to want to allow me to install it as I already have 10.5.2
installed.

A combo will re-install...that's the whole purpose of a combo. I think you
will need to do an "Archive & Install". Your symptoms indicate your base
system files as the problem.

Archive and Install

1) Insert the Mac OS X Install Disc and double-click the Install Mac OS X
icon.

2) Follow the onscreen instructions. In the pane where you select the
destination disk, select your current Mac OS X disk (in most cases, it will
be the only one available).

3) Click Options. If you want to save your existing files, users, and
network settings, select ³Archive and Install,² and then select ³Preserve
Users and Network Settings.² If you want to erase everything on your
computer and reinstall Mac OS X, select ³Erase and Install.² You can¹t
recover erased data.

4) Click Continue.

5) Click Customize to select which parts of Mac OS X you¹d like to install,
or click Install to perform a basic installation (recommended).


Once the install has finished, your system will be at whatever level the
disk you have is. So if your Install DVD/CD disk is 10.5.0, that's what
version of OS will be on your Mac. You will need to download the appropriate
Combo Updater from Apple's site to restore the system to a higher version.
After you run the combo, allow Software Update to download and install any
additional updates.

 

[Patrick_Altman]

A combo will re-install...that's the whole purpose of a combo. I think you

will need to do an "Archive & Install". Your symptoms indicate your base
system files as the problem.

Office 2008 is the only thing giving me trouble and I could probably get by without it. At this point, I'd rather not go through the entire Archive and Install process (I've already installed about a dozen or so other apps and have been using the machine for a while now) and have to reinstall everything just to get Office working.

I guess that means that this thread is dead then since the solution to get Office 2008 working is to reinstall my system -- that feels like of lame -- I'll wait until I really need it.

Thanks,
Patrick

 

[Diane Ross]

Office 2008 is the only thing giving me trouble and I could probably get by
without it. At this point, I'd rather not go through the entire Archive and
Install process (I've already installed about a dozen or so other apps and
have been using the machine for a while now) and have to reinstall everything
just to get Office working.

You don't have to re-install, but you will need to re-enter registration
info for some.

 

[Patrick_Altman]

You don't have to re-install, but you will need to re-enter registration

info for some.

So Archive and Install will leave all my apps and docs/photos/videos/music intact? Is it then like the Windows "Repair Install"?

 

[Diane Ross]

So Archive and Install will leave all my apps and docs/photos/videos/music
intact? Is it then like the Windows "Repair Install"?

Never used a Windows machine. "Archive & Install" only does the system
folder. It renames the old one "previous system" and installs a new one.
Nothing is actually deleted.