Office Installation Fails

[Andy]

Currently have two office 2003 pro updates to install and the installation
process continually fails. I have run Detect and Repair, which gets part way
through the process and comes back with a message saying that the setup
failed.
Have tried other things such as saving the downloads manually, but they will
still not install, and done the usual registry scans etc.

No problems with installing XP updates so assume some part of office is
corrupt. Have also worked through
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304498 with no
success...

Short of re-installing the whole of 2003, am stuck, HELP!

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, Andy,

Did you try using the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility and re-installing
Office 2003? That often resolves issues with corrupt setups.

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

 

[Andy]

Thanks, but I ran the cleanup programme and everything seemed to go OK. When
opening an office programme, I now get the message "This action is only valid
for products that are currently installed" when clicking the shortcuts. When
I go straight to the main office .exe files on my hard drive, the programme
begins to open the freezes.
Outlook is a little different and when trying to start, the error message
says that map132.dll is missing or corrupt.

Looks like things are getting worse! If I uninstall Office completely and
reinstall am I likely to lose my files, Outlook contacts etc?

 

[Susan Ramlet]

No, you won't lose your files.

After running the cleanup program, did you re-install Office? You have to
re-install it after doing that.

 

[Andy]

Yep, have tried to reinstall, but after entering the key and selecting which
parts to re-install, it seems to begin to process and then backs out again
with an error message saying "An error occurred during the installation, and
Setup was unable to compelte". Am tempted to do a complete uninstall and then
re-install???

Thanks for your help so far.

 

[Susan Ramlet]

You may get the same error on an uninstall. Is there any other text in the
error message, such as an error number or anything?

Try this (once more):

Uninstall Office (if possible)
Run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility to remove Office 2003 installer
entries (not the Office Cleanup Utility, which is for Office 2000 removal).
Re-install Office 2003 from your CD.

Unfortunately, beyond that, it will be hard to diagnose remotely. If you
can't get Office installed completely, you could try using a verbose setup
log file, as described here:

How to use a setup log file to troubleshoot setup problems in Office 2003:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;826511

It's pretty technical, but the article does try to help you interpret what
is in the log file.

Also, my understanding is that setup-related support calls are free at
Microsoft. Don't quote me on that, but I've heard that from a couple of
sources. E-mail support on setup costs some money, but you can give PSS a
call to see if they can get everything straightened out.

 

[Andy]

Altered the registry keys and the Office 11 folder name. Reinstall worked
fine and everything is up and running again, thanks for your help.

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Fantastic. Thanks for posting back!

 

[Craig Morris]

I'm having this same issue and can't make head nor tail of the technical page
that was linked to previously. Which registry keys did you alter, and what
to? and what did you change the Office 11 folder name to?