Office Update should not ask for my installation disk

[BrotherTimeIII]

It drives me nuts to have to dig through all of my disks to find my Office
2000 installation CD. Sometimes when I am attempting to update my software I
am not at home or near my installation software (which, by the way, is all in
a box gathering dust for the next time I have to reformat my computer).

I completely understand the whole "anti-piracy" ideal, but come on...isn't
that why we all had to download and install those "security features"? So
Microsoft could verify that I have legit software?

One other suggestion...why not make the Microsoft Update (the one that
checks my OS for needed/available updates) also check to see if I have Office
(or other Microsoft developed software) at the same time it is scanning my
computer? I understand that for slower internet connections this may not be
desirable...but if a user is given the option to scan for updates to this
other software beforehand (and then to download and install any updates) it
would save a lot of us time and give us one less thing to remember to update.

I would much rather Microsoft scan for updates to both my OS and my office
program at the same time than try to remember to do both separately on a
regular basis. And then let me install it (sans-installation CD).

I'll get off my soapbox now. Thanks for letting me vent.

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...53a7876dac87&dg=microsoft.public.officeupdate

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

There are several updaters available from MS. Three online include
MS Windows Update
MS Office Update (http://officeupdate.com)
an MS Update

MS Update does check for updates on Office and on Windows, but Office
has to be Office XP or newer.

For Office 2000 you can copy the CD to your hard drive and either
install from there or 'point' (browse) to it when an update asks for it.

In some cases downloading the larger 'administrative' update for
Office 2000 will update without the CD (it replaces files, the regular
update patches), provided that nothing needs to be changed in feature
set or repaired, in which case you'd need the CD or CD image.

Things have progressed a bit since Office 2000, which introduced
using the MS Installer engine for installation and updating.
Office 2003, for example includes the 'local installation source'
(LIS) option that keeps content from the CD available to enable
many updates to be done without the need for the CD.

Check http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle for information on
the stage of Office 2000 in its product support cycle.


=========
It drives me nuts to have to dig through all of my disks to find my Office
2000 installation CD. Sometimes when I am attempting to update my software I
am not at home or near my installation software (which, by the way, is all in
a box gathering dust for the next time I have to reformat my computer).

I completely understand the whole "anti-piracy" ideal, but come on...isn't
that why we all had to download and install those "security features"? So
Microsoft could verify that I have legit software?

One other suggestion...why not make the Microsoft Update (the one that
checks my OS for needed/available updates) also check to see if I have Office
(or other Microsoft developed software) at the same time it is scanning my
computer? I understand that for slower internet connections this may not be
desirable...but if a user is given the option to scan for updates to this
other software beforehand (and then to download and install any updates) it
would save a lot of us time and give us one less thing to remember to update.

I would much rather Microsoft scan for updates to both my OS and my office
program at the same time than try to remember to do both separately on a
regular basis. And then let me install it (sans-installation CD).

I'll get off my soapbox now. Thanks for letting me vent. >>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

For Everyday MS Office tips to "use right away" -
http://microsoft.com/events/series/administrativetipsandtricks.mspx

 

[vcat10]

My software came pre installed, and I have created my backup cds but have
recently moved house and so all my product cds are all still packed away. I
finally had the time to do the update to service pack 3 for Office XP (I am
on dial up) and used the link that actually said it could be used to download
service pack 3 if you didnt have the cds. And yes I have now, after around
five hours of downloading, (because of my unstable internet connection),
STILL been prompted for the original cds, despite as I mentioned, using the
link that is supposed to make it possible to download the update without the
cds. PLEASE can someone suggest something that doesnt involve me having to
basically ransack my house in the next few days just so I can stop getting
these update notifications and have the update. PLEASE??

 

[SoccerC107]

vcat10,
I am having the exact same problem. I live in a college dorm and my CD's
are hundreds of miles away so I chose the option to update without CD's. The
next time I opened Word, it promted me for the CD's, which i don't have, and
it wouldn't let me open anything at all. Someone please help I have to write
a paper tonight =(

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, BrotherTimeIII,

Anti-piracy isn't the stated reason for requiring the CD; see if this
explains it better:

Why service packs, updates, and security patches may require the Office 2000
CD-ROM:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;828450

Also, they have changed this so that later versions of Office don't require
CDs to update. However, a source is still required, which is generally now
created on your hard drive as the "local install source", or "LIS":

Frequently asked questions about the Local Install Source feature in Office
2003:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;830168

Also, Microsoft Update does offer Office updates as well:

http://update.microsoft.com/microso....com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us

It doesn't necessarily make your life that much easier right now, but at
least Microsoft is listening to these issues and doing things to resolve
them.

--
Susan Ramlet
MVP - Office

Please reply to the newsgroups where others may benefit.

It drives me nuts to have to dig through all of my disks to find my Office
2000 installation CD. Sometimes when I am attempting to update my software I
am not at home or near my installation software (which, by the way, is all in
a box gathering dust for the next time I have to reformat my computer).

I completely understand the whole "anti-piracy" ideal, but come on...isn't
that why we all had to download and install those "security features"? So
Microsoft could verify that I have legit software?

One other suggestion...why not make the Microsoft Update (the one that
checks my OS for needed/available updates) also check to see if I have Office
(or other Microsoft developed software) at the same time it is scanning my
computer? I understand that for slower internet connections this may not be
desirable...but if a user is given the option to scan for updates to this
other software beforehand (and then to download and install any updates) it
would save a lot of us time and give us one less thing to remember to update.

I would much rather Microsoft scan for updates to both my OS and my office
program at the same time than try to remember to do both separately on a
regular basis. And then let me install it (sans-installation CD).

I'll get off my soapbox now. Thanks for letting me vent.

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...53a7876dac87&dg=microsoft.public.officeupdate