U
UOC-IT
I used the Microsoft Online Update to get the latest updates. This MSUpdate
site told me I needed to update my Office XP SP2 but I was running Office
2003. Next I ran the MS Office site update but found that I was updated.
Since the MSUpdate site thought I had office XP installed I wanted to fix
this. I paid MS for help support but receive a typical trite answer of
remove and reinstall.
(MS support people must just teardown and rebulid their homes if they need
to fix a leaky faucet.)
---------------------------- My working solution
-----------------------------------
Mark,
Thank you for your trite solution. Unfortunately, your solution was really
not a solution. In fact, it was a waste of my money. I know if I
remove/wipe the Office found my machine and reinstall it will work but who
has the time. DUH!!!
I had upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003 and like too much of
Microsoft's code, the Microsoft upgrade software did not remove the right
items from the registry. The update left the Office XP Web components and
Media from Office XP in the installer section. Can you read the registry?
I used another computer with only Office 2003 installed and compared my
findings. I edited the registry and it now works. Total time spent to find
and fix problem was 1 hour and 4 deletes in the registry. ( I thought you
could have told me where to look for the problem.)
For my money I expected Microsoft to give me a solution like this and not
the trite answer of remove and reinstall.
I am protesting my charges since your solution was lame, trite, and you
spent no time on this problem.(What if I have problems with XP - remove and
reinstall?)
I am also contacting the local news (I do a tech show for them) and
computer services about what your money gets you from MS help support. Sorry
you were too busy to help a customer.
=============== MS Support's Answers =====================
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Online Support. My name is Mark and I am
glad to work with you. To contact me, you may directly send emails to my
account (e-mail address removed) with the case ID: ???????????????? in the
subject line.
After reviewing our case log, I understand that issues have been encountered
when attempting to update Office. The update site prompts us to install
Office XP SP3. However, the current Office version is Office 2003. We shall
be working to resolve this specific issue through the course of the case. If
I have misunderstood your concern please let me know.
Based on my experience, this behavior is mostly caused by some Office
components have been corrupted so that the update site cannot determine which
version we have installed. To resolve this issue, I suggest remove the
current Office and then make a clean installation.
Removing Office
=============================================
Please first refer to the following KB article to backup Outlook data:
Q287070 OL2002: How to Back Up, Restore, or Move Outlook Data
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;287070
Note: this article also applies to Outlook 2003.
1. Download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility on your desktop.
The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/9/D/E9D80355-7AB4-45B8-80E8-983A48D5E1BD/msicuu2.exe
2. After we install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, click Start
menu-> All Programs-> Windows Install Clean Up.
3. Highlight Microsoft Office 2003 entry in the list and then click Remove.
Click OK and wait for the process to end.
4. If you can see any other Office products like Office 2000, or standalone
Office programs like Publisher, Visio, FrontPage, etc, please click remove to
uninstall them.
5. Click Exit to close the Windows Installer Cleanup utility.
6. Click Start menu-> Run, type "regedit" (without the quotation marks) in
the Open box and press Enter.
7. Expand the registry tree on the left pane and locate the following two
registry keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office
8. Highlight one of above two keys and press Del Key on the keyboard to
delete it. Then delete the other one.
9. Delete the following folders
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office.
C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate11
C:\MSOCache
Note: The last two folders may not exist.
10. Click Start menu-> Run, type "%Temp%" (without the quotation marks) in
the Open box and press Enter.
11. Delete all files in the Temp folder.
Note: If we receive error when we delete files, just ignore this step. It
doesn't matter.
12. Empty the recycle bin.
13. Restart the computer and then install Office.
Please let me know the results at your earliest convenience. If anything is
unclear in my email, please feel free to let me know. I am glad to be of
assistance.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Mark Zhang
Online Support Professional
Microsoft Office Online Support
Microsoft Global Technical Support Center
(e-mail address removed)
site told me I needed to update my Office XP SP2 but I was running Office
2003. Next I ran the MS Office site update but found that I was updated.
Since the MSUpdate site thought I had office XP installed I wanted to fix
this. I paid MS for help support but receive a typical trite answer of
remove and reinstall.
(MS support people must just teardown and rebulid their homes if they need
to fix a leaky faucet.)
---------------------------- My working solution
-----------------------------------
Mark,
Thank you for your trite solution. Unfortunately, your solution was really
not a solution. In fact, it was a waste of my money. I know if I
remove/wipe the Office found my machine and reinstall it will work but who
has the time. DUH!!!
I had upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003 and like too much of
Microsoft's code, the Microsoft upgrade software did not remove the right
items from the registry. The update left the Office XP Web components and
Media from Office XP in the installer section. Can you read the registry?
I used another computer with only Office 2003 installed and compared my
findings. I edited the registry and it now works. Total time spent to find
and fix problem was 1 hour and 4 deletes in the registry. ( I thought you
could have told me where to look for the problem.)
For my money I expected Microsoft to give me a solution like this and not
the trite answer of remove and reinstall.
I am protesting my charges since your solution was lame, trite, and you
spent no time on this problem.(What if I have problems with XP - remove and
reinstall?)
I am also contacting the local news (I do a tech show for them) and
computer services about what your money gets you from MS help support. Sorry
you were too busy to help a customer.
=============== MS Support's Answers =====================
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Online Support. My name is Mark and I am
glad to work with you. To contact me, you may directly send emails to my
account (e-mail address removed) with the case ID: ???????????????? in the
subject line.
After reviewing our case log, I understand that issues have been encountered
when attempting to update Office. The update site prompts us to install
Office XP SP3. However, the current Office version is Office 2003. We shall
be working to resolve this specific issue through the course of the case. If
I have misunderstood your concern please let me know.
Based on my experience, this behavior is mostly caused by some Office
components have been corrupted so that the update site cannot determine which
version we have installed. To resolve this issue, I suggest remove the
current Office and then make a clean installation.
Removing Office
=============================================
Please first refer to the following KB article to backup Outlook data:
Q287070 OL2002: How to Back Up, Restore, or Move Outlook Data
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;287070
Note: this article also applies to Outlook 2003.
1. Download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility on your desktop.
The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/9/D/E9D80355-7AB4-45B8-80E8-983A48D5E1BD/msicuu2.exe
2. After we install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, click Start
menu-> All Programs-> Windows Install Clean Up.
3. Highlight Microsoft Office 2003 entry in the list and then click Remove.
Click OK and wait for the process to end.
4. If you can see any other Office products like Office 2000, or standalone
Office programs like Publisher, Visio, FrontPage, etc, please click remove to
uninstall them.
5. Click Exit to close the Windows Installer Cleanup utility.
6. Click Start menu-> Run, type "regedit" (without the quotation marks) in
the Open box and press Enter.
7. Expand the registry tree on the left pane and locate the following two
registry keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office
8. Highlight one of above two keys and press Del Key on the keyboard to
delete it. Then delete the other one.
9. Delete the following folders
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office.
C:\Program Files\OfficeUpdate11
C:\MSOCache
Note: The last two folders may not exist.
10. Click Start menu-> Run, type "%Temp%" (without the quotation marks) in
the Open box and press Enter.
11. Delete all files in the Temp folder.
Note: If we receive error when we delete files, just ignore this step. It
doesn't matter.
12. Empty the recycle bin.
13. Restart the computer and then install Office.
Please let me know the results at your earliest convenience. If anything is
unclear in my email, please feel free to let me know. I am glad to be of
assistance.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Mark Zhang
Online Support Professional
Microsoft Office Online Support
Microsoft Global Technical Support Center
(e-mail address removed)