Re-installing Office 2000 (missing Windows Installer?)

[Steve]

I have uninstalled my Office 2000 due to a possible
corruption problem. When I try to reinstall it with my
CD's I get an error message that says:"This patch package
could not be opened. Verify that the patch package exists
and that you can access it, or contact the application
vendorto verify that this is a valid Windows Installer
patch package." I have run Windows Installer Cleanup, and
have also found the KB Error Message article (295823), but
still cannot re-install Office 2000! HELP!

 

[Steve]

This is the Error Mesage if that helps anyone. BTW, Win98
is my OS.

ERROR_PATCH_PACKAGE_
OPEN_FAILED 1635 This patch package could
not be opened.
Verify that the patch
package exists and
that you can access it, or
contact the
application vendor to
verify that this is
a valid Windows Installer
patch package.

 

[Paul E]

Which programs did you select to clean-up using the Windows Installer
Cleanup program?

Are you able to confirm that the old folder that you installed to is the
same as the new one?

 

[Karen Sullivan [MSFT]]

Hi Steve,

Try the following.

a) Start | Run, enter Regedit into the box.
b) Highlight the My Computer at the very top of the Registry listing.
c) Control-F to start the Search routine
d) In "Find What", enter the word "Patches" (without quotes)
e) Check the "Keys" and the "Match whole string only" boxes, do NOT check
Values or Data; and click Find
f) When it finds the first one, right-click it and choose "Rename" and
rename it to OLDPatches
g) Now hit enter and press F3 to search for the next one.
h) Be patient, you should end up finding about 3-6 of them. Rename them all
to OLDPatches
i) Then, exit Regedit.
j) Turn off your virus protection
k) Put your Office XP CD in the CD drive
l) Open your Office applications like Excel and Word
m) They should load properly after brief updating
n) Turn your virus protection back on (of course!)

Hope that helps!

Karen Sullivan [MSFT]