Uh-oh... Office 97 setup problem

[Peter Boulding]

OK--so I'm a seriously late adopter ... trying to transfer everything from a
Win98SE PC to a PC running XP(SP3). One of the tasks is to transfer Office
97 and all its data: installation went well, and I've transferred templates,
custom dictionary, and so on, and the SR1 patch installed OK. But when I
come to install SR2A it bombs out on me, complaining that I've either not
installed Office97 or have multiple versions on my PC. Sr2chk.exe makes the
same complaint.

I'm guessing that they don't like the fact that there's a folder on the XP
PC's hard drive that contains a complete copy of the contents of the 98SE
PC's hard drive. (This is because the only way I could transfer data between
the two machines was by removing the 98SE PC's hard drive, adding it to the
XP PC, running a full copy, and then returning it to the 98SE PC. I'm
reluctant to delete any of this copy, as I don't know what I might turn out
to need as I attempt to set up and use more and more of the old PC's
software and data.)

Can anyone suggest a workaround? I don't want to go without the SR2A patch,
since it includes an important fix--to the worst of Word's numbering engine
problems.

 

[LVTravel]

OK--so I'm a seriously late adopter ... trying to transfer everything from
a
Win98SE PC to a PC running XP(SP3). One of the tasks is to transfer Office
97 and all its data: installation went well, and I've transferred
templates,
custom dictionary, and so on, and the SR1 patch installed OK. But when I
come to install SR2A it bombs out on me, complaining that I've either not
installed Office97 or have multiple versions on my PC. Sr2chk.exe makes
the
same complaint.

I'm guessing that they don't like the fact that there's a folder on the XP
PC's hard drive that contains a complete copy of the contents of the 98SE
PC's hard drive. (This is because the only way I could transfer data
between
the two machines was by removing the 98SE PC's hard drive, adding it to
the
XP PC, running a full copy, and then returning it to the 98SE PC. I'm
reluctant to delete any of this copy, as I don't know what I might turn
out
to need as I attempt to set up and use more and more of the old PC's
software and data.)

Can anyone suggest a workaround? I don't want to go without the SR2A
patch,
since it includes an important fix--to the worst of Word's numbering
engine
problems.


--
Regards, Peter Boulding
(e-mail address removed) (to e-mail, remove "UNSPAM")
Fractal Music and Images: http://www.pboulding.co.uk/ and
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=794240&content=music

Actually you should be using SR2b.exe as the patch program as it supercedes
SR2A. Can be downloaded here: (long URL so watch any word wrap.)


http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...42-602E-42B0-89D2-6BE39F1167C1&displaylang=en


To install Office 97 you used the CD that the program is installed on and
ran that program's install? You then downloaded and installed the SR1 from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...0B-4DA8-4FB2-80E4-CCFB8D3C1D0B&displaylang=EN
?

You should do this and then update with the 2b update before copying any of
the settings or templates, etc.

Let me know if this is not what you did.

 

[Peter Boulding]

Actually you should be using SR2b.exe as the patch program as it supercedes
SR2A. Can be downloaded here: (long URL so watch any word wrap.)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...42-602E-42B0-89D2-6BE39F1167C1&displaylang=en

Aha! Thank you.

To install Office 97 you used the CD that the program is installed on and
ran that program's install?
Yes.

You then downloaded and installed the SR1 from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...0B-4DA8-4FB2-80E4-CCFB8D3C1D0B&displaylang=EN
?

No. I had kept my original downloads of SR1 and SR2A, and used these.

You should do this and then update with the 2b update before copying any of
the settings or templates, etc.

Oh. No; I messed with .acl and .dot files and Tools -> Options and suchlike
first.

Let me know if this is not what you did.

Ok, so I didn't. But after all, this was inevitably not the case first time
around; I had of course been using Word 97 for ages before those patches
were released... but now I have problems: your recommended SR2B bombs out
with the same error as SR2A.

What would you suggest?

XP's System Restore created a System Checkpoint on the 23rd. So I could
restore, then reinstall Office 97 from the CD, then download and install SR1
from the address you gave above, and then install SR2B.

But I have this nasty feeling that SR2B will still bomb out because it's
finding a complete install of a fully patched Office 97--including the Win98
registry and everything--buried within the "Old PC" folder...

 

[LVTravel]

Aha! Thank you.



No. I had kept my original downloads of SR1 and SR2A, and used these.


Oh. No; I messed with .acl and .dot files and Tools -> Options and
suchlike
first.


Ok, so I didn't. But after all, this was inevitably not the case first
time
around; I had of course been using Word 97 for ages before those patches
were released... but now I have problems: your recommended SR2B bombs out
with the same error as SR2A.

What would you suggest?

XP's System Restore created a System Checkpoint on the 23rd. So I could
restore, then reinstall Office 97 from the CD, then download and install
SR1
from the address you gave above, and then install SR2B.

But I have this nasty feeling that SR2B will still bomb out because it's
finding a complete install of a fully patched Office 97--including the
Win98
registry and everything--buried within the "Old PC" folder...

--
Regards, Peter Boulding
(e-mail address removed) (to e-mail, remove "UNSPAM")
Fractal Music and Images: http://www.pboulding.co.uk/ and
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=794240&content=music

Ensure that you are installing in a different directory or drive than the
"fully patched Office 97" copy you have.

If you still think this is an issue you could temporarily unhook the second
drive and try the install but I don't think this is the problem.

Do you have any other Office programs installed (including non-activated
trials) other than the failed '97 version? If so you may have to totally
uninstall all later versions before you attempt this install. And with the
failed install you may still have problems getting the install to work. I
once had an issue with an install and had to remove all references to Office
from the registry manually. Hopefully you won't have to go that route. Now
it seems that they have automated it.

See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/158658/EN-US/

 

[Peter Boulding]

Ensure that you are installing in a different directory or drive than the
"fully patched Office 97" copy you have.

Already in a different directory--a folder called "OldPC" that contains of
copy of the Win98PC's entire hard drive.

If you still think this is an issue you could temporarily unhook the second
drive and try the install but I don't think this is the problem.

But the second drive is already gone--back to the Win98SE PC where it
belongs.

Do you have any other Office programs installed (including non-activated
trials) other than the failed '97 version? If so you may have to totally
uninstall all later versions before you attempt this install. And with the
failed install you may still have problems getting the install to work. I
once had an issue with an install and had to remove all references to Office
from the registry manually. Hopefully you won't have to go that route. Now
it seems that they have automated it.

See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/158658/EN-US/

Thanks for all the advice--and apologies for the delay in responding.

Current situation: methinks I'm going to have to remove all traces of the
Win98 install of Office from the XP PC's (only, unpartitioned) drive and
*then* run SR2B.

I need in any case to get backup together, and today got as far as
installing a USB2 card, since I'd have grown cobwebs had I tried to back up
some 39 GB to my newly-acquired external USB hard drive using USB 1.1...
even with high-speed USB 2 a full backup--and verify--of 39 gig is going to
take a while.

The card install went OK but the MS backup utility bombed out after copying
the first four gig because the USB drive, it turns out, is formatted with
FAT32... at which point "you could almost hear the gumption escaping.
Psssssssss."

*When* a reformat (using NTFS) and the backup & verify are complete, I can
delete--from the folder that holds a full copy of the Win98PC's hard
drive--the Program Files/Office Folder and the Windows folder (knowing that
I can later restore them), before disconnecting the external USB hard drive
and trying again to run SR2B. Wish me luck.

"I may be some time."

 

[Peter Boulding]

*When* a reformat (using NTFS) and the backup & verify are complete, I can
delete--from the folder that holds a full copy of the Win98PC's hard
drive--the Program Files/Office Folder and the Windows folder (knowing that
I can later restore them), before disconnecting the external USB hard drive
and trying again to run SR2B. Wish me luck.

"I may be some time."

-- I was. And--well, *that* didn't work. SR2B still bombed out claiming that
either Office 97 isn't installed or multiple copies are...

What next, I wonder? Restore the system back to prior to the installation of
Office 97, delete the *entire* copy of the Win98 PC's hard drive, and then
try reinstalling Office 97 followed by the SR1 and SR2 patches? (I have this
nasty feeling that SR2B will *still* refuse to run, having found XPSP3 DLLs
that are more up-to-date than it expects...

Any suggestions?

 

[LVTravel]

-- I was. And--well, *that* didn't work. SR2B still bombed out claiming
that
either Office 97 isn't installed or multiple copies are...

What next, I wonder? Restore the system back to prior to the installation
of
Office 97, delete the *entire* copy of the Win98 PC's hard drive, and then
try reinstalling Office 97 followed by the SR1 and SR2 patches? (I have
this
nasty feeling that SR2B will *still* refuse to run, having found XPSP3
DLLs
that are more up-to-date than it expects...

Any suggestions?


--
Regards, Peter Boulding
(e-mail address removed) (to e-mail, remove "UNSPAM")
Fractal Music and Images: http://www.pboulding.co.uk/ and
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=794240&content=music

I do not know what your issue is. I do know that Office '97 will run
without any issues on Windows XP SP3 as I have two systems running that
configuration. There should be no problem with XP SP3's DLL files.

Follow the link I gave you in my previous about totally removing Office 97.

Make sure that there are no other Office programs installed (even trial
ones) also.

Once completely uninstalled reboot the computer and reinstall Office 97 from
the original installation disk.

Once that is installed, update with SP1 download and then reboot computer
and install the SP2B download.

This is the only way you will get the program operational. This will be the
only way to get it to run and you need to follow the steps exactly.

 

[Peter Boulding]

I do not know what your issue is. I do know that Office '97 will run
without any issues on Windows XP SP3 as I have two systems running that
configuration. There should be no problem with XP SP3's DLL files.

Follow the link I gave you in my previous about totally removing Office 97.

Make sure that there are no other Office programs installed (even trial
ones) also.

Once completely uninstalled reboot the computer and reinstall Office 97 from
the original installation disk.

Once that is installed, update with SP1 download and then reboot computer
and install the SP2B download.

This is the only way you will get the program operational. This will be the
only way to get it to run and you need to follow the steps exactly.

<reads>

Jeesh: even with the help of the latest eraser97.exe this looks like it's
going to be fun...

Later--

 

[Peter Boulding]

<reads>

Jeesh: even with the help of the latest eraser97.exe this looks like it's
going to be fun...

.... and it was.

After uninstalling Office I found that the post-uninstallation cleanup tool
Eraser 97.exe doesn't do a halfway adequate job, so I had to search for,
and, where they existed, delete, the large quantity of files and registry
entries listed on the knowledgebase page you referenced. Then I deleted,
from the XP PC's hard drive, the entire 30+gig copy of the 98SE PC's drive.

Office 97 installed OK, but SR1 bombed out with a complaint that it couldn't
find a drive with room for its installation files (there's no way to tell it
"don't be silly--drive C has 100 gig of free space"). For no comprehensible
reason it changed its mind and installed OK when I ejected the office 97
CD...

Then SR2B then made the same ridiculous complaint--that it couldn't find
$bignum of space--and didn't seem to care whether or not there was a CD in
the CD drive. Eventually I realised that because MS Backup stores all your
files and folders in one huge *.bkf file, I could afford to reattach the
external USB drive without once more inviting the "can't run because
multiple versions are installed" error. As I hoped (if for no obvious
reason) this persuaded SR2B to run successfully, and at last I had a patched
Office 97 on the XP PC, and could now restore the whole 39 gig copy of the
98SE PC's drive...

.... once I'd restored the various .DOTs and .ACLs I could at last test Word
properly--only to discover that, for no obvious reason, ALL of my word
processing files are missing from that copy. So it looks like I'm going to
have to remove the old PC's hard drive and temporarily fit it to the new PC
AGAIN ... once I've plucked up the courage.

<sigh>

Many thanks for your advice and pointers.

 

[LVTravel]

... and it was.

After uninstalling Office I found that the post-uninstallation cleanup
tool
Eraser 97.exe doesn't do a halfway adequate job, so I had to search for,
and, where they existed, delete, the large quantity of files and registry
entries listed on the knowledgebase page you referenced. Then I deleted,
from the XP PC's hard drive, the entire 30+gig copy of the 98SE PC's
drive.

Office 97 installed OK, but SR1 bombed out with a complaint that it
couldn't
find a drive with room for its installation files (there's no way to tell
it
"don't be silly--drive C has 100 gig of free space"). For no
comprehensible
reason it changed its mind and installed OK when I ejected the office 97
CD...

Then SR2B then made the same ridiculous complaint--that it couldn't find
$bignum of space--and didn't seem to care whether or not there was a CD in
the CD drive. Eventually I realised that because MS Backup stores all your
files and folders in one huge *.bkf file, I could afford to reattach the
external USB drive without once more inviting the "can't run because
multiple versions are installed" error. As I hoped (if for no obvious
reason) this persuaded SR2B to run successfully, and at last I had a
patched
Office 97 on the XP PC, and could now restore the whole 39 gig copy of the
98SE PC's drive...

... once I'd restored the various .DOTs and .ACLs I could at last test
Word
properly--only to discover that, for no obvious reason, ALL of my word
processing files are missing from that copy. So it looks like I'm going to
have to remove the old PC's hard drive and temporarily fit it to the new
PC
AGAIN ... once I've plucked up the courage.

<sigh>

Many thanks for your advice and pointers.


--
Regards, Peter Boulding
(e-mail address removed) (to e-mail, remove "UNSPAM")
Fractal Music and Images: http://www.pboulding.co.uk/ and
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=794240&content=music

You have an external USB hard drive (hopefully it is formatted as a FAT32
drive and not NTFS as the Win98 machine wont recognize the NTFS format.?)
If so, plug that into your Win98 machine and copy the data files, etc to the
USB drive then unplug and hook to the new machine and copy files. Easier
than pulling one drive and attaching to the second machine.

 

[Peter Boulding]

You have an external USB hard drive (hopefully it is formatted as a FAT32
drive and not NTFS as the Win98 machine wont recognize the NTFS format.?)
If so, plug that into your Win98 machine and copy the data files, etc to the
USB drive then unplug and hook to the new machine and copy files. Easier
than pulling one drive and attaching to the second machine.

Good thinking, but...

It *was* formatted as a FAT32 drive; MS Backup, however, bombed out on
account of FAT32's 4-gig limit, and I had to reformat it to NTFS.

But in any case despite review comments to the contrary, the drive--a
Transcend Storjet--is nowadays supplied without a driver for Win98SE. I
contacted Transcend, but apart from an autoresponse promising a human reply
within two working days, they never got back to me despite further nagging,
and my search for said driver produced zero results.

So the USB drive could not in any case be used for this purpose. That's why
I have already once borrowed the hard drive from the 98 PC and temporarily
fitted it to the XP PC--the process I shall now have to repeat.

 

[LVTravel]

Good thinking, but...

It *was* formatted as a FAT32 drive; MS Backup, however, bombed out on
account of FAT32's 4-gig limit, and I had to reformat it to NTFS.

But in any case despite review comments to the contrary, the drive--a
Transcend Storjet--is nowadays supplied without a driver for Win98SE. I
contacted Transcend, but apart from an autoresponse promising a human
reply
within two working days, they never got back to me despite further
nagging,
and my search for said driver produced zero results.

So the USB drive could not in any case be used for this purpose. That's
why
I have already once borrowed the hard drive from the 98 PC and temporarily
fitted it to the XP PC--the process I shall now have to repeat.

--
Regards, Peter Boulding
(e-mail address removed) (to e-mail, remove "UNSPAM")
Fractal Music and Images: http://www.pboulding.co.uk/ and
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=794240&content=music

Aw Shucks!