Unable to Update Office 2003 - Error! Unable to check for updates on this computer

[oomm]

Recently updated all my computers from Office Update with the latest security patches, but one computer *the one I use most* suddenly will refuse update or repair Office 2003. When I go to Office Update page and it scans for updates I recieve the following error:
_____________________________________________________________
Error! Unable to check for updates on this compute

The Office Update site is unable to check for updates on this computer. This may be happening because of one of the following reasons:

*You do not have administrative privileges for this computer.
*There is a network problem and the detection catalog used by the Office Update site failed to download. Go back to the Downloads home page and try running detection again.
*Windows Installer patch files (.MSP files) from previously applied Office updates are missing from the \Windows\Installer hidden directory on your computer. MSP files are stored on your computer after update installation completes because they need to be referenced for future update operations. If the files are missing you will not be able to apply Office updates. You may also be unable to uninstall Office products as a result of the same problem. Please contact Microsoft Product Support for assistance.
*You installed Office updates in the past and then upgraded from Windows Installer version 1.0 to Windows Installer version 1.1. For more information see the KB article Windows Installer May Prompt for Install Source if Unavailable.

Search for Office updates in the Download Catalog

Report the error to Microsoft
__________________________________________________________
I have checked out the msp files and they are there, I have also checked the network and there are no problems I can detect - the other computers can go through the scanning process just fine. And the user for the computer is Administrative. I don't know of anything that would have updated the Windows Installer - frankly all the computers are mirrors of eachother with the software installed on them etc, so I don't see what could be causing this issue.

Please help me.

 

[Allistair]

This worked for me without screwing anything else up. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS
IN CAPITALS FIRST!

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\<Product code number
that refers to Office 2003>\Patchesold

By golly gee it really works. Here is how.
Open Start
-Run
Type in run "Regedit" without the quotes
-Edit type in "Patches" without the quotes
When the first Patches shows up right click on it and
-rename "patchesold"
-F3 key finds the next one. Keep doing this until all are
renamed.
ONLY DO KEYS (left side of screen) that say PATCHES DO
NOT DO APPPATCHES.
Close regedit
Go to Office update and by golly it updates.

About time.

Recently updated all my computers from Office Update with the latest

security patches, but one computer *the one I use most* suddenly will refuse
update or repair Office 2003. When I go to Office Update page and it scans
for updates I recieve the following error:

_____________________________________________________________
Error! Unable to check for updates on this computer

The Office Update site is unable to check for updates on this computer.

This may be happening because of one of the following reasons:

*You do not have administrative privileges for this computer.
*There is a network problem and the detection catalog used by the Office

Update site failed to download. Go back to the Downloads home page and try
running detection again.

*Windows Installer patch files (.MSP files) from previously applied Office

updates are missing from the \Windows\Installer hidden directory on your
computer. MSP files are stored on your computer after update installation
completes because they need to be referenced for future update operations.
If the files are missing you will not be able to apply Office updates. You
may also be unable to uninstall Office products as a result of the same
problem. Please contact Microsoft Product Support for assistance.

*You installed Office updates in the past and then upgraded from Windows

Installer version 1.0 to Windows Installer version 1.1. For more information
see the KB article Windows Installer May Prompt for Install Source if
Unavailable.

Search for Office updates in the Download Catalog

Report the error to Microsoft
__________________________________________________________
I have checked out the msp files and they are there, I have also checked

the network and there are no problems I can detect - the other computers can
go through the scanning process just fine. And the user for the computer is
Administrative. I don't know of anything that would have updated the Windows
Installer - frankly all the computers are mirrors of eachother with the
software installed on them etc, so I don't see what could be causing this
issue.

 

[cfont]

YEAH, this worked for me.

yesterday i performed some other registry removals that really screwed some things up for me. luckily i was able to reimport my registry and start over. the other reg edits worked as far as this problem was concerned but it messed up some other stuff. whereas, this fix worked beautifully... at least so far...