Update Problems

[scott-pwfb]

"Hmm, strange. If you have the time and patience, you might want to
consider
removing and reinstalling Office. Use the Remove Office tool which you
can
find in Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Additional Tools/Remove
Office,
and after that, reinstall Office. Now launch Microsoft AutoUpdate (in
your
Applications folder) and check for updates a number of times, until all
the
available updates have been found. This should do the job, normally."


Michel et al-

I finally got around to trying the above procedure and it appears as
though my PB is possesed ;-) as I used these instructions and office is
still there!

As a reminder, my problem is that when I prompted to update office
(11.2.3?) I get an error message that it can not find office
components.

Sorry for the new post BTW. When I tried to update the older one, I got
a moderator error rejection message.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks, Scott

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Scott,

yes, on the one or two occasions when I had to reinstall Office, I remember
that the Office folder inside the Applications folder was still there. Using
the Remove Office tool will remove all the files that would not have been
deleted by simply trashing the Microsoft Office 2004 folder; since you've
run the uninstaller, it should now be safe to drag that folder to the trash.
To be completely safe, run the uninstaller once again, then delete the
folder (if it's still there) and empty the trash. You should then be able to
reinstall Office and apply all the updates either by using the Microsoft
AutoUpdate application or by downloading the 11.2.3 combo updater from
Mactopia.

Michel et al-

I finally got around to trying the above procedure and it appears as
though my PB is possesed ;-) as I used these instructions and office is
still there!

As a reminder, my problem is that when I prompted to update office
(11.2.3?) I get an error message that it can not find office
components.

Sorry for the new post BTW. When I tried to update the older one, I got
a moderator error rejection message.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks, Scott

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Word & Entourage)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[scott-pwfb]

Well Michel, I finally got around to to trying to do this update. I
followed your suggestions to the T, but, same error message. I
experiences this whether I download the update from Mactopia, or I try
it within an Office Application.

Time to throw in the towel?

....Scott

 

[Michel Bintener]

Nah, we're not going to give up that early, are we? So first of all, are you
*absolutely* sure that you are using Office 2004, and not Office v.X?
Unlikely as this may be, it would nevertheless explain the error message. If
it truly is Office 2004 (and that's what it's most likely to be, according
to your previous posts), see if you can apply Security Pack 2, the second
major upgrade that was released before the 11.2.3 update. You can find that
one in Mactopia's download section, too:
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx>. If that upgrade worked, see
if you can then apply the 11.2.3 updater. Let me know how it went.

Well Michel, I finally got around to to trying to do this update. I
followed your suggestions to the T, but, same error message. I
experiences this whether I download the update from Mactopia, or I try
it within an Office Application.

Time to throw in the towel?

...Scott

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[scott-pwfb]

Thanks Michel!

First, yes, it is Office 2004. In fact, I have the box in front of me.
"Microsoft Office: mac 2004 Student and Teacher Edition". The part
number is x10-58874.

I did try to download and install the file (Microsoft Office 2004 for
Mac Service Pack 2 (11.2.0)) that you mentioned, but, I got the exact
same error message as when I tried to download 11.2.3 update.

Thanks, Scott

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Scott,

now we're slowly reaching the point where I'm running out of suggestions.
But there are two more things I'd like you to try:

Firstly, have you repaired your disk permissions lately? It's a standard Mac
OS X housecleaning activity, and it seems to solve a lot of problems. You
can use Disk Utility (found in Applications/Utilities) to do that, but
you'll need a Mac OS X startup disc (the disc you used to install Mac OS X).
Search Disk Utility's Help feature for "repair permissions" to find out
more.

If Office refuses to be updated after your permissions have been repaired,
there's one last thing I can think of trying. Create a new Mac OS X user
account in your System Preferences, and give that user administrator
privileges. Quit any open Office applications, then disable the Database
Daemon (launch Activity Monitor in Applications/Utilities, select Database
Daemon from the list and click on the stop icon in the upper left corner).
Now switch to that new user account, and see if you can manually install the
11.2.3 update from there. If you can, then Office will be updated for every
user on your Powerbook, since it resides in the Applications folder to which
every user has access. If all goes well, you can switch back to your old
user account and delete the new one since you won't be needing that anymore.

If none of these suggestions do work, I'm afraid I can't really help you any
further. Good luck!

Thanks Michel!

First, yes, it is Office 2004. In fact, I have the box in front of me.
"Microsoft Office: mac 2004 Student and Teacher Edition". The part
number is x10-58874.

I did try to download and install the file (Microsoft Office 2004 for
Mac Service Pack 2 (11.2.0)) that you mentioned, but, I got the exact
same error message as when I tried to download 11.2.3 update.

Thanks, Scott

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[scott-pwfb]

Thanks Michel. Sadly, no luck. For whatever its worth, when I went to
do this part-

"then disable the Database Daemon (launch Activity Monitor in
Applications/Utilities, select Database
Daemon from the list and click on the stop icon in the upper left
corner)"

Database Daemon was NOT in the list or showing as active. I went into
the properties of my log-in (accounts) and under "login items"
Microsoft AU Daemon was not checked and there are two listings for
Microsoft Daemon (one shows as an application with an icon and the
other is just a name with no "kind" shown) and neither of these are
checked either.

Does this have any impact on any of this?

Thanks, Scott

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Scott,

*two* database daemons? There should only be one, and that one should have
an icon that looks like the Entourage icon, only with a small file box in
the lower left corner. Click on the other one and remove it from the login
items (the "minus" button below the list). It doesn't really matter if the
login items are checked or not; the checkbox refers not to their status
(active/inactive), but whether Mac OS X hides these applications at startup
or not.

Now that there's only one daemon in your login items, restart your Mac and
see if you can apply the updates now. I would be surprised if that were the
case, since the method with the new user account should have worked then.
Nevertheless, it's all I can suggest right now.

Do you have any idea how the second database daemon might have got there?
Did you use Office v.X previously, or did you at some point install the
Office 2004 Test Drive?

Thanks Michel. Sadly, no luck. For whatever its worth, when I went to
do this part-

"then disable the Database Daemon (launch Activity Monitor in
Applications/Utilities, select Database
Daemon from the list and click on the stop icon in the upper left
corner)"

Database Daemon was NOT in the list or showing as active. I went into
the properties of my log-in (accounts) and under "login items"
Microsoft AU Daemon was not checked and there are two listings for
Microsoft Daemon (one shows as an application with an icon and the
other is just a name with no "kind" shown) and neither of these are
checked either.

Does this have any impact on any of this?

Thanks, Scott

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[scott-pwfb]

Thanks again Michel. Before I restart, should I leave "Microsoft AU
Daemon" as is?

No, I am clueless as to how the second database daemon got there. At
one point, and this is a long and painful story, Apple had me reinstall
the OS. At the time it caused all kinds of issues, which, are okay now
except for this update problem.

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

The Microsoft AU Daemon is for the Microsoft AutoUpdate application - it's
got nothing to do with any of this, nor with Office v. X. Don't worry about
it. It appears in Activity Monitor only if you have checked the
"Automatically" button in the Microsoft AutoUpdate application window.
Otherwise it does not appear (which is why Michel has never seen it, I'd
guess). The AY Daemon has nothing to do with the Database Daemon and does
not interfere with Entourage at all. It's no problem, and does not need to
be quit.

If you are in Tiger, the (2004) "Database Daemon" appears by name in the
Activity Monitor list as in the quotes here - with no preceding "Microsoft"
name, but with a purple Entourage-looking icon plus a little arrow at bottom
left. (In System Preferences/Accounts/Login Items list, it does include the
"Microsoft" in the name, which is confusing - same daemon.) The (Office X)
"Database Daemon" has the same (non-"Microsoft") name in Activity Monitor,
but no icon, so you can tell them apart. (In System Prefs/Accounts/Login
Items. it look exactly the same as the 2004 one, with "Microsoft" in the
name and an icon, so you have to turn both off if they both show up and you
don't want the wrong one to launch on next login.) In Panther, it's possible
that both 2004 and X Database daemons Include the "Microsoft" in the name in
Activity Monitor - I forget now, but I vaguely recall that might be the
case. I'd guess the same difference of icon/no icon would pertain as in
Tiger.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.

 

[scott-pwfb]

Thanks Paul. Well, I did remove the one without the icon (as you
described) and re-started. Unfortunately, still can't do the update. I
continue to get the same ("the installer could not locate the correct
version of this software required to install the update........"

Man, this is frustrating! Any other ideas before I have to throw in the
towel?

Thanks, Scott

 

[Michel Bintener]

Well, here's one more idea: some Mac programs (like iWork, for instance)
require the applications to be inside the Applications folder itself. The
two iWork applications, Pages and Keynote, will not update if they are not
in a folder called "iWork" inside the Applications folder. Now I've never
heard of a similar problem regarding Microsoft Office, but I guess at this
stage of our troubleshooting, any suggestion will do. Can you confirm that
your Office installation resides in Macintosh HD>Applications>Microsoft
Office 2004? Or have you moved the programs into different folders where the
updater cannot possibly find them?

Thanks Paul. Well, I did remove the one without the icon (as you
described) and re-started. Unfortunately, still can't do the update. I
continue to get the same ("the installer could not locate the correct
version of this software required to install the update........"

Man, this is frustrating! Any other ideas before I have to throw in the
towel?

Thanks, Scott

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[scott-pwfb]

I just checked the Applications folder Michel and I see "Microsoft
Office 2004" and "Microsoft AutoUpdate" next to it. Should this be
moved into the Microsoft Office 2004 folder?


"Can you confirm that your Office installation resides in Macintosh
HD>Applications>Microsoft Office 2004? Or have you moved the programs
into different folders where the updater cannot possibly find them?"

I don't see an "office installation" application/folder per se
anywhere.

Thanks, Scott

 

[dfritzin]

Well, here's one more idea: some Mac programs (like iWork, for instance)
require the applications to be inside the Applications folder itself. The
two iWork applications, Pages and Keynote, will not update if they are not
in a folder called "iWork" inside the Applications folder. Now I've never
heard of a similar problem regarding Microsoft Office, but I guess at this
stage of our troubleshooting, any suggestion will do. Can you confirm that
your Office installation resides in Macintosh HD>Applications>Microsoft
Office 2004? Or have you moved the programs into different folders where the
updater cannot possibly find them?

IIRC, in Office X (at least), didn't the office applications (Word,
Excel, Powerpoint, and Entourage) have to be resident inside the Office
folder for the applications to work properly? Is it the same with
Office 2004?

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

I just checked the Applications folder Michel and I see "Microsoft
Office 2004" and "Microsoft AutoUpdate" next to it. Should this be
moved into the Microsoft Office 2004 folder?
NO.



"Can you confirm that your Office installation resides in Macintosh
HD>Applications>Microsoft Office 2004? Or have you moved the programs
into different folders where the updater cannot possibly find them?"

I don't see an "office installation" application/folder per se
anywhere.

He just meant your Microsoft Office 2004 folder. And no, it actually doesn't
matter where your various Office apps are but it's best to leave them where
you have them

This is not an issue in your case.


--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.

 

[scott-pwfb]

Thanks Paul. I appreciate all of the help and guidance you and Michel
have offered. Seems like I will not be able to do the update, but, I
truly am grateful for all of your efforts.

....Scott

 

[scott-pwfb]

I don't know if this information sheds any new light on my update
problem or not, but, just in case.

When I open Word and click on "check for updates", I get this error
message.

"An error occurred while trying to launch Microsoft AutoUpdate.
[PLACEHOLDER}

 

[scott-pwfb]

For what its worth, here is the latest news. I called Microsoft this
afternoon and spoke to a great guy in Nova Scotia. We tried a lot of
other things other than what Michel and Paul suggested. Unfortunately
none of it worked. He then had me re-boot with the shift key depressed,
to put it in safe mode, which, did not work. We tried 3 more times, all
to no avail.

He then spoke to a Level 2 tech support person. Apparently this is a
known issue relating to Apple. I am using version 10.4.6. and the Level
2 said that they have been averaging 2 calls per week on this and that
I should contact Apple.

I guess that's my next stop.

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Scott,

thanks for keeping us updated on your problem, and sorry we can't be of any
further assistance. I hope you'll be able to get the update to work at some
point.

For what its worth, here is the latest news. I called Microsoft this
afternoon and spoke to a great guy in Nova Scotia. We tried a lot of
other things other than what Michel and Paul suggested. Unfortunately
none of it worked. He then had me re-boot with the shift key depressed,
to put it in safe mode, which, did not work. We tried 3 more times, all
to no avail.

He then spoke to a Level 2 tech support person. Apparently this is a
known issue relating to Apple. I am using version 10.4.6. and the Level
2 said that they have been averaging 2 calls per week on this and that
I should contact Apple.

I guess that's my next stop.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[scott-pwfb]

No apologies needed Michel, I truly appreciate all of your efforts!
What I do find troubling is that this is a "known issue" yet the Level
1 M.S. reps don't know about it! Apparently its related to Tiger. I am
pasting below the follow-up email I received from M.S. Now the question
is how do I reach Apple to convey this without paying for support?

Here is a summary of the key points of the case for your records.

Remove and reinstall Microsoft Auto-Updater.
Cannot Auto-Update.
Cannot remove software with Remove Tool.
Manually removed software.
Saved Main Identity and removed MUD folder.
Cannot empty trash because several items are in use. Restarted
computer.
Emptied trash.
Re-installed Office 2004.
Installed the Updates.
Will not install.
Turned off Norton Antivirus.
Turned off Firewall.
Cannot install updates.
Start in Safe Boot.
Cannot start in Safe Boot.
Manually downloaded the update and it cannot find the software.
Called Tier 2 - Glenn - indicates it is an known issue.
Referred to Apple.

This solution has resolved the issue.