Word 2003 keeps trying to "install components"

[Purusha Ishaya]

I have been using Office 2003 for years. Since a recent update I am getting
a very strange "error". Even though I have NOT chosen to install anything,
when Word first opens, a Windows installer window opens and then a progress
box that indicates it is "installing components". It does NOT say what it is
installing. However, I have to insert my Office CD in order for it to
complete. If I do NOT insert the CD, it starts looking for either SKU011.CAB
or PRO11.MSI...if it does NOT find it, eventually the installer tells me that
"Word has not been installed for this user".
I am running XP Pro SP2 with all updates. Office is on SP3 with all
updates. I am a "supervisor level" user. I have tried uninstalling and
reinstalling with no change. This also happens with Excel. Please
help...this is VERY time consuming.

 

[Rhett]

I'm sorry you're having this problem, sounds alot like mine only I have to
reload all of Office Pro 2003. My problem started last week (see Office
Discussion Group) Do you know what kind of update you did just before the
glitch showed up?
Good Luck.

 

[Purusha Ishaya]

It was one of the regular Microsoft updates...included the Remove the "Bad
Nasties" for December software

 

[Rhett]

I thought so. My husband (who keeps all the electronics running around here)
had done the "I must be crazy to do this! Tuesday" downloads a day or so
before I started having problems. Good luck in getting your problem resolved.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Sounds like you have corrupted your installer. Run the install cleanup
utility and reinstall Office. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

 

[Purusha Ishaya]

Weeellll...as suddenly remembered when the problem started...it was AFTER I
installed the 2007 converters...to open Office 2007 in Office 2003. After
spending a day digging around on the Internet...it seemed like the problem
may have been due to Office needing to "re-register" itself every so often.

So I went rummaging through the registry and found a LOT of Office12 (2007)
keys in there. I uninstalled the converters...found an Internet post telling
where to look for 2007 registry keys....deleted all of those.

Then I took your advice and ran the Office Removal Wizard...then ran the
Windows Installer Cleanup program, and got rid of Office 2003 and OneNote
2003. Then I ran a registry cleaner (RegVac - the best!) and rebooted.

Then I reinstalled Office 2003 and OneNote 2003...updated them both with SP3
and updates....and...IT WORKS!!!!

I'll post here again if it goes sour again.

 

[Terry Farrell]

It sounds as though two different events occurred. One is that an automatic
update ran whilst Word was running causing the Word Data Key to corrupt. The
other was the Office Installer must have corrupted when you installed the
Office 2007 compatibility pack. Neither should have occurred, of course.

Terry

 

[Rhett]

Purusha -
Did the 2007 converters come in on last update Tuesdays downloads? If so,
which downloads were they? Where did you find the internet post telling you
the 2007 registry keys that you deleted? Thanks.

 

[Purusha Ishaya]

No, the converters were something that I had downloaded from Microsoft Office
download site and installed. This problem has actually been ongoing for a
couple of weeks...so I don't know now which update caused it...sorry.
But even more sorry I am to tell you that it's the next day after my 'great
fix' I reported above...and it's broken again!! Damn! Back to the drawing
board...:-(

 

[Purusha]

I thought about what you said again Terry... and maybe I have found the
problem. Oh, Rhett, I think the updates were the ones that included this new
"Office Genuine Advantage" nonsense. And I think that's what caused this
problem.

Anyway, I borrowed a friend's laptop that is running fine, and is running
the same Office configuration as mine, and started comparing the Office
registry area.

The glaring difference was in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\General. My
friend's registry had a binary string key named "Data" with the value of
"C:\DOCUME~1\ALLUSE~1\APPLIC~1\MICROS~1\OFFICE\DATA\OPA11.BAK". My registry
was missing that key. And when I went to look in the file location
listed...there was no OPA11.BAK file, only a OPA11.dat file! The .bak file
is required for program activation!!!

So, I copied the opa11 files onto my machine, and then exported the registry
key from my friend's registry, and then merged into my registry...and this
seems to be working just like new....! Yippee!

 

[Purusha]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!!
The problem with all of this is that OPA11.BAK kept being deleted by System
Mechanic's "junk file" cleaner. Then later on, when the registry cleaner ran
it would delete the key dealing with that file. Evidently, OPA11.BAK is
needed by Office for it's activation/validation check.

I've reinstalled that file and key...Office runs perfectly...and I've been
able to replicate the problem by running SysMech's Active Care (which I've
now edited to exclude *.BAK files!).

YIPPEE!