cannot repair or install office 2k on xp sp2

[Beemer Biker]

Something got corrupted on my XP SP2 system. After uninstalling Office 2k
pro I cannot re-install it. The CD works just fine on another XP SP2 system
that never had office, but I cannot re-install on my own system. I even
tried another copy of Office 2k pro (not sp2) and it would not get accepted
either.

History: I have been getting a nag that the paper-clip guy needed to be
repaired and I got tired of reading that nag every time I brought up word.
So I dug out my Office 2000 Pro sr1 cd and did a repair:

Brought up the control-panel change/remove and selected change
Did a repair, followed instructions. CD seemed to load just fine.
Last window would not close. ie: the control panel one that listed all
those products to be installed/repaired. Clicking on it would not give
focus to that window and I had to log off to close it.

I repeated the above, re-install did not thing to get rid of the prompt that
the office assistant had a problem and needed to be repaired.

I uninstalled Office 2000 pro and then Re-install it. Failed to install
giving product key invalid. Tried this several time. Went to another
computer AFAICT identical to my own and the CD with office accepted the
product key. I then goggled up on invalid product keys and setup
failures...

Tried: e:\setup /Lxd "c:\mylog.txt" and looked at the log

I can see the serial # being inputted in the log. There is nothing wrong
with the serial number other than it not being accepted. I do see debug
message as follows: "gray panel of userinfo extends 1 pixel past the
control surface" or some such crap. Also see the debug message " unable to
focus on panel" or some such crap.
Both say to alert the microsoft techies, but I checked a couple of other
system that are working fine, located
\Temp\...office ... msie xxxx.txt" and saw the same funny debug error
messages so it can't be fatal since the other system are working and no one
called the microsoft techies.

Read where "erase2000" can be used to clear out the registery of all office
2000 key info. However, the knowledge article clearly says not to use that
program on XP. Out of luck.

I went and searched thru the registery for office10 and deleted entries that
seemed deletable. Made no difference. Did something has corrupted the
registery????

I repeated the install :
...logged in as administrator on machine (got the real administrator to log
in for me as I cant)
...logged in as myself, an administator on machine (but not domain
controller)
...logged in as myself, an administrator on the domain (but not domain
controller)

Since Office 2000 was installed, my machine was upgraded to XP SP2 and the
domain was changed. Not that this makes a difference???? I mentioned the
above "not domain controller" as there are some priviledges I do not have
access to like looking at the partitions on a disk so I know I am not a full
administrator which i noted as "not domain controller"

Could some local security policy be corrupted? What would cause the system
not to accept the 25 character key on this computer but on another system it
gets accepted???

 

[George Hester]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

 

[George Hester]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

 

[George Hester]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

 

[George Hester]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

 

[George Hester]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

 

[George Hester]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

 

[George Hester]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

 

[George Hester]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

 

[George Hester]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

 

[Beemer Biker]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

SNIP

Thanks George, but I tried 3 times installing Office 2k pro as indicated
above and in each case was stopped by that invalid serial#. It had already
been uninstalled so there was nothing to uninstall.

I brought up the system restore utility and set the system back a week and
it put office 2k back in automatically. When I logged on this morning,
Office went thru its user prererence install and I now have Office 2k back
working. However, I am also back to where I get that nag screen about the
office assistant needing to be repaired. I will have to put up with that
nag screen it would appear.

My guess is that this machine was loaded with office 2k using some other
seria# and an uninstall did not remove all the key info from the registery.
I am just guessing as our administrator swears he used the exact same cd. I
downloaded a program "prodkey.exe" but it failed to reveal the license key
used on any of the computers in the net (they are on a local net and cannot
be connected to the internet). The documentation that came with "prodkey"
indicated that old copies of office 2k do not have the license key
available, only the "oem" number can be seen. We have a site license for
office2k so it is unlikely another serial# was used. I am just guessing as
to what the problem is. Our serial# is legit and is not one of the ones
floating around like GC6...

 

[Beemer Biker]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

SNIP

Thanks George, but I tried 3 times installing Office 2k pro as indicated
above and in each case was stopped by that invalid serial#. It had already
been uninstalled so there was nothing to uninstall.

I brought up the system restore utility and set the system back a week and
it put office 2k back in automatically. When I logged on this morning,
Office went thru its user prererence install and I now have Office 2k back
working. However, I am also back to where I get that nag screen about the
office assistant needing to be repaired. I will have to put up with that
nag screen it would appear.

My guess is that this machine was loaded with office 2k using some other
seria# and an uninstall did not remove all the key info from the registery.
I am just guessing as our administrator swears he used the exact same cd. I
downloaded a program "prodkey.exe" but it failed to reveal the license key
used on any of the computers in the net (they are on a local net and cannot
be connected to the internet). The documentation that came with "prodkey"
indicated that old copies of office 2k do not have the license key
available, only the "oem" number can be seen. We have a site license for
office2k so it is unlikely another serial# was used. I am just guessing as
to what the problem is. Our serial# is legit and is not one of the ones
floating around like GC6...

 

[Beemer Biker]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

SNIP

Thanks George, but I tried 3 times installing Office 2k pro as indicated
above and in each case was stopped by that invalid serial#. It had already
been uninstalled so there was nothing to uninstall.

I brought up the system restore utility and set the system back a week and
it put office 2k back in automatically. When I logged on this morning,
Office went thru its user prererence install and I now have Office 2k back
working. However, I am also back to where I get that nag screen about the
office assistant needing to be repaired. I will have to put up with that
nag screen it would appear.

My guess is that this machine was loaded with office 2k using some other
seria# and an uninstall did not remove all the key info from the registery.
I am just guessing as our administrator swears he used the exact same cd. I
downloaded a program "prodkey.exe" but it failed to reveal the license key
used on any of the computers in the net (they are on a local net and cannot
be connected to the internet). The documentation that came with "prodkey"
indicated that old copies of office 2k do not have the license key
available, only the "oem" number can be seen. We have a site license for
office2k so it is unlikely another serial# was used. I am just guessing as
to what the problem is. Our serial# is legit and is not one of the ones
floating around like GC6...

 

[Beemer Biker]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

SNIP

Thanks George, but I tried 3 times installing Office 2k pro as indicated
above and in each case was stopped by that invalid serial#. It had already
been uninstalled so there was nothing to uninstall.

I brought up the system restore utility and set the system back a week and
it put office 2k back in automatically. When I logged on this morning,
Office went thru its user prererence install and I now have Office 2k back
working. However, I am also back to where I get that nag screen about the
office assistant needing to be repaired. I will have to put up with that
nag screen it would appear.

My guess is that this machine was loaded with office 2k using some other
seria# and an uninstall did not remove all the key info from the registery.
I am just guessing as our administrator swears he used the exact same cd. I
downloaded a program "prodkey.exe" but it failed to reveal the license key
used on any of the computers in the net (they are on a local net and cannot
be connected to the internet). The documentation that came with "prodkey"
indicated that old copies of office 2k do not have the license key
available, only the "oem" number can be seen. We have a site license for
office2k so it is unlikely another serial# was used. I am just guessing as
to what the problem is. Our serial# is legit and is not one of the ones
floating around like GC6...

 

[Beemer Biker]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

SNIP

Thanks George, but I tried 3 times installing Office 2k pro as indicated
above and in each case was stopped by that invalid serial#. It had already
been uninstalled so there was nothing to uninstall.

I brought up the system restore utility and set the system back a week and
it put office 2k back in automatically. When I logged on this morning,
Office went thru its user prererence install and I now have Office 2k back
working. However, I am also back to where I get that nag screen about the
office assistant needing to be repaired. I will have to put up with that
nag screen it would appear.

My guess is that this machine was loaded with office 2k using some other
seria# and an uninstall did not remove all the key info from the registery.
I am just guessing as our administrator swears he used the exact same cd. I
downloaded a program "prodkey.exe" but it failed to reveal the license key
used on any of the computers in the net (they are on a local net and cannot
be connected to the internet). The documentation that came with "prodkey"
indicated that old copies of office 2k do not have the license key
available, only the "oem" number can be seen. We have a site license for
office2k so it is unlikely another serial# was used. I am just guessing as
to what the problem is. Our serial# is legit and is not one of the ones
floating around like GC6...

 

[Beemer Biker]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

SNIP

Thanks George, but I tried 3 times installing Office 2k pro as indicated
above and in each case was stopped by that invalid serial#. It had already
been uninstalled so there was nothing to uninstall.

I brought up the system restore utility and set the system back a week and
it put office 2k back in automatically. When I logged on this morning,
Office went thru its user prererence install and I now have Office 2k back
working. However, I am also back to where I get that nag screen about the
office assistant needing to be repaired. I will have to put up with that
nag screen it would appear.

My guess is that this machine was loaded with office 2k using some other
seria# and an uninstall did not remove all the key info from the registery.
I am just guessing as our administrator swears he used the exact same cd. I
downloaded a program "prodkey.exe" but it failed to reveal the license key
used on any of the computers in the net (they are on a local net and cannot
be connected to the internet). The documentation that came with "prodkey"
indicated that old copies of office 2k do not have the license key
available, only the "oem" number can be seen. We have a site license for
office2k so it is unlikely another serial# was used. I am just guessing as
to what the problem is. Our serial# is legit and is not one of the ones
floating around like GC6...

 

[Beemer Biker]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

SNIP

Thanks George, but I tried 3 times installing Office 2k pro as indicated
above and in each case was stopped by that invalid serial#. It had already
been uninstalled so there was nothing to uninstall.

I brought up the system restore utility and set the system back a week and
it put office 2k back in automatically. When I logged on this morning,
Office went thru its user prererence install and I now have Office 2k back
working. However, I am also back to where I get that nag screen about the
office assistant needing to be repaired. I will have to put up with that
nag screen it would appear.

My guess is that this machine was loaded with office 2k using some other
seria# and an uninstall did not remove all the key info from the registery.
I am just guessing as our administrator swears he used the exact same cd. I
downloaded a program "prodkey.exe" but it failed to reveal the license key
used on any of the computers in the net (they are on a local net and cannot
be connected to the internet). The documentation that came with "prodkey"
indicated that old copies of office 2k do not have the license key
available, only the "oem" number can be seen. We have a site license for
office2k so it is unlikely another serial# was used. I am just guessing as
to what the problem is. Our serial# is legit and is not one of the ones
floating around like GC6...

 

[Beemer Biker]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

SNIP

Thanks George, but I tried 3 times installing Office 2k pro as indicated
above and in each case was stopped by that invalid serial#. It had already
been uninstalled so there was nothing to uninstall.

I brought up the system restore utility and set the system back a week and
it put office 2k back in automatically. When I logged on this morning,
Office went thru its user prererence install and I now have Office 2k back
working. However, I am also back to where I get that nag screen about the
office assistant needing to be repaired. I will have to put up with that
nag screen it would appear.

My guess is that this machine was loaded with office 2k using some other
seria# and an uninstall did not remove all the key info from the registery.
I am just guessing as our administrator swears he used the exact same cd. I
downloaded a program "prodkey.exe" but it failed to reveal the license key
used on any of the computers in the net (they are on a local net and cannot
be connected to the internet). The documentation that came with "prodkey"
indicated that old copies of office 2k do not have the license key
available, only the "oem" number can be seen. We have a site license for
office2k so it is unlikely another serial# was used. I am just guessing as
to what the problem is. Our serial# is legit and is not one of the ones
floating around like GC6...

 

[Beemer Biker]

The machine should have a local Administrator user. That is a Administrator
that is not part of the Domain. I would use that Administrator account to
make sure the application is truly uninstalled. Do this by installing again
with that account and then uninstall it. The fact that the serial is not
being accepted may have nothing to do with the serial being used. It may be
just a lack of permissions (the Domain change could result in this).

SNIP

Thanks George, but I tried 3 times installing Office 2k pro as indicated
above and in each case was stopped by that invalid serial#. It had already
been uninstalled so there was nothing to uninstall.

I brought up the system restore utility and set the system back a week and
it put office 2k back in automatically. When I logged on this morning,
Office went thru its user prererence install and I now have Office 2k back
working. However, I am also back to where I get that nag screen about the
office assistant needing to be repaired. I will have to put up with that
nag screen it would appear.

My guess is that this machine was loaded with office 2k using some other
seria# and an uninstall did not remove all the key info from the registery.
I am just guessing as our administrator swears he used the exact same cd. I
downloaded a program "prodkey.exe" but it failed to reveal the license key
used on any of the computers in the net (they are on a local net and cannot
be connected to the internet). The documentation that came with "prodkey"
indicated that old copies of office 2k do not have the license key
available, only the "oem" number can be seen. We have a site license for
office2k so it is unlikely another serial# was used. I am just guessing as
to what the problem is. Our serial# is legit and is not one of the ones
floating around like GC6...

 

[George Hester]

Jelly Bean has an app that should show the serial number. It is in the
registry.

http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

The fact that the Office Assistant needs repairing is a little suspect that
it doesn't just look tio the CD-ROM to fix it. It may be that the drive
location the installer is looking for may no longer be valid. See if you
can find out the CD-ROM drive that was used at Windows installation and that
the drive letter for the CD-ROM is still the same. That can be done by
looking at this key's value for SourcePath:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion.

Why don't you do a Add\Remove on the Office product and just remove any
options that install the Office Assistants such as "ClipIt" and the others?
Do it with the Office CD in the drive.