Install Office XP SP 3 - fullfile download asks for CDROM

[consultant george]

The Microsoft knowledgebase indicates that - if the Office Update website
cannot update Office XP - a solution is to download the fullfile edition
(OfficeXpSp3-kb832671-fullfile-enu.exem 57MB). That update is not supposed
to prompt for a CDROM. I have downloaded the update file. However, my
installation fails because it is looking for the CDROM. I have Office XP
Professional installed on a Windows 2000 Server (SP 4), but no access to the
CDROM. Any ideas on how to get Office XP SP 3 to install successfully? How
do I know if this is a properly activated and licensed copy of Office? Is
there a hook in the Office XP SP 3 that prevents updates to prirated software
(I know that is true for Windows XP; but have not heard it is true of Office
XP)?

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, consultant george,

It usually works, but not always. This may explain why and offer a
workaround:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;840169

 

[consultant george]

Thank you. I followed the KB840169 instructions explicitly, and learned that:

a) the failed attempt to install the "fullfile" has caused Ms-Excel to no
longer work on this computer.

b) after chaning the apparent update date on the file XL8GALRY.XLS (I had to
use Notepad to do this) and then re-launching the fullfil SP3 update, it too
ended in error - a worse error than not having an original source CD-ROM. I
get this: "Error 1402. Setup cannot open the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\OptionalComponents\IMAIL.
Verify that you have sufficient permissions to access the registry or
contact Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) for assistance."

I am logged on as the local Administrator account. Hey, the above registry
key does not exist (OptionalComponents is there, but no key named IMAIL)
could that be the problem?

A search of the knowledgebase lead me to KB236592
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;236592&Product=Off2kset KB236592

In that article it refers to a different key, namely
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office, which does not match the
symptom. Furthermore, the above referenced key is set to Full Control for
both Administrators and System. Since I am logged in as Administrator, this
cannot be the problem.

I did look at the permissions for the empty key OptionalComponents, and
found that there were no permissions set, although the checkbox to allow
permissions to be inherited was checked, so therefore, the higher level
permissions should apply (again, Administrators and System had Full Control).

I can't believe Microsoft's packaging of Office Update is this frought with
problems and terribly complicated workarounds! What is going on here? NOW
I can't even run SETUP at all! I can't even remove Office using the
Add/Remove applet in Control Panel and do a fresh install (were it that I had
the original CDROM to do that, that is). What is going on here!?

 

[consultant george]

The problem was circumvented when I added FULL CONTROL permission for
Administrators local group to the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\OptionalComponents

I sure hope this sort of stupidity has been fixed in Windows 2003 and Office
2003. I can't imagine a non-technical user getting this far. No wonder the
Internet is teeming with malware.

 

[consultant george]

The problem was circumvented when I added FULL CONTROL permission for
Administrators local group to the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\OptionalComponents

I sure hope this sort of stupidity has been fixed in Windows 2003 and Office
2003. I can't imagine a non-technical user getting this far. No wonder the
Internet is teeming with malware.