Office2003 - tried to go back to Office 2000 via sysrestore

I think I really messed things up but not sure how to get it back.

Win XP SP2

I installed office 2003 on top of Office 2000. I had set a system restore point Prior to the install. The problem is that I have found out that I much prefer office 2000 and want to go back to it. I did a system restore and things look okay till I try to access them. The rest of my system is fine.

Outlook2000 works to get my mail but other parts are missing for example the Help.
I also get an error message upon opening the program telling me there is no default email client or the current email client cannot fulfill the messaging request please run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default mail client.

I cannot get Word to work at all. Keeps asking for a folder called sr1patch. Windows installer keeps looking in C:\DOCUME~1\GEORGI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\sr1patch\.
Patch package .msp

I have all cds including the SR-1 and Sr2 patch Cds but cannot find the folder they want on anyone of them. Version says that I have SP3 which must have been from an online update. I have also seen a request for an "msp" folder.

I know I probably should have done this differently but not sure what to do now. Reinstall of Office 2000 asks for the same missing files. I can see all hidden files on my PC.

Thanks

 

System Restore only takes care of system (operating system) files and a few others. For the most part, it pays no attention to applications so most of the Outlook update you did went unnoticed by SR. You would need a full restore program like GoBack or an image burned to CD by some utility like Ghost to be able to completely roll back changes to your system.

If possible, you need to uninstall Office, reboot, and try to install Office2000 from the beginning. Your email and documents should not be harmed by the process.

There is no assurance that the uninstall and reinstall will work but you need to try it before getting into some major housecleaning to remove remaining bits if that isn't necessary.

Give it a shot and post back.

 

Sorry Newt, but that does not work, get the same kinds of errors when I try to uninstall Office 2000.

I did set a restore point after installing Office 2003.
Would it help to go back to that point and attempt to unstall Office 2003 and then go back to previous point (or not) and attempt to install 2000.

Or will that compound the problem?

Have been trying to get Ghost to work or I would have had a backup using that.

I really do not like Office 2003, especially Outlook, so getting back to old version is worth the effort. Then will give 2003 to my Daughter-in-law.

 

Certainly worth a try. You should go back (actually going forward) and reverse the restore point to reflect a date after you had installed office 2003. Then unistall Office 2003. This must be accomplished cleanly to reestablish or recover a working install of Office 2000.

If not I remember writing up a rather extensive botched Office install post. Let me see if I can drag it out of the Archives. It may offer ideas that can be used.....

Here it is:
http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=45620&highlight=office+removal

 

Ok, Here is where I am now.

I have successfully uninstalled 2003. Have reinstalled 2000 Professional thru SR-1 . I have SR 1 on CD as well as the original 2000 Pro. I also have Service Pack 2 on CD and I think I installed it but cannot tell. The help abouts only say SR-1 but I think that was always the case.

I then went to Microsoft office update page and attempted to install SP-3 and that will not work. The reasons they are giving to do not appear to fit or be the problem. What concerns me is that one of the reasons refers to Office 2003 and I do not think that should be the case but could be a general sort of thing.

Word and Outlook do appear to work properly.

What do I do next?

Thanks

 

Got any log file to indicate whether sp2 was installed properly:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;279299

How to varify if sp2 was installed:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;278269

What reasons or errors are you given while attempting sp3?

==On a slightly different note==
While I know the Patch package.msp issue has come and gone I did find this interesting so I thought I'd throw it in here just for your F.Y.I. and any other future members who reference this post while searching the Archives:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q295823

The above came from this Google groups post:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...ch+package.msp"&rnum=2&hl=en#c65fff3ee46efd71

I'd like to stress that I am not suggesting that this was your problem. In truth, I have no idea what your root problem was. These Office install/update/msi (Microsoft installer)/registry botches are so varied, one can be driven to insanity rather quickly. I have no real knowledge or experience with the Microsoft Installer Cleanup Tool or any risks or loses that need to be watched for. Please don't let my posting of the above links nudge you into any "fly by the seat of your pants" attempts at fixing your problem. A thorough understanding of any process, tool, or editing must be had and any and all precautions for personal data backup (emails, address book, docs, registry, restore points etc.) should be taken. It's so easy for this to blow up. One can find that not only can they neither install, update or repair office but that they cannot cleanly uninstall it as well. Office problems have become quite complex.

 

At last I am back where I was before.

I discovered that if you have a problem with Windows or Office Updates you can get free email or phone support. In addition, they now have a toll free number you can call in this case.

Below is the information they sent me. I followed the email instructions but they did not completely work. I only could get as far as Installing SR-1 successfully. I tried 4 times. Finally I called Microsoft Phone support and we went through the reinstall process again. Of course this time it worked. The nice thing about my experience was that it is the first time in a long time that I have gotten nice Support from any company.

I have had terrible times in the past with Dell, Comcast and some others. The person I spoke to was easy to understand and did not treat me like an idiot and was also very nice.

Below is from the Support email they sent me to try. I removed names and case numbers from the emails.

" Dear Jorjab,
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Office Support Services. My name is xxxx, and I received your service request today. I will be helping you with this service request.

First, I sincerely apologize for the delay in responding to your Service Request due to the support process. I also would like to assure you that we do make it a priority to respond to our customers as promptly as possible. I would now like to work together with you on this issue to bring it to a resolution as quickly and efficiently as possible.

After reviewing the case log, I understand this issue is as follows:

- You failed to update Office 2000 SP3.

I completely understand your concern and feelings. From now on, we will work together on this issue throughout the course of this case. If I have misunderstood our concern, please let me know.

Based on my experience, there are several factors that can cause the problem. Therefore, the whole troubleshooting process may be time consuming. I appreciate your understanding. Now, let's try the following steps to see if it helps.

Before we go further, let's first check if the SP3 (Service Pack 3) has been installed.

1. Open Word program. Click Help menu > About Microsoft Word.

2. If Office 2000 SP3 has been installed, it should say Word 2000 SP3.

Also, please perform the following steps to check if it is help:

Step 1: Manually download the SP3 to your hard disk then install it:

==============================================

Office 2000 Update: Service Pack 3 (SP3)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...70-47D0-4306-9FA4-8E92D36332FE&displaylang=EN

If the issue persists, please go to the step2:

Step 2: Detect and repair

====================

1. Start one of the Office program;

2. Choose "Help" => "Detect and Repair ";

3. Insert the Office CD to repair.

NOTE: You may receive the error "This patch package cannot be openedâ€. If so, please just continue to step 3.

Step 3: Use Windows Installer Cleanup Utility
====================================

First please confirm that you have the Office XP full version (not upgrade version) installation CD so that you reinstall Office successfully.

1. Download and install the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/9/D/E9D80355-7AB4-45B8-80E8-983A48D5E1BD/msicuu2.exe

2. After you install the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, click Start menu-> All Programs-> Windows Install Clean Up.

3. Highlight all the Microsoft Office entry in the list and then click Remove. Quit the Utility.

4. Click Start menu-> Run, type "%Temp%" (without the quotation marks) in the Open box and press Enter.

5. Empty the %Temp% folder. [Note: If you are unable to empty temp folder, please come into Windows safe mode to empty the temp folder: restart computer and keep pressing F8 to come into Windows safe mode.]

6. Empty the Recycle Bin.

7. Restart your computer and then reinstall Office.

After you install Office, please go to the following Microsoft Website, and click the Go button next to "Scan my computer to find Office updates I need" to check for the available Office updates.

http://www.officeupdate.com/ProductUpdates/default.aspx

By the way, if you would like to interact on this issue, you can call into our phone support line for Outlook at 425-635-7056 "

(Toll Free, which I found when I called above number, is 866-452-4755).

" It is available Monday through Friday 5:00 A.M. - 9:00 P.M. Pacific Time, Saturday 5:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M., and Sunday 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM PST. One of our Support professionals will be happy to work with you on the problem via phone. I believe this will speed up the progress of the issue. Please give the ID of this case to the Phone Support as it will be helpful for the Phone Support to check the record.

Please perform above steps and let me know the results at your earliest convenience.

It's my pleasure to work with you. Thanks for your time and cooperation, and if anything is unclear, please feel free to let me know. I am happy to be of assistance.

Best regards,
xxxx "

All in all my experience with Microsoft support was an excellent one.


PS. I do not know how to do the quote thing some people do so just used quote marks above.