Installer Keeps Popping Up for Excel and Word

I have been running Windows 2003 Word and Excel for a couple of years with no problems. I changed my hard drive last week, and I believe that was when the problem started.

Now, every time I run XL or WORD, a "Windows Installer - Preparing to install... " small window pops up. With XL, it takes about 15 seconds, the small install window disappears, and the program runs fine. But the 15 seconds are annoying.

With WORD, however, another small window pops up after about 30+ seconds: "Microsoft Office Word 11.0 - An error occurred and this feature is no longer running properly. Please run Setup and select 'Repair...' to restore this application." A few seconds after I close that window, WORD starts and runs fine.

I have searched for a Setup file in the Program Files\Microsoft Office folder, but the only file with that name is SETUP.CHM, which I do not believe is a setup program to be run.

What do you recommend I do?

Thanks!

Alex

 

HI Ingeniero1,

In order to do a repair of any version office program you will need the original cd disks. Any repair will ask for these. The option for repair is usually under the menubar "Help" command> "detect and repair ".

 

As with most things in Windows, there are often a few ways to complete the same task. One can also go to Add or Remove programs in the control panel and select Office 2003. That will bring up a repair option too. Just remember, as Ann has said, you'll need your original discs to complete this repair successfully unless you left the MSOCache on your computer.

 

I have the original CD, Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003 (Product Key Required), dated December 2004. The product key is on a sticker on the back of the CD sleeve. I used this CD when I first bought it about two years ago and again more recently to make some changes. The software has always run fine.

Ann,
I just tried to run the setup.exe on the CD, but regardless of whether I run it from either the CD or the DVD drive, the following message displayed:
[“Windows Installer" -- This patch package could not be opened. Verify that the patch package exits and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer patch package.]

Rockster2U,
Since the above did not work, I tried:
Add/Remove programs > Microsoft Office Standard Edition > [Change]
but the result was the same error message as above, albeit under the Title "Add or Remove Programsâ€.

What should I try next?

Thanks!

Alex

 

Pete,

OK - downloaded and ran the cleanup utilty.

Afterwards, I was able to run setup. It appeared to reinstall the programs, but it didn't take very long. I was concerned that it would remove all the special setups I have for both Word and XL, but it did not; everything is there the way it was. Good.

Results:

Word, before.
Displayed the "preparing to install message" followed by the "Can't do..." message, followed by Word running OK after several sconds. Altogether it took, maybe, 45 seconds?

Word, now.
The same "preparing to install message" displays for 1/20 of a second (any faster and I would miss it), then the program starts 12 seconds later.

Excel, before.
Displayed the "preparing to install message" and the program started after about 15 seconds.

Excel, now.
The same "preparing to install message" displays for 1/20 of a second, followed by a message "Installing Microsoft Excel feature ", and the program starts after 10 seconds or so. If I cancel the "Install feature" window, the program starts immediately after that.

It is much better, but I wonder why it still hesitates, and what the XL feature is that it thinks has to be installed each time.

Thanks again.

Alex

PS.
I hope I don't monopolize your time - between the hard drive replacement and now this issue...

 

Hi Ingeniero1,

As much as I hate to hand you a google hit list for this, sometimes this becomes necessary when the causes and fixes have such a variety. I feel it can save a lot of time in choosing what to suggest when the poster has an good idea of what can cause this to happen in the first place. You are in the best position to decide if a problem/fix seems applicable, based on how updated you are and how you chose to install [or reinstall as you did] msoffice.

Please keep in mind that a lot of the links included in this search are rather old and will not apply now, so if you do choose to try something you see, choose the less destructive solutions first. Always remember what you did so you can reverse it should it prove to make matters worse or not help at all.

Please read a wide variety of these before trying anything, so you can get a broad idea of the solutions offered.

Should you find the solution that worked for you, please be kind and update this post with your progress. If after reviewing these and your still having problems or having a hard time deciding if you should try anything you've read, update post and ask for further advice and opinions on whether they would apply, or if it's even wise to try it in the first place.

here you go:
Windows installer keeps popping up in msoffice

 

I suggest installing Service Pack 3 for Office 2003, download link on the webpage below
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...49-3E13-433B-B9D2-5E3C1132F206&displaylang=en
There are some critical updates for Office 2003, but these critical updates require at least Service Pack 1 to be installed. If not the updates fail, perhaps this is what you are running up against especially if you have Windows Update set to automatic.
You will also need to have Windows Installer 3.1 installed before installing the service pack.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906323