latest OFFICE 2003 updates fail repeatedly

Autoupdate keeps attempting to install what appears to be the latest Office
2003 updates. And it fails every time... I have tried disabling AV and ASW
software to no avail. I don't get an error code (is the error code in a log
file or something? how do I check for one?). The following are the updates
that fail:

Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB919031)
Security Update for Excel 2003 (KB918419)
Security Update for Office 2003 (KB917151)
Security Update for PowerPoint 2003 (KB916518)
Security Update for Office 2003 (KB914455)
Security Update for Word 2003 (KB917334)

David <> wrote:

> Autoupdate keeps attempting to install what appears to be the latest
> Office 2003 updates. And it fails every time... I have tried
> disabling AV and ASW software to no avail. I don't get an error code
> (is the error code in a log file or something? how do I check for
> one?).

Go to Windows Update, go to History, locate the failed update, click on the
red cross "Failed" icon in the Status column. A popup will appear with an
8-digit error code. Before you try this, ensure that you have disabled any
third-party popup-blocker.

> The following are the updates that fail:
>
> Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB919031)
> Security Update for Excel 2003 (KB918419)
> Security Update for Office 2003 (KB917151)
> Security Update for PowerPoint 2003 (KB916518)
> Security Update for Office 2003 (KB914455)
> Security Update for Word 2003 (KB917334)

First, try disabling any third-party anti-virus, anti-malware (e.g.
SpySweeper), anti-BHO, firewall, or download accelerator application.
(Enable Windows Firewall if you disabled a third-party fireall). Then try
the updates again.

If that doesn't work, then it seems likely that your Office 2003
installation is damaged. Have you at
any time recently used a so-called "Registry Cleaner"? If so, it is
possible that your registry is now damaged in respect of the Office 2003
entries.

For instance, the Windows Live Safety Center registry scan might cause these
problems.

If this case applies to you, you should back your system up to a time before
you used the registry cleaner.

To restore from the backup made by the Windows Live Safety Center, do the
following:

1. Use control panel "Folder Options", tab "View", to enable "Show hidden
files
and folders", and un-check "Hide extensions for known file types".

2. Close all Internet Explorer windows.

3. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Windows Live Safety
Center\BackUp\

and double-click the .reg file previously created by the Microsoft Safety
registry cleanup.

Please report back whether this fixes your problem.

If the above does not work, you can try:

1. In any Office 2003 application, pull down Help, and select "Detect and
Repair" (it might require the Office installation CD-ROM).

2. Uninstall Office 2003 completely, and re-install, then apply the latest
Office 2003 Service Pack and all pending Office 2003 updates.

In addition, this might be relevant: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884298

--
Robin Walker [MVP Networking]

Thanks Robin, I'll try in that order.

The error code is:
Error Code: 0x52F

"Robin Walker [MVP]" wrote:

> David <> wrote:
>
> > Autoupdate keeps attempting to install what appears to be the latest
> > Office 2003 updates. And it fails every time... I have tried
> > disabling AV and ASW software to no avail. I don't get an error code
> > (is the error code in a log file or something? how do I check for
> > one?).
>
> Go to Windows Update, go to History, locate the failed update, click on the
> red cross "Failed" icon in the Status column. A popup will appear with an
> 8-digit error code. Before you try this, ensure that you have disabled any
> third-party popup-blocker.
>
> > The following are the updates that fail:
> >
> > Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB919031)
> > Security Update for Excel 2003 (KB918419)
> > Security Update for Office 2003 (KB917151)
> > Security Update for PowerPoint 2003 (KB916518)
> > Security Update for Office 2003 (KB914455)
> > Security Update for Word 2003 (KB917334)
>
> First, try disabling any third-party anti-virus, anti-malware (e.g.
> SpySweeper), anti-BHO, firewall, or download accelerator application.
> (Enable Windows Firewall if you disabled a third-party fireall). Then try
> the updates again.
>
> If that doesn't work, then it seems likely that your Office 2003
> installation is damaged. Have you at
> any time recently used a so-called "Registry Cleaner"? If so, it is
> possible that your registry is now damaged in respect of the Office 2003
> entries.
>
> For instance, the Windows Live Safety Center registry scan might cause these
> problems.
>
> If this case applies to you, you should back your system up to a time before
> you used the registry cleaner.
>
> To restore from the backup made by the Windows Live Safety Center, do the
> following:
>
> 1. Use control panel "Folder Options", tab "View", to enable "Show hidden
> files
> and folders", and un-check "Hide extensions for known file types".
>
> 2. Close all Internet Explorer windows.
>
> 3. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to folder:
>
> C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Windows Live Safety
> Center\BackUp\
>
> and double-click the .reg file previously created by the Microsoft Safety
> registry cleanup.
>
> Please report back whether this fixes your problem.
>
> If the above does not work, you can try:
>
> 1. In any Office 2003 application, pull down Help, and select "Detect and
> Repair" (it might require the Office installation CD-ROM).
>
> 2. Uninstall Office 2003 completely, and re-install, then apply the latest
> Office 2003 Service Pack and all pending Office 2003 updates.
>
> In addition, this might be relevant: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884298
>
> --
> Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
>
>
>
>

Hi again Robin,

Turns out that the issue had to do with drive letter assignments....
I attempted to repair Office 2003 and got back an error: 'invalid drive
letter D:\'
I had recently installed abackup drive with 2 partitions and when
reassigning drive letters, I skipped 'D' (i.e., there was no D:\ drive
recognized by Windows). I am not sure why this should matter at all unless
Office setup uses the D drive during install... anyway, once I shifted all of
my drive letters down one, the updates installed sucessfully ...??

"Robin Walker [MVP]" wrote:

> David <> wrote:
>
> > Autoupdate keeps attempting to install what appears to be the latest
> > Office 2003 updates. And it fails every time... I have tried
> > disabling AV and ASW software to no avail. I don't get an error code
> > (is the error code in a log file or something? how do I check for
> > one?).
>
> Go to Windows Update, go to History, locate the failed update, click on the
> red cross "Failed" icon in the Status column. A popup will appear with an
> 8-digit error code. Before you try this, ensure that you have disabled any
> third-party popup-blocker.
>
> > The following are the updates that fail:
> >
> > Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB919031)
> > Security Update for Excel 2003 (KB918419)
> > Security Update for Office 2003 (KB917151)
> > Security Update for PowerPoint 2003 (KB916518)
> > Security Update for Office 2003 (KB914455)
> > Security Update for Word 2003 (KB917334)
>
> First, try disabling any third-party anti-virus, anti-malware (e.g.
> SpySweeper), anti-BHO, firewall, or download accelerator application.
> (Enable Windows Firewall if you disabled a third-party fireall). Then try
> the updates again.
>
> If that doesn't work, then it seems likely that your Office 2003
> installation is damaged. Have you at
> any time recently used a so-called "Registry Cleaner"? If so, it is
> possible that your registry is now damaged in respect of the Office 2003
> entries.
>
> For instance, the Windows Live Safety Center registry scan might cause these
> problems.
>
> If this case applies to you, you should back your system up to a time before
> you used the registry cleaner.
>
> To restore from the backup made by the Windows Live Safety Center, do the
> following:
>
> 1. Use control panel "Folder Options", tab "View", to enable "Show hidden
> files
> and folders", and un-check "Hide extensions for known file types".
>
> 2. Close all Internet Explorer windows.
>
> 3. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to folder:
>
> C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Windows Live Safety
> Center\BackUp\
>
> and double-click the .reg file previously created by the Microsoft Safety
> registry cleanup.
>
> Please report back whether this fixes your problem.
>
> If the above does not work, you can try:
>
> 1. In any Office 2003 application, pull down Help, and select "Detect and
> Repair" (it might require the Office installation CD-ROM).
>
> 2. Uninstall Office 2003 completely, and re-install, then apply the latest
> Office 2003 Service Pack and all pending Office 2003 updates.
>
> In addition, this might be relevant: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884298
>
> --
> Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
>
>
>
>

David <> wrote:

> Turns out that the issue had to do with drive letter assignments....
> I attempted to repair Office 2003 and got back an error: 'invalid
> drive letter D:\'
> I had recently installed abackup drive with 2 partitions and when
> reassigning drive letters, I skipped 'D' (i.e., there was no D:\ drive
> recognized by Windows). I am not sure why this should matter at all
> unless Office setup uses the D drive during install... anyway, once I
> shifted all of my drive letters down one, the updates installed
> sucessfully ...??

The Office installer will need the drive letter assignments to be the same
as they were when Office was first installed as far as these items are
concerned:
1. the Office program files themselves;
2. the hidden "MSOCACHE" folder on the root of a hard drive partition;
3. the CD-ROM from which Office was installed.

If the drive letter assignments have changed, then Office Installer (which
includes all these updates from MU) might get confused. It sounds as if you
are OK now.

--
Robin Walker [MVP Networking]