FYI: Office 2000 install error (2000)

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I have run into this problem just recently when instructed to reinstall O2K by MS Support due to possible corruption. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was wrong and why I couldn’t reinstall. There was nothing wrong with my CD drive and I could read the file in question via Explorer. I searched the KB on the error and didn’t find anything so I opened an incident. But the support rep found this article. MS has apparently been aware of this problem since at least 6/14/2001 but has yet to identify the cause. The only bypass is to copy the files from the 2 Office CD’s to the hard drive which uselessly ties up 1.1 gb of disk space.

OFF2000: Error Message: Setup Was Terminated Due to an Error

*********************************************************************
** – WARNING – **
** THE INFORMATION BELOW IS PRELIMINARY AND HAS NOT BEEN **
** CONFIRMED OR TESTED BY MICROSOFT. USE ONLY **
** WITH DISCRETION. **
*********************************************************************
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The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office 2000 (Setup)
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SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to install Microsoft Office 2000, you may receive an error messages similar to one of the following

Setup was terminated due to an error
-or-
Error 1311, source file not found, office1.cab. Verify that the file is accessible.

and you are unable to complete the installation.

When you create a verbose log file by using a command line similar to d:setup.exe /L*V c:verboselog.txt, and then you open the Verboselog.txt log file in WordPad, you see text similar to the following:
MSI (s) (DB:EE): Note: 1: 1311 2: F:OFFICE1.CAB

MSI (s) (DB:EE): Product: Microsoft Office 2000 Premium — Error 1311.
Source file not found(cabinet): F:OFFICE1.CAB. Verify that the file
exists and that you can access it.

CAUSE
This behavior can occur when the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive is unable to access files and folders on the Office CD-ROM. The drive may have problems either reading or extracting files from the Office CD-ROM.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, copy the contents of the Office 2000 CD-ROM to a folder on your hard disk, and then run Office Setup from your hard disk. To do this, follow these steps:

On your desktop, double-click My Computer.

Double-click the drive on which you want to create a new folder.

On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder.

Type a name for the new folder. For example, type Office2000CD, and then press ENTER.

Insert the Office 2000 CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. Press and hold down the SHIFT key as you insert the CD-ROM to prevent it from starting automatically.

In My Computer, right-click the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then click Explore.

On the Edit menu, click Select All.

On the Edit menu, click Copy.

Right-click the folder that you created in step 3, and then click Paste.

When all the files have been copied to your hard disk, quit all other programs that may be running, and then click Setup.exe (in the folder that you created in step 3) to start Windows Installer and Office Setup.

Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the Office installation.

Additional query words: OFF2000

Keywords : kberrmsg kbdta ocsso
Issue type : kbprb
Technology : kbOfficeSearch kbAccessSearch kbAccess2000 kbOffice2000Search kbAccess2000Search kbOffice2000

Last Reviewed: June 14, 2001

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I ran into this bug recently and it made me crazy until I found the MSKB article shown here.

I avoided tying up the extra disk space by using my usual rule when installing MSO2k. That is, I make a custom install and choose ‘run from computer’ or ‘not available’ for every feature those choices are applicable. I install most everything like clipart and all the functions I’ll need in the future which makes for about 530Mb of installed stuff. Everything else gets red X’ed (sorry, Clippit).

This way the two directories containing the CDs’ files may be deleted after applying SR1a and the CDs themselves sit quietly in the drawer waiting for the next D’OH reinstall.

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I also ran into this problem again on a computer I got at work. And I’ve been going back and forth with the product manager named Terry Murdock at MS about this. He keeps claiming that a keeping all the files on the hard drive or doing a full install of every function is a solution, rather than what should be merely a temporary bypass.

Apparently, there are enough people who have run into this problem for MS to create a KB article on it but since that KB article in June 2002, there haven’t been any further updates on the problem. And the problem affects both O2k and OXP.

There just doesn’t seem like there is any motivation on MS’s part to get to the bottom of the problem and fix it once and for all.

Here is an excerpt from my last communication with Terry:

>>Apparently what we have here is a failure to communicate. Again, you are not offering a solution, you are offering a bypass. A bypass is supposedly a “temporary” adjustment until a permanent fix is available. But in this case, it is clear that MS has no real intention of ever trying to truly FIX the problem. As mentioned previously, the bypass for this problem described in the KB article is still in “preliminary” release, since it was originally released last June 2001.

Your recommended solution below consumes 193 mb more space (by your own calculations) for no other reason than MS is too lazy to resolve the problem. And using this bypass, you MUST install every option, otherwise, should you need a function in the future that you did not install, you will have to first manually copy the CD’s contents back to the hard drive, then return to where you were to finish the install of that function. There have been many newsletter writers who recommend installing only what you need because it has been the experience of many individuals that installing more than you need on a Windows system may (usually WILL) lead to problems and instabilities in the future.<<

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Have you tried downloading the latest Windows installer? It’s up to version 2 now, and it appears to be the real culprit in all these installation problems. It isn’t just Office either. I’ve had other programs fail to install or appear to install but cause problems and give “source not found” errors until they were uninstalled and reinstalled several times. The updated installer was suggested to me by the support desk for one of these other products, but I haven’t yet tried it myself.

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Charlotte,
I’m afraid it is not a solution. I saw posts in this Lounge about the same problem with Office XP (that has Installer 2). I hope I am wrong…

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No, you are right. The KB article applies to Office 2k and Office XP also.

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Thanks, but I do have the 2.0 release of the Windows Installer. Although MS has pointed to this as a possibe cause somewhat eariler in our thread, I have to wonder. I have never had a problem with any other software that uses the Win installer. And I have run into this problem with O2k install on 2 different computers using 2 different OS’s (Win98se & Win2k).

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[indent]

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There just doesn’t seem like there is any motivation on MS’s part to get to the bottom of the problem and fix it once and for all.

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[/indent] Before they can fix it, they need to be able to consistantly reproduce the same error on a number of machines. The larger the base of users with a problem, the better the chance it will be fixed. The vast majority of users, probably at least 95%, don’t have a problem. This means it’s hardware or software/driver related and until they can pinpoint the cause for those few with the error, they can’t come up with a more permanent solution.

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Sorry, but I have to disagree.

1. Obviously there have been enough incidents for them to issue a KB article.

2. Despite months long extensive back and forth with a number of MS people on this problem, there has been ABSOLUTELY no effort on their part to involve me in any possible research. I can reproduce the problem and I would be willing to work with them one-on-one to try to get to the cause of the problem.

Instead, all MS “support” seems interested in doing is to try and cover their rears and make me go away. No, something is wrong where a known bug can be swept under the table by low-level support people and even someone who claims to be the “Product Manager” for this part of Office. Had they the motivation to get to the bottom of this issue, all the time we have spent to-date doing tit-for-tat replies could have been better utilized.

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The vast majority of users, probably at least 95%, don’t have a problem.
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I am installing and upgrading Office at least once a week (I’m working in corporate environment) and to my experience, about 30% of all installations HAVE this problem. This problem occurs usually after hardware configuration changing (adding or removing CD-ROMs, local drives etc.), that’s why to avoid this problem we install Office now from network drives only.
And please, don’t defend Microsoft – it presumes you are a thief and you must proof opposite every time you want to upgrade Office (THAT is the purpose of MSI file checking is). I agree, 95% of users never add or delete partitions, and corporate users like us install Office from servers – that mean, they do not encounter this problem. But I bet Microsoft was aware of it for a long time and did nothing – it is YOUR problem (you are a thief – be happy your installation of Office is working at all).

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I work for a company that produces several commercial software products. Our worst nightmare is when we have a client with a problem we cannot reproduce. No software company ignores those problems, but they also can’t just shotgun a solution.

If it works on our machines, we drive ourselves crazy trying to figure out why it breaks on a machine with the same OS, same printer and same drivers on it but that just happens to be thousands of miles away and in the hands of someone who is increasing frustrated because it doesn’t work. At some point you may have gathered enough anecdotal evidence to point to a solution. In the meanwhile, everyone is frustrated, not just the client/user.

I get annoyed with MS too at times, but I’ve had very good response from them on some bug issues, and when I told them I was NOT satisified with the “solution” they offered, *they* called me to work it out.

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>>I get annoyed with MS too at times, but I’ve had very good response from them on some bug issues, and when I told them I was NOT satisified with the “solution” they offered, *they* called me to work it out. <<

Well, this "product manager" had nointerest in working the problem out or trying to get to the bottom of it. He was only interested in the fact that there was a bypass and therefore there was nothing left for him to do. As they say, 50% of the people graduated in the lower half of their class and IMO, he must have been near the bottom. He certainly did not give me any confidence that he or Microsoft had any interest whatsoever in fixing the problem. It's a shame. As in any company, some people are stand outs and some are just standing on their heads…

Edited by Charlotte to remove personal references

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Thank you so much for writing the steps down. I have been having this problem and yes it was after some hardware changes. I have not been able to use Outlook and Word has been kind of weird as well.

I guess this is a dumb question but do I need to uninstall Office 2k first before copying to the hard disk?

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To textMaria,

No, you do not. Copy all installation CD (and if you installed Disk 2, copy it also) in separate folder on your hard drive – it doesn’t matter where. Then click
Start | Settings | Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs, choose Microsoft Office 2000… from the list and click Change.
From the next screen, click Repair Office, follow the wizard and when prompted, browse it to your new folder where you copied installation files.

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I did as you said opening a new folder on the hard drive, then copying and pasting O2k to that folder. However, I was unable to do the other part, i.e. from Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, choose MS Office 2000 from the list and click Change because there was no “Change” button. What did I do wrong?

At least I have all of Office 2k’s installation CD-ROMs on the bootable drive.

Maria

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