Install of Office 2010 fails

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I just installed a brand new copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 on my brand new HP laptop with its factory install of Windows 7. I requested a “custom install” of only Word and Excel, as I have no use for Power Point or One Note. The install failed, giving me a single 5 digit error code and no other explanation. I spent well over one full clock hour dealing with people to whom English was very clearly a second language. Their final recommendation was to “Google the problem or re-install Windows”. Gosh, why didn’t I think of those clever solutions!

Upon reflection, I remembered that the arrogant Microsoft programmers rarely test their code because, of course, THEY do not make mistakes, only WE users do. So I went back and requested the default installation, allowing all sorts of unwanted junk to be dumped onto my hard disk and, lo and behold, no install error! There are two lessons I learned here. First, it is best to let Microsoft have their way with your computer and let them dump all of the garbage they desire onto your disk. This is obviously the only thing that they test, if indeed they do any testing at all. And second, if you do have trouble installing a Microsoft product, you are wasting your time talking to the clueless folks in India. You will waste more of your time in that pursuit than you will waste waiting for the glacially slow Open Office to work. At least you do not have to pay them money for poorly written and poorly tested code!

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You’ve just illustrated why many of these lounges and forums exist

If you’d like to try installing MSO2010 again, how about trying this tool from your favourite company first ?

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So I went back and requested the default installation, allowing all sorts of unwanted junk to be dumped onto my hard disk and, lo and behold, no install error!

I realize that you are not interested in PowerPoint and OneNote, but I think it’s not fair to refer to those applications as “junk.” You are free to purchase stand-alone copies of Word and Excel if you don’t like the way the way multiple applications were packaged together into a suite. That said, the Office installer is designed to let you pick and choose components, so it would be interesting to decode the 5 digit error code. What was it exactly?

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Bob,

I understand you received that error when you tried to just install Word and Excel, but I have always chosen custom installation of specific Office apps from MS Office Suites over the years with absolutely no problems.

As Jeff said, let us know what the error code was. There is a reason for the installation failure, and it could arise again when you install another program down the road. Best to find the real problem and remedy it.

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Thanks Andy. Indeed, my failure to get Microsoft software to install within the Microsoft operating system is why this and other help forums exist. Upon reflection, I see that the problem is indeed mine in that I was expecting Microsoft to make things work properly. My bad. Indeed, Windows Secrets will surely grow in size and power as we all are forced to use software which is less and less reliable as time goes on. How can it be otherwise as the dominant operating system “progresses” from a size of 3MB (the last DOS, 6.22) to today’s bloated monstrosities requiring tens of gigabytes? The holy grail of legacy supposedly demands that we deal with ancient structures which live on as enormous collections of kluges and patches. Indeed, how could any group of programmers, even if free of arrogance, make this inherently unstable mess work in some reliable or efficient way? Of course, the legacy issue prevents Microsoft from doing some sort of “clean sheet” creation, so here we are…. It’s my job to work on my Zen acceptance issues and be thankful that computers help us the way they do, instead of asking “Why can’t things be done right?” The sad fact is that there simply no “doing things right” given the current state of affairs. It was my error to have lost sight of that fact.

Jeff, I have unfortunately deleted the screen clip with the error code when I finally got office stuff to install properly. The helpful folks in India said that they thought the error code was a complaint about .net 3.5. Ahhhh, .net, another layer of monstrous complexity inserted into an already way too complex op sys! It has certainly made my life more difficult and makes it even more likely that the Lounge will endure for a thousand years! I can hardly wait for the next “enhancement” to be jammed into Windows! My Microsoft programmer friends love the .net addition, saying that it eases their work. Needless to say, failed installs are no problem for them….

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Indeed, Windows Secrets will surely grow in size and power as we all are forced to use software which is less and less reliable as time goes on.

It is unfortunate that you have had this bad experience. I believe that most of us who use Microsoft products have found that both the Windows & Office products have grown much more reliable with successive releases. Yes, the products are much more complex today than in the DOS & Windows 3.1 days. Would you rather go back to 24 line x 80 character displays common in the DOS days? Or would you rather use the graphics that would be laughed at by todays consumer? How about you write programs to do almost everything? How about you paying for the TCP/IP software stack to connect to the internet? How about re-booting at least once a day? I could go on for quite a while.

Microsoft is a very easy target which deserves much of the criticism they get. They can be criticized for design decisions, a seemingly pedestrian development pace, and yes an over reliance on backward compatability at times. However, to say that Microsoft programs are not tested is completely inaccurate. They have extensive in-house automated testing and external beta testing. For Windows 7 there were over 2.5 million copies installed and run all of which had automated reporting enabled. Office 2010 had fewer beta testers than Windows but still over 1 million. In spite, of all that there is no way Microsoft can test all of the possible hardware & software combinations that will be experienced once a product hits the field.

Joe

--Joe

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You can always get the “monstrosity” off your back and switch to Linux.

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