My Office2003 Pro Check for Updates does not work (Office 2003 Pro)

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As the title says, Check for Updates in any and all of the Office applications on my PC does not work. Going to Help, “Check for Updates” in Word, Excel, Outlook and Access all do exactly the same thing: Nothing. Which ever application is running just sits there. Windows XP’s “Check for Update” works fine. Norton Internet Security 2003’s “Live Update” works fine. It has been this way since Dell sold me a Dimension 4600 preloaded with Windows XP SP1 and Office 2003 Pro. Can any out there tell me what to turn on so it will work?

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If you are running a firewall, have you “blocked” all of the office products from getting to the internet?

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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DaveA, Thank you for the suggestion. Here’s what I did: 1) I turned on the Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall (Norton recommends that ICF be turnoff when its firewall is active), 2) I turned off the Norton Internat Security 2003 firewall, 3) I left the Belkin DSL Router in the loop as “Check for Update” was dead long before this hardware was added, 4) I ran Word2003, “Check for Update”, Nothing. Please try again.
John

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Why are you using “Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall ” if you have Norton’s?

You should be able to tell Norton’s that it is safe for the Office update to have Internet access. You may also be blocking any script file that may be running to get to the Internet.
The Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall may be blocking the access. I do NOT use CF from MS, I use ZoneAlarm be.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Why are you using “Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall ” if you have Norton’s?

You should be able to tell Norton’s that it is safe for the Office update to have Internet access. You may also be blocking any script file that may be running to get to the Internet.
The Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall may be blocking the access. I do NOT use CF from MS, I use ZoneAlarm be.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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John,
If you connect directly to the Office Update Site (through Internet Explorer rather than using the Help menu from within an Office application) are you able to check for updates correctly?

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John,
Yes, connecting directly to the Office Update site worked. I needed updates to Outlook2003 and Excel2003. Now I just have to remember to connect manually on occasion. And, further suggestions as to why “Check for Update” does not work are no longer critical, but I’d sure like to know why something I payed for does not work.
Thanks to all again, John

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Well that’s good. If this is working, then I suspect that the non functioning “check for updates” from within an Office application may have something to do with your internet connection (either router or modem). Just for interest, fire up a connection (from Internet Explorer) and then open Word and try again from the Help menu. Let us know if it works.

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John,
I tried your suggestion: connected to the officeupdate site, broght up Word, and Nothing. I thought it possible that the problem started when I switched to DSL six months ago so I called my ISP tech support guy to see if any kind of modem setting could be blocking it. He said no, that the problem was probably Microsoft’s and would be fixed soon. (Brand X pointing to brand Y.) Not likely, something like this would not go unreported. So now I’m left with the problem probably starting eight months ago when I upgraded to this PC and Office 2003. (Sorry about the rambling.)

I’m again not panicing but I’m out of ideas. John

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OK, so not a major problem now, but let’s see if we can narrow it down. Open Word, click on Help, and select Microsoft Office Online. What happens? Does the Microsoft site open, or does nothing at all happen?

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OK, so not a major problem now, but let’s see if we can narrow it down. Open Word, click on Help, and select Microsoft Office Online. What happens? Does the Microsoft site open, or does nothing at all happen?

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John,
I tried your suggestion: connected to the officeupdate site, broght up Word, and Nothing. I thought it possible that the problem started when I switched to DSL six months ago so I called my ISP tech support guy to see if any kind of modem setting could be blocking it. He said no, that the problem was probably Microsoft’s and would be fixed soon. (Brand X pointing to brand Y.) Not likely, something like this would not go unreported. So now I’m left with the problem probably starting eight months ago when I upgraded to this PC and Office 2003. (Sorry about the rambling.)

I’m again not panicing but I’m out of ideas. John

Reply | Quote

Well that’s good. If this is working, then I suspect that the non functioning “check for updates” from within an Office application may have something to do with your internet connection (either router or modem). Just for interest, fire up a connection (from Internet Explorer) and then open Word and try again from the Help menu. Let us know if it works.

Reply | Quote

John,
Yes, connecting directly to the Office Update site worked. I needed updates to Outlook2003 and Excel2003. Now I just have to remember to connect manually on occasion. And, further suggestions as to why “Check for Update” does not work are no longer critical, but I’d sure like to know why something I payed for does not work.
Thanks to all again, John

Reply | Quote

John,
If you connect directly to the Office Update Site (through Internet Explorer rather than using the Help menu from within an Office application) are you able to check for updates correctly?

Reply | Quote

DaveA, Thank you for the suggestion. Here’s what I did: 1) I turned on the Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall (Norton recommends that ICF be turnoff when its firewall is active), 2) I turned off the Norton Internat Security 2003 firewall, 3) I left the Belkin DSL Router in the loop as “Check for Update” was dead long before this hardware was added, 4) I ran Word2003, “Check for Update”, Nothing. Please try again.
John

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If you are running a firewall, have you “blocked” all of the office products from getting to the internet?

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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