patch error on Office SR-1 reinstall

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Temmerman
  • Start date Start date
J

John Temmerman

I had a virus attack which really screwed up my computer. I FINALLY
reinstalled Win2000 professional last weekend and have done as many
updates as i can, even though I invariably get install errors during
the updates.

Since I reinstalled, it won't let me get into Excel or Outlook, saying
the application needs to be installed.

I try installing using my Office SR-1 professional (academic edition)
disks and invariably get the following message:

"The patch package could not be opened. Verify that the patch package
exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor
to verify that this is a valid installer patch package".

I've tried restoring from a backup without result. If I could identify
WHICH windows config file has the error, I could overwrite it with a
backup.

Microsoft's asian call center was no help whatsoever. Apparently they
have not encountered the error before.

Please help. I really need EXCEL.
 
John Temmerman said:
I had a virus attack which really screwed up my computer. I FINALLY
reinstalled Win2000 professional last weekend and have done as many
updates as i can, even though I invariably get install errors during
the updates.

Since I reinstalled, it won't let me get into Excel or Outlook, saying
the application needs to be installed.

I try installing using my Office SR-1 professional (academic edition)
disks and invariably get the following message:

"The patch package could not be opened. Verify that the patch package
exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor
to verify that this is a valid installer patch package".

I've tried restoring from a backup without result. If I could identify
WHICH windows config file has the error, I could overwrite it with a
backup.

Microsoft's asian call center was no help whatsoever. Apparently they
have not encountered the error before.

Please help. I really need EXCEL.
Click to expand...

These 'updates' alone will not provide security against viruses, you
need a good firewall and anti-virus scanning software to check.
See my reply to David : "Live updates and worms". If you want
assistance setting up a firewall, just ask.
 
When you say reinstalled . . . do you mean that you installed Windows 2000
over top of itself? I'm confused about your comment about installing
Windows 2000 and now OFfice won't work . . .

Do this:
Uninstall Office . . . and reinstall it . . . make sure that when you
install it, you do a custom install and choose to run EVERYTHING from your
hard disk (it sounds like you did not choose this option). Then do NOT do
any office updates . . . if all works fine, then use it for now.

Then, when you have the time, visit http://office.microsoft.com and do
updates . . . but install the patches in order as they recommend when you
try to update office.

By the way . . . the error you received and a solution exsits on the MS
site:
OFF2000: Error Message: The Installation Package Could Not Be Opened
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;236597&Product=ofw

Check it out before you do anything I mentioned above.

Good luck.
 
I did reinstall windows2000 on top of itselg.

It gives me the patch error message when I try to uninstall office.

I did the stuff in that article (try to update the installer from 2
places on the SR1 CD) and I still have the error.
 
First of all . . . if you had problems with your machine . . . the last
thing you would want to do is install Windows 2000 on top of itself. You
should have saved your files, reformatted and done a clean install.

Here is what I would do . . .
1. Save all of your data files to a back up source (CD-ROM, online, a second
hard drive, floppies or whatever) - scan them for viruses first . . .
2. Do a clean install of Windows 2000
To do a clean install:
A. Insert your Windows 2000 CD-ROM and reboot the PC . . .
B. When asked boot from the CD
C. Then opt for a new installation
D. I would also opt to delete any existing partitions and reformat (I like
NTFS for security reasons, but you could use FAT)
E. After it's all done you have a nice clean copy of Windows 2000
3. Then update Windows 2000 with SP4 - choose to download the whole file
then update from it. It works better, in my opinion.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
4. Install Office and then update it
http://office.microsoft.com/officeupdate/mainCatalog.aspx
5. Install your anti-virus software and/or firewall

Good luck.
 
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