How to Bypass Microsoft Office Maintenance Mode Setup (142527)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Office for Windows 95
  • Microsoft Office for Windows 4.2
  • Microsoft Office for Windows 4.3
  • Microsoft Office for the Macintosh 4.2
  • Microsoft Office for the Macintosh 4.2.1
  • Microsoft Office for the Macintosh 4.2.1a
This article was previously published under Q142527

SUMMARY

It is possible to bypass the Microsoft Office maintenance mode setup by renaming the appropriate .stf and .inf files (these are files that the Setup program creates the first time you install Office).

Keep in mind that renaming these files will reset any previous installations and/or custom installations of Office, and Setup will be run as if you were installing Office for the first time. No additional hard disk space will be needed for the installation unless you choose a different file location or choose to install additional features that you did not install the first time you ran Setup.

MORE INFORMATION

In most cases, if you rename the <filename>.stf (or the Microsoft Office Setup Table File if you are using a Macintosh computer), Setup will not be started in maintenance mode. However, you may also want to rename the Setup.inf file (for Office versions 4.2 and 4.3), or the Office Setup Data file (Office for the Macintosh).

The following table lists the files that you should rename to override Setup maintenance mode. 
   Filename            Version              Location on hard disk
   ---------------------------------------------------------------

   Setup.stf           Office 4.2, 4.3      C:\Msoffice\Setup

   Setup.inf           Office 4.2, 4.3      C:\Msoffice\Setup

   Microsoft Office    Mac Office 4.2.x     <Hard Disk Name>:Microsoft
   Setup Table File                         Office: Setup Folder

   Microsoft Office    Mac Office 4.2.x     <Hard Disk Name>:Microsoft
   Setup Data                               Office: Setup Folder

   Off95std.stf        Office Standard 7.0  C:\Msoffice\Setup

   Off95pro.stf        Office Prof. 7.0     C:\Msoffice\Setup

   Off97pro.stf        Office 97            C:\Program Files\ 
                                               Microsoft Office\ 
                                               Office\Setup
Note that in the table, "C" is the letter of your hard disk.

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

117474 "Could Not Open the File Named C:\Msoffice\Setup\Setup.Inf"

110187 Program Setup Runs Instead of Office Setup

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/17/2005
Keywords:kbsetup KB142527
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